maryland state police freq

[SCPD]

i have my scanner BC206D programmed with a few of the MSP freq 39.*
i cant hear ANY MSP police stations tho
im in pg county and mainly want to hear from state police on 495 beltway in MD and also from the forestville and college park barrack
what do i have to do to be able to hear them?

 

[Admin0140434]

what kind of ant are you using? if your using the rubber duckie... you literally have to be within 2 or 3 miles to hear them. im in a good location that i can pick up both Glen Burnie and Waterloo using the 246T rubber duckie.

 

[SCPD]

well i have the portable unit and i have the rubber duckie
but i use it on the beltway and dont hear nothing
i've also pulled right up in the parking lot of the 2 barracks adn i still get nothing
so you using those 39.* freq? any of the echo with a 155.* freq?

i dont go near glen burnie nor waterloo so i dont have them programmed
i will prgram them now tho just to see if i can hear them

 

[Admin0140434]

ive got the 39.xx freqs programed in and as i said, pick up Glen Burnie and Waterloo just fine

i've also pulled right up in the parking lot of the 2 barracks adn i still get nothing

just to let you know, i dont hear much on MSP freqs, so your prob pulling up when nothing is happening for them

 

[md_p97]

That low band is tricky stuff....RS makes two antennas that can help...I have previous posts on the subject.

The first one is the silver extendable one....runs about $18.00 I think...has a BNC connector.....I can pick up the dispatchers fairly well with this one, sitting on my deck, and the troopers in their cars from about 15-20 miles..

The second is their mag mount....it alone doesn't do a whole lot to get either dispatch or trooper, but if you search the Antenna forum for the instructions for its modification, you will have much better success with both. I have mine mounted on a pole at about 18 feet outside my house, and can receive the dispatchers from Hagerstown to Glen Burnie, College Park too.

Hope this helps, or at least points you in the right direction.

Paul

 

[ka3jjz]

There's really nothing 'tricky' about it; highly overimplifying the issue, an antenna must approximate - either physically in length, electrically or both - a portion of a wavelength at an operating frequency to have any chance at success. The 246 aside, a standard duckie can't even hope to be very effective at 39 mhz. If we assume that a quarter wavelength as the minimum standard, such an antenna would need to be nearly 8 foot long. In fact, most hams will tell you that a duckie on the VHF hi band (the lower portion being the 2 meter band) is a loss antenna - by some measurements, up to 6db or more.

A mobile antenna has a better shot at this; however, the same rule of thumb applies. Northwest Radio had an interesting mini review of several mobile antennas here;

Northwest Radio Mobile antenna survey

Even here, there's no free lunch; what might work very well on one or more bands might not work so well on others.

If you're interested in this subject, jump over to the antennas forum. I have no doubt you will get an earful of advice.
As an aside, I often heard College Park and Waterloo on my trip to Riverdale (where I used to work in the Riggs bank technology center) for nearly 7 years. I even got Forestville on occasion, though not all the time. The antenna I used was an Austin Spectra, with an element recut for 39 mhz.

73s Mike

 

[SCPD]

ok well maybe i need a better anteannae
I just got the standard one on my hand held
i will slide over to that forum and see what kind of antenna boost i can get for my 296D

 

[Al42]

There's really nothing 'tricky' about it; highly overimplifying the issue, an antenna must approximate - either physically in length, electrically or both - a portion of a wavelength at an operating frequency to have any chance at success. The 246 aside, a standard duckie can't even hope to be very effective at 39 mhz. If we assume that a quarter wavelength as the minimum standard, such an antenna would need to be nearly 8 foot long. In fact, most hams will tell you that a duckie on the VHF hi band (the lower portion being the 2 meter band) is a loss antenna - by some measurements, up to 6db or more.

A lowband ducky is typically about 16" long, and it's good for a couple of miles line of sight.

I've heard quite a bit of activity on lowband in Maryland, but always with an external antenna. (A Larsen 2/70 on-glass, surprisingly, works pretty well for lowband receive. Compared to a 6" helical, at any rate.)

 

[ka3jjz]

My Austin Condor works quite well on Lo band as well; I've managed to pick up MSP mobiles a mile or two away. No way I'd be able to do that consistently on the duckie that came with the 245.

Wonder if it's some sort of helical design? It would seem likely since it's still rather short (physically) for good reception at 39 mhz

73s Mike

 

[Whistler]

Radio Shack Antenna

I purchased the Scanner antenna at Radio Shack it covers from 29 Mhz to 1.3 Ghz. It runs about $40. It is a mag mount and has to loads in it. I can pick up just about anything. I even pick up AM aircraft very well. Of course it is attached to a mobile unit (Uniden BCT7).

 

[bwhite]

If your radio has the ATT (attenuate) "feature" make sure it is OFF. It's soul purpose is to reduce your radio's sensitivity so it won't be overloaded by transmitters that are too close.

 

[Jeff21st]

I am currently experience the same problem. I have a Radio Shack PRO-96 Scanner and I live in NE Washington, DC, and I do not hear any action coming from the MSP College Park (39.26) and Forestville barracks (39.30). Last night I heard some action come from the MSP Forestville barracks but I only heard the dispatcher, not the state Trooper feeding back the information. I can hear just about all the fire and police departments within Washington, DC Beltway but I cannot hear the MSP. I would love to know what would be the best antenna to put on my PRO-96 Scanner just to hear the State troopers in my region?

I did two ride along with the Maryland State Police Forestville barracks, and plus I am still in the process of joining the Maryland State Police. I know how busy that barracks can be base on the two ride along I did with them.

i have my scanner BC206D programmed with a few of the MSP freq 39.*
i cant hear ANY MSP police stations tho
im in pg county and mainly want to hear from state police on 495 beltway in MD and also from the forestville and college park barrack
what do i have to do to be able to hear them?

 

[dc2wheel]

I've had good luck getting MSP from inside the District using a Pro-96 with the Radio Shack mag-mount stuck on my metal window sill
www.radioshack.com/searchsku.asp?find=20-032
Also welcome to the board Jeff21st - good to have more DC folks on here.
-dc2wheel

I am currently experience the same problem. I have a Radio Shack PRO-96 Scanner and I live in NE Washington, DC, and I do not hear any action coming from the MSP College Park (39.26) and Forestville barracks (39.30). Last night I heard some action come from the MSP Forestville barracks but I only heard the dispatcher, not the state Trooper feeding back the information. I can hear just about all the fire and police departments within Washington, DC Beltway but I cannot hear the MSP. I would love to know what would be the best antenna to put on my PRO-96 Scanner just to hear the State troopers in my region?

I did two ride along with the Maryland State Police Forestville barracks, and plus I am still in the process of joining the Maryland State Police. I know how busy that barracks can be base on the two ride along I did with them.

 

[Al42]

I am currently experience the same problem. I have a Radio Shack PRO-96 Scanner and I live in NE Washington, DC, and I do not hear any action coming from the MSP College Park (39.26) and Forestville barracks (39.30). Last night I heard some action come from the MSP Forestville barracks but I only heard the dispatcher, not the state Trooper feeding back the information. I can hear just about all the fire and police departments within Washington, DC Beltway but I cannot hear the MSP.

Nothing surprising about that. VHF-hi and UHF systems are usually repeaters, so you're hearing a high power base station with an antenna high up on a building or tower, whether it's repeating the dispatcher or a car. On 39 MHz you're hearing the cars directly, so your range is about the same as on CB - a mile or two - unless you have a large antenna high up in the air.

I would love to know what would be the best antenna to put on my PRO-96 Scanner just to hear the State troopers in my region?

A full size ground plane, which would be on the order of 6 feet for each element, mounted 30-50 feet in the air (on a building, pole or tower)..

 

[Bote]

I am currently experience the same problem. I have a Radio Shack PRO-96 Scanner and I live in NE Washington, DC, and I do not hear any action coming from the MSP College Park (39.26) and Forestville barracks (39.30).

Hmmm. I must be getting senile, because I was updating my Andy780 spreadsheet to reprogram my BC780 scanner and just copied in the Radio Reference freqs listed for MSP. I typed in what RR says College Park should be, 39.36 but I then recall them being on 39.26 so either RR has a typo or College Park moved.

Either is possible, as MSP juggled things around several years ago.

Can anybody confirm College Park's freq?

Thanx!

 

[TinEar]

39.36 (as of 6 minutes ago it was still a good freq).

 

[ka3jjz]

Yes, that's College Park's freq; they moved off 39.26 probably to avoid interference from CHiPs in California when skip was really rolling a couple of years back. I used to easily hear that on a 6 meter magmount and a handheld scanner when I was working down in Riverdale md. (did for almost 7 years).

73s Mike

 

[Jeff21st]

I manage to get that antenna and have it mounted outside my room window. I can hear all my stored frequency way more clearer then the regular antenna but I still only can hear MSP Forestville Barracks Dispatcher(much clearer) but not the troopers that patrolling in they police cruisers. I'm live about 9-10 miles aways from that barracks and I hope my distance do not play a factor on why I do not hear the Troopers feeding back information to the Dispatcher.

I've had good luck getting MSP from inside the District using a Pro-96 with the Radio Shack mag-mount stuck on my metal window sill
www.radioshack.com/searchsku.asp?find=20-032
Also welcome to the board Jeff21st - good to have more DC folks on here.
-dc2wheel

 

[Bote]

computer noise

Another factor that might be limiting your reception is r.f. noise generated by computerized devices like your computer, TiVO, DSL or cable modem, and other devices with microprocessors in them.

Wait for a power failure and then take a listen with a battery powered scanner to see if you can suddenly hear better. The reason to wait for a power failure and not just turn off all your stuff is because your neighbors probably have similar equipment running and you can't very well ask them to turn off all of their stuff for your test. A power outage does a very nice job of that. It's worth a try just to see, anyway.

By the way, I listened to 39.36 here in McLean for at least an hour last night and never heard a peep, so there is something drastically over here!

 

[doctordave]

The other major factor is the great number of man-made structures in the area.... tends to degrade simplex low-band range significantly. This is precisely why most metro agencies stay away from such a communication setup. In rural areas, you cannot beat the great range (as far as simplex systems go) - over at my Eastern Shore house, I can here trooper cars 20 miles away w/ my rooftop antenna. In Balt Co, I'm lucky to pull in cars 5-7 miles away w/ a similar setup.