Railroad amp

[reconrider8]

I was thinking more on the lines of cutting with bolt cutters to get a rough distance then either use a belt sander or like a hacksaw to get it right

[evolocomotive]

Hacksaw will take forever. It only needs to be level and smooth, We're not trying to launch the Shuttle into orbit. And cutting it does make a huge difference on the recieve side.

[reconrider8]

so then after the bolt cutters how would i go about smoothing it out?

[evolocomotive]

Sandpaper will work fine.

[PJH]

Again, why the effort when its not really going to make any difference since you are receiving only anyways?

Don't make it any harder than needed

[reconrider8]

but i still want it with the best possible surface area to connect to

[PJH]

Then drill a hole. It's rather painless.

[reconrider8]

Just ordered my antenna today waiting for if to get here so i can chop it and see what its going to do whether it will pick up a lil better then my spectra is what I'm wanting to find out really

[reconrider8]

Got my antenna in today and put it on top of my jeep and all I can say is wow lol I'm picking up south end dispatch out of rocky mount from coastal and its reaching down and I'm hearing lender clearly now which I couldn't even hear at first. North bound is about the same I think I'm hearing Gary clear and pleasant hill/301 on occasion. Overall 80% right now

[timkilbride]

Now buy a NMO mount and drill hole and you will be set! Holes from NMO mounts have never been used against me in trade-in value.

Tim

[reconrider8]

Update... the antenna is working like a champ but for some reason I hear a whole lot better after the train has passed my position. Can anyone kinda explain this Ive heard it gas to do with the cars behind the engine radiating the signal future out but is their anyway I can pick up from the head futhur out?

[jim202]

You need to consider cutting that little round ball off the top of the whip. It has a nasty habit of getting caught in tree branches and garage doors. When that happens you have a good chance of ripping the roof of the vehicle or betting the plastic base will break before any metal damage is done to the roof.

Had a concrete company I did the radio work at for a couple of years. The old radio shop insisted on using ASP mounts and their long coil bases. As a results, they had at least one truck in the body shop every month repairing the truck roof. I started changing all their antennas over to NMO mounts and the low profile plastic bases. Never had another body shop bill after that. But I did have to replace a few of the broken bases now and then. They were so much happier spending the cost of a new low band coil base that spending a pile on repairing the truck roof.

Do as you please. Just thought I would pass on some first hand information.

[DODGEIT]

Here is an antenna calculator that I have used and it works well even for the railroad band.
Antenna Length Calculator KD4SAI

[PJH]

Originally Posted by reconrider8

Update... the antenna is working like a champ but for some reason I hear a whole lot better after the train has passed my position. Can anyone kinda explain this Ive heard it gas to do with the cars behind the engine radiating the signal future out but is their anyway I can pick up from the head futhur out?

Can you explain that?

Think for a moment...

If the train is passing you, the antenna is on the lead locomotive, mounted on top of the cab. As it is moving away from you, the signal will get weaker (assuming straight track).

Behind the locomotive - unless its a train of flat cars or other low profile cars.... many cars - especially autoracks and double stacks actually are above the roofline of the engine (assuming modern EMD and GE units that are taller than the SD40's etc).

So, given that... if there is any "reflection", it would be towards the front of the locomotive and the signal will be attenuated to the rear of the train.

In any case, you need to drill a hole and mount the antenna properly and/or get a really good scanner.

There are too many variables to properly answer your question. The same scanner and antenna can perform differently between different vehicles. The best answer that can be given is:

-Use a high quality scanner
-Drill a NMO hole
-Use a high quality NMO antenna mount
-Use a high quality scanner antenna or commercial antenna such as Larsen or Comtelco
-Properly run your power wires as stated in the users manual

Aside from all of the above - its all guessing and experimenting

[reconrider8]

im not real sure how it works to be honest i have a larsen 150 trimmed to ch32 and im running it on a pro-106 i can be sitting in Weldon and hear a south bound train at gary clear as a bell but take the same train heading north i can hear him clear up in emporia not exactly clear but clear enough to catch the milepost marker and the train id