RCS South Interference / Multipath

[mikeshepard]

Anyone else noticing the interference or strong multi-path on 867.3875? All other frequencies seem to be fine.

[JoeyC]

I listened to that freq and it's nice and quiet from my location. Must be something nearby to you interfering.

[Stringer619]

The interference/intermod/whatever its called has been more noticable to me lately. I drive by certain areas with any of my Pro-106's and I have to enable the attenuator to save my eardrums from the massive static while I drive through the area. But lately, even the attenuator is only doing so much. Sometimes it's so bad I just have to leave the area or turn that radio off because it's unusable.

I'm considering buying a bunch of bandpass filters, in hopes that it will solve my problem. It's frustrating having full bars, and having something else overpowering it. I kid you not, there have been times where I've been able to take the antenna off and still pick up radio traffic! We such strong public safety radio systems but they get killed by the static in certain areas. I presume it's the #%)#$ Nextel towers.

In particular, the most common area that I always know to expect, is Interstate 8 near El Cajon Blvd in El Cajon. I pass those damn (cellphone?) towers and suddenly all my 800MHz radios are blasting full-volume static. It's nerve-racking! I'm going to have a crash one day turning 4 or 5 radios down.

I should note that this is on any of my Pro-106's or Pro-197's, and can be East RCS, North RCS, the city of SD system, and it can be from anywhere in the county. Some radios have handheld antennas, some have rooftop NMO 800MHz whips. I'm really hoping bandpass filters will solve my problem.

[Stringer619]

I swear, this is getting worse and worse, from just a week ago. It's so bad now, that I have to enable the attenuator, crank the squelch all the way up, and I still get major static mixed with the audio. This only happens in certain areas, but it's on various Pro-106 and Pro-197 scanners with different antenna setups, locations, cell systems (north/south/city), etc. I've been over on SR 52 near Santo Rd and all of my radios go to over 50% static (barely able to understand the audio), on various cell systems (north/south/city) with my various scanners and antennas. Right now I'm in Encinitas, listening to north zone, and when NCFD dispatches a call, it sounds like a coal-powered train is puffing away in the background, mixed with a little bit of static. It's 100x better than the 52/Santo Rd though. Interstate 8 in El Cajon near El Cajon Blvd, I get major static too.

What the hell? What has changed?

I don't know if its interference, intermod, overloading, or what. And being all over the county in various reception environments, it could be one thing in one place and another thing somewhere else. And I'm not about to just go buy various products trying to guess, although I'm considering a bandpass filter. All my scanners are 800MHz.

[mikeshepard]

Agreed...it's awful - getting worse - and NOT isolated to my location (hearing it mobile around south and east county as well). Getting it on my GRE 800, BC 396XT and and older BC 250.

Hard to believe agencies on the TRS aren't complaining as well.

[JoeyC]

Stringer you obviously use your scanners more mobile and in more locations than I do but I experience the same thing. Since I don't get around as much as you, I definately have noticed my issue along El Cajon Blvd (while listening to the city system) as you drive through mid-city (east of Fairmount to at least 54th) and between Texas and Utah I lose everything. Probably due to antennas on top of that water tower. I have 3 Stridsberg filters (152 notch, 157 notch and FM broadcast notch) that I use at my home setup that I've tried mobile that make no difference in reception in the car setup. Perhaps I've not chosen the correct filter? But at $100 a piece, I don't want to buy any more to find out they won't work. I have a 996xt in the car, and I"ve used the PSR500 along side it, with similar results.

[K6CDO]

Who says the users are not complaining?

We're investigating locations / proximity to low-level cell sites for the potential source of this new problem.

[Stringer619]

Could the weather/fog be a contributing factor? I don't recall this being a problem in the last 3 years of scanning, but the fog is incredibly dense at night.. so bad that visibility in some areas is a mere 5-10 feet in front of you.