Pro 2096 loss of signal

plankeye · #1 (**permalink**) 02-20-2006, 10:22 PM

Has anyone noticed on their pro 2096's the loss of signal?
I had a pro 2040 hooked up to a outdoor discone about 30 ft from the ground on a mast, the reception of the frequencies I monitored was excellent. I then went and bought a pro 2096 and left the antenna system the same and Ive noticed the Pro 2096 does not receive the same or better than an older pro 2040, its actully worse. So I went and upgraded the antenna coax to rg-8 and to a brand new discone similair to the diamond discone and its even worse yet, I can barely even get the NOAA weather channels where as my handhled scanner using only a rubber duckie and that same signal comes in loud and clear.

The previous coax was Rg58, and the scanner is used to monitor analog signals no digital signals and no trunking.

Techy · #2 (**permalink**) 02-20-2006, 10:29 PM

Im getting a Pro 2096 this week and have not had hands on use of it yet. Is there any attenuator thats maybe on? Just a thought. Its all programed correctly? If it is and the problem still exists, I would be taking that baby back to Radio Shack as fast as I could run

plankeye · #3 (**permalink**) 02-20-2006, 10:33 PM

Attentuation is off
The only thing stopping me from taking it back to rat shack is that i had to order it, the stores around here did not have them, and Iam kind of weary of sending it back to them to tell me nothing is wrong with it.

loumaag · #4 (**permalink**) 02-21-2006, 12:08 AM

Try turning the ATT on. The 2096 (and 96) are easily overloaded using exterior antennas. This has been discussed quite a lot in the RS Scanner Forum as well as on the various yahoo groups.

And since this belongs in the RS Scanner forum, it is being moved.

woody_46 · #5 (**permalink**) 02-21-2006, 06:39 AM

Yep, turn the ATT on. The higher I put my antennas up, the worse the signals dropped. In fact the stock antenna with the ATT on works best for me. Many times if I have the ATT off, it receives nothing on known frequencies. VHF-Hi is the worst. I can hear an FM broadcast station in the background on this band. It is so clear I should identify it. I'm thinking of trying an FM filter to see if that helps, just a matter of finding a good one.

That said, all my scanners, Unidens, RS, Optocom, suffer to some degree. The 2096 is the worst, but probably works well in urban areas. Only one that works well is the Icom in this environment. I keep complaining hoping GRE, & Uniden will design a better frontend since many of us live in metropolitan (high RF) environments. Okay, I'm done whining.lol.

I should mention that my PRO 2096 works well with an external antenna on the 800 MHZ band.