How far away should I program in my scanner?

[berksguy]

newbie question a for my new 346xt. Im in eastern PA and when I used freescan it listed about 40-50 RR from all over PA. Should I just keep them all in by default or only do the big names like Philly conrail or the ones that are in the neck of my woods?

thanks

[davidmc36]

Would I be correct in assuming that most rail stuff is not transmitted from very high antennas?

I listen to a VHF system from 45 miles away but I have a 40 foot tower and the transmitter is a couple hundred feet up. We are on pretty flat terrain here, not the praries but pretty close.

This may give you some idea how far your antenna can "see" another one, assuming there are no obstructions in the way.

I don't hear much rail traffic with my setup unless they are passing fairly close by.

[berksguy]

From your post, it sounds like the tiny antenna on my unit wont really pick up anything then. But I do have a decent amt of RR traffic around (meaning within 5-10 miles), just no idea if, for example, the western PA RRs will come all the way east and if it's worth keeping in the frequencies?

Heck in the heyday this place was probably RR central with the Reading Railroad lol. (couldnt resist the monopoly connection)

[DPD1]

If you're serious about rail stuff, I wouldn't trust that. There's most likely some missing and others that are old. There's probably a rail group on your area that could tell you exactly what's being used and where. Or maybe just search the whole RR band and see what happens.

[davidmc36]

I do find the stock duckies are pretty poor in the VHF range, they are just so short. If the rail guys are using stuff like 5 watt handhelds and there are much for obstructions in your way I expect the five mile range would be considered max. It wouldn't take much to improve your range though. Even a length of coax attached to the ceiling, or even the second floor if you have one, with about 18 inches of the sheild peeled away at the upper end will make a quickie antenna that should be "tuned" to the 160ish range.

As far as the example of my tower and the VHF transmitter at 45 miles away, the calculator says I should only have about 29 miles line-of-sight, but I obvioulsy get farther. I think it may have something to do with the fact that the transmitter is on terrain that is higher than me and effectively higher than it seems on paper. If the trains you were trying to hear were on top of some higher terrain too you may get better range also.

Try some experiments, you may be surprised.

A mag-mount antenna set on top of your fridge or a cookie sheet could net you some surprising results too.

[berksguy]

thanks for all the good info, I have a better understanding of the distance now