"Is the Fog making my reception Choppy?"

My 996 Is real choppy tonight...It has been a little choppy In the past...thinking Its the Digital thing... the signals look strong...but a lot of transmission Is cut out.

Could this be the fog??

Priority Is turned off

Gearjam

I'd suspect a second transmitter site being put into operation more than I would blame fog or increased precipitation, but that could affect radio signals, sure. But to what degree, that's the magic question...

I had the 996 In the mobile today ...on a 8 hr road trip...foggy all day...now back home on the base...but with the same magnatoper mobile antenna...and still real foggy out...I can't understand any conversations what so ever...on the road or here at home.

I'm also wondering when I get the ST2 (scantenna) up on the roof if it will get rid of some or all of the choppy transmission??...or maybe hass something to do with It

putting an antenna on the roof will always improve reception...putting an antenna outside at sufficient height will increase reception....i put my antenna on the wall outside my 2nd floor window and im picking up everything far better than when it was indoors

It could be your decoding is a bit off, check the manual for how to adjust it.

BTW, just could be The Fog, dead pirates are messing with the antenna or it could be interference from Adrian Barbeau's radio station up in the lighthouse.

"I put my antenna on the wall outside my 2nd floor window and I'm picking up everything far better than when it was indoors."

The pirates can't reach it so easily.

I now Have the ST2 up In the air...big difference in signal....but still a bit choppy...all On the digital bands....I will look Into the decoder...and see if I can find It In the manual.

Thanks.

Ps: Nothing In the manual about decoder...also Its still real foggy here...temps are way up there and the ground Is still cold

Fog...

Fog actually increases reception, keeping the signals in closer to to the ground. At least that's what I've found.

On a foggy morning, we can hear mobiles from up in Franklin County (conventional VHF Hi) or stuff west of us from toward Hamilton, Butler and other points west here in Gallia County (Ohio).

Steve/KB8FAR

Just a shot in the dark here but try turning on your attenuator, you signal might be too strong.

Gearjam said:

I now Have the ST2 up In the air...big difference in signal....but still a bit choppy...all On the digital bands....I will look Into the decoder...and see if I can find It In the manual.

Thanks.

Ps: Nothing In the manual about decoder...also Its still real foggy here...temps are way up there and the ground Is still cold

Click to expand...

Decoder = P25 DECODE, yes, it IS in the manual how to adjust it. There are three things that cause the choppy digital:
1: it's a simulcast system, meaning your getting a signal from more than one tower and they are mixing and breaking the signal up. This can be fixed usually by using a directional antenna pointed towards the main tower you want to monitor. Attenuation helps as does adjusting the P25 Decode
2: weak signal.... higher antenna, pre-amp (doesn't sound like your issue, but then you don't say how many bars your getting)
3: Signal overload.... use antenna with less gain, attenuation

V

I think he's got it now but mind the pirates, choppy seas and fog are a difficult situation. (;->)

Fog= attenuation

kb2vxa said:

I think he's got it now but mind the pirates, choppy seas and fog are a difficult situation. (;->)

Click to expand...

Fog will attenuate RF. While employeed at AT&T Long Lines, there were numerous times we lost our paths due to heavy fog.

The fog this morning made my vision a little choppy, but my scanner still worked great. :lol:

Exactly! Fog, mist and rain attenuates, not accentuates signals above 100MHz or so owing to the fact that water droplets refract and scatter RF. There is a size vs. wavelength relationship, thus it's most pronounced at microwave frequencies making weather radar possible. AT&T Long Lines used to be microwave links as were cable TV links which were knocked out in heavy fog and severe weather. Maybe you're too young to remember your cable going out during thunderstorms and if that's the case you have no idea how hard it was to find the exact frequency on a tunable VHF receiver before the scanner was invented.

Yeah N1, I'm an OF too, microwave towers are a zombie pirate's favorite way to warm up on a cold and foggy night. (;->) Speaking of AT&T I'm sure you remember this guy.

Fog itself is of almost no consequence to rf, even at most microwave frequencies. Exceptions are around 24 GHz and a few other spots where water absorption IS an issue. Those microwave path fades aren't from absorption, it's from the atmospheric conditions that help create the fog that cause severe multipath conditions. It's that multipath that causes the fades, not moisture absorption. Fog conditions frequently occur during temperature inversions. Those inversions can cause clearly defined air boundaries that play havoc with rf. I was the system engineer on a 35 hop digital system for many years, and lived through plenty of foggy days with zero fades, and zero measurable attenuation from 2-11 GHz. I've also seen 23 GHz links just go away because of the water absorption, even on 98% humidity days with no visible fog.

That size vs wavelength issue doesn't show up until it rains, and the elongated rain drops falling approach a resonant length. You then get a scattering effect which sends the energy off in different directions, causing rain fades.

Then there's molecular resonances like what caused the 23 GHz links to fade.

OK OK, I've been out teched by the expert. (;->) Still it reminds me of a funny story about a ham and his high gain 2M moon bounce antenna array. He was bragging to this chick how he could track storms with it, I cut in and said "Yeah, you rediscovered radar." She laughed, he fumed.