Pro-197 disappointing airband reception. Suggestions?

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tjwgrr

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Recently picked up a Pro-197. I'm an avid VHF airband listener, and to say the least, I'm very disappointed in the performance of the Pro-197 for that purpose. I have an old RadioShack Pro-2022 which totally kicks the Pro-197's butt receiving airband. Both units are hooked to an AntennaCraft ST2 mounted on the roof of my home. My local airport is probably just under 10 miles away. With the Pro-2022, I can hear airport transmissions, (tower, ground, approach, atis, clearance delivery, etc.) transmissions from aircraft on the ground, and transmissions from three center frequencies, two of which have transmitters 30-40 miles away. Pretty much all I can hear on the Pro-197 are airborne aircraft, and very staticy, intermittent transmissions from the airport.

Otherwise the Pro-197 rocks for monitoring my area PD, Sheriff, FD, etc.in the 150 MHz freqs. and above.

I've read some about front end overload with the Pro-197, but since I live in a rural area not close to any radio transmitters- the closest being some TV & radio towers 8-10 miles away- I don't think that's the issue.

Any suggestions? Keep using the Pro-2022 for air and the Pro-197 for everything else?
 

kayi4cle

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I found the same thing with my Pro-197 on VHF when compared to my old 996T which (surprisingly) is very good on VHF (both am and fm), though not quite as good as the ancient 780/785. I tried a few things with the 197 like attenuation and different antennas without noticeable results. Somewhere I saw a review or write-up of strengths and weaknesses of the 197 versus competing radios on different bands including VHF, but I cannot find where I saw it. My solution is to enjoy each radio for whatever it excels at.
 

N1BHH

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You can look back through a number of threads in regards this and find that the front end of the '106 and '197 as well as the GRE PSR's have a front end that is easily swamped by in band signals. I use the ATTenuator on all the VHF frequencies I have in my scanners. They do much better with the ATTenuator on.
 

wise871

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I found installing a simple FM Trap/Filter solved my Air Band VHF issues. Even know I don't have a FM tower near me, it made a work of differences. I picked up one of the old Radio Shack ones.
 

tjwgrr

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Thanks for the advice. I've turned the attenuator on for all my VHF air freqs- seems to help a little. Will head over to the Shack and get an FM trap as well.
 

DickH

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Any suggestions? Keep using the Pro-2022 for air and the Pro-197 for everything else?

I think that is the solution.
Seems like the latest and greatest is not always the best-est. :)

If you get the Service Manual it will have the alignment instructions. That might help.
Most Radio Shacks will not know what you are talking about. Tell them it is an RSU item
 

tjwgrr

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Installed an FM trap- WOW, what a huge difference with VHF Aircraft- seems to help VHF High as well.

Thanks for the advice!
 

kayi4cle

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Installed an FM trap- WOW, what a huge difference with VHF Aircraft- seems to help VHF High as well.

Thanks for the advice!

I would like to try one of those. Would you please give the cost, where you purchased it, and the model/part number. I'm assuming it is BNC and connects to the radio, and then the antenna connects to the filter? Thanks! :)
 

n2jtx

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I just picked up a 15-024 trap from RadioShack for a PRO-2055 that I recently acquired on eBay. I was very disappointed with the VHF-HI reception and had been using the attenuator trick to improve reception. Unfortunately that seriously hampered reception of various weak signals. I stumbled across this thread and decided that $7.99+tax was a small price to pay to test a fix. It worked! VHF-HI reception is great now and I have turned the attenuator off on most of my VHF-HI channels (except for a few that have no need for it being off).
 

ngel

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Fm trap

This FM trap looks like it has helped a lot of people i just have one question. I have a pro-106 and just want to use my rubber duck antenna as i don't have access to exterior antenna. Is that possible? and since it has a BNC adapter how would i be able to connect a BNC rubber duck to that?
 

gewecke

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Has anyone had any luck swapping out the F59 female connectors for BNC females?
Just wondered,as this would eliminate having to play "swap-a-dapter" on the trap arrangement.:roll:
I might do this with my trap/ pro-197 and post the pics.

73,
n9zas
 

gewecke

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This FM trap looks like it has helped a lot of people i just have one question. I have a pro-106 and just want to use my rubber duck antenna as i don't have access to exterior antenna. Is that possible? and since it has a BNC adapter how would i be able to connect a BNC rubber duck to that?


I have a multi-band duck inside on a BNC/F59 adaptor with a 6' length of RG6 to another BNC/F59 male to the trap and the same again to the pro-197.
Hope this makes sense. :)


73,
n9zas
 

n2jtx

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Has anyone had any luck swapping out the F59 female connectors for BNC females?
Just wondered,as this would eliminate having to play "swap-a-dapter" on the trap arrangement.:roll:
I might do this with my trap/ pro-197 and post the pics.

73,
n9zas

I picked up a BNC Male/F Male and BNC Female/F Male adapter from Monoprice.com and use them to convert the F female connectors to BNC:

15-024%20Trap.png


The Monoprice.com products are:

Part #:690 F Type Plug/BNC Jack Adapter $0.98/each
Part #:4132 BNC Male to F Male Adaptor - Gold Plated $1.02/each
 
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gewecke

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Thanks, I'll look into getting those adapters, but I'll bet it won't be at radio shack? :lol:


73,
n9zas
 

gewecke

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I have a massive number of rf adapters in stock but not the F59 female/BNC male.
That one I'll have to order for my filter,thanks again for the tip! :)

73,
n9zas
 

KI4VBR

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AOR Has A Filter Specifically For The Air Band.....But $$

It seems like the RS filter is a slam dunk for the price. If you are getting a little deeper into the aviation band and decide on using a preamp, you may want to look at the filter offered by AOR. It is nothing more than a simple bandpass filter carved out for the VHF airband, but it is made with quality components and most likely went through a bit more quality control than the RS filter.

It is pretty pricey, but I had to try one out and it did make a difference when I needed it. I purchased the filter because I had a lot of front-end overload (de-sens) from pager sites and such. Now, I have a few other things I am using like a directional antenna to solve the issue and the filter is a paperweight.

The chart that Grove has listed on the webpage for the filter makes a lot of sense and explains exactly what it does just by showing the graph.

AOR ABF128 VHF Air Band Filter

Best of luck to you....the Av-bands can be exciting to listen in on at times!

Vince
 
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