Pro 2096 is silent...

Hey everyone, Dave here. Here is as much detail as I can remember about my troubles. I have a Pro2096 and I provide a feed on here for the Dorchester County area in South Carolina. I have provided the feed for over a year with NO problems what so ever just using an upgraded 800mhz back of the set rubber duckie that is flexable to vertical. It had worked flawlessly for the whole time. Within the last few weeks, I have noticed the signals getting weaker to non existant. When you push the "man" button and stop it on the control channel, I used to see 80% up to 98% but mostly in the 90s. Well now with the same antenna I see teens and 20's on the display. I went out and purchased Antennacraft ST2 and put it about 20 feet up on top of the house. Today my wife and I were working together to turn it the right direction to get the highest percentage on the scanner on the control channel. I was getting 80's to 90's solidly. I came down after getting it pointed the right direction and right height. I noticed the signals changed with direction and height it was located on the mast. Now for the last 3 hours, I am getting 07% and 00's when I stop on the control channel on the Palmetto 800 system here. I have heard NOTHING in the last 3 hours and I am about to yank it all down and bash everything....Any ideas before I give up? Thanks for any radio saving suggestions, and feel free to log on and check my feed but you won't hear much...Thanks, Dave

Check the BNC connector to circuit board connections, these fail that way sometimes. If that is OK, I know you do not want to hear this, but maybe its time for a trip for the scanner to RS repair. You will have to take it to a RS store to get this done (see the many threads on this). They usually have it back in 2 weeks working like new.

Hey Arca...not to go against the wise words of Jamesa, cause he has helped me plenty with his other posts But I would try to eliminate factors other then a radio problem first, for 2 reasons, 1, I heard RS repair is a nightmare to deal with, and 2, you'll kick yourself if you spend 30-50$ for RS to look at it, and find out there is nothing wrong..try looking around for things that have changed in the same time frame as the scanner not working properly..

Has anything changed in the area around your scanner?(new laptop, radio, new tenants below/above/beside) Try unplugging new devices and see of anything changes.

Also try checking your outlet if you have a multimeter, make sure its at 110-120v steady, maybe you have something pulling to much power on the same circuit (new bigscreen?), again try unplugging things. If you can, try running the scanner's power thru a UPS or similar to ensure power is not an issue.

Have you made any changes to the scanner's configuration, or position on your desk..move it around/away from other devices.

Thats just a couple of ideas that you can try, hope one helps, GL!

Actualy, RS repair is NOT a nightmare to deal with.

The most important voltage to check that NE1C4NSCAN did not mention is the output volrage from the power supply.

Move the radio to another location and retest.

Have you had RADIANT BARRIER installed in the attic? This also blocks most RF.

Has the system you are monitering moved their tower location or having trouble with the tower closest to you in a multi tower system?

Have you added alum siding to the house? This can also block most RF.

KC5EIB said:

Actualy, RS repair is NOT a nightmare to deal with.

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Good to hear, have you had work done with them KC5EIB?

I am in Michigan and listen to the 800MHz APCO 25 state digital system. The local tower I use has changed control freq a number of times over the years and I had to search the 800MHz band to find the new control channel... Other thing I have seen are 800MHz cell towers being put up, one went up near my friend’s house and left his scanner deaf and he could no longer pick up the control channel until he moved to his new house with no cell towers nearby... I have heard of a few cases with the Pro-96 and 2096 having to be sent in for repair because they just stop trunking. Do you know anyone else in the area that has a scanner you can try to verify any of these things so you can compare your scanner to another to verify if you have an issue with your scanner or signal in your area? One other thing I have seen is with the system I listen too is each tower has a main and a backup control channel and they switch sometimes to the backup for hours, days and even months so you may try pressing the search for public service (police/fire) in the 800MHz section to search for a new control channel. Oh yeah what about rebanding? The country is all being rebanded and the 800MHz section is being moved 15MHz lower than it was in the past. It hasn't happened in Michigan yet but it is coming... Well those ideas should keep you busy for a while. Don't forget to check the South Carolina thread for ideas and if all else fails do a reset on the scanner.

Mike

Thanks for all the great suggestions. I checked the voltage, and as a matter of fact, it is plugged into a Battery backup "UPS" and has been for about 6 months. Nothing has changed with the configuration as far as placement of the radio, still on the same shelf. The computer is in the same place still plugged into the UPS as it has always been. I do have a pro 96 handheld AND a Pro 95 analog handheld and when I am out and about driving around town, I hear everything on the handheld that I am supposed to hear on the Pro2096 at home. I have noticed "dead spots" around town but as a matter of fact, I drove out where the tower is and it appears to still be there, because I can take the antenna completely off from the Pro96 and it makes no difference, I still get solid 99% on the control channel. I don't know if the ST2 is directional or not, but I rotated the mast to the direction I thought the tower is located and it seemed not to make a difference on what was displayed on the 2096. I did that the signal changed when I lowered the antenna down about 2 feet lower on the mast. Right now I am getting SQUAT on the control channel. I do howerver have several frequencies programmed in addition to the contro channel, and 2 alternates. I just now manually selected each individual frequency and did hear talking on the Summerville PD talk group and it was weak but readable. I don't understand this control diesel engine sound concept and how the numbers can bounce around so wildly like they do.....I have tried all the great suggestions but honestly I don't know of anything that has changed and I haven't found anything significant. Maybe it is radio trouble. I did punch the reset button on the back like the maual said and it made no difference....Any more suggestions...maybe I should send it back to RS???

I think since I have Saturday off, I will throw the 2096 in the car and drive around for a while and see how it works when I drive out toward the tower....

Well now I am really at my witts end...I plugged my 800 rubber duckie antenna on top of my Pro95 (older analog handheld) and it was talking up a storm while the Pro2096 sits silent and barely breathing. I then unplugged the 20 foot high ST2 antenna which is unobstructed on my roof and plugged it into my Pro95 and it fell silent. I connected the rubber duckie onto the back of the Pro2096 and it came to life.....Bad antenna maybe??? One would think that as expensive as they are, they would work better than this. It picks up the weather channels great and the 800 mhz rubber duckie didn't for obvious reasons....I am thinking that the ST2 might not be the best suited for 800mhz and I should send it back and try something different???? Am I barking up the wrong tree, or maybe get a signal amplifier and keep it??? Any more suggestions. Tune into my feed and give me some feedback if you have time...Thanks guys...Dave

ARCA-Dave said:

Well now I am really at my witts end...I plugged my 800 rubber duckie antenna on top of my Pro95 (older analog handheld) and it was talking up a storm while the Pro2096 sits silent and barely breathing. I then unplugged the 20 foot high ST2 antenna which is unobstructed on my roof and plugged it into my Pro95 and it fell silent. I connected the rubber duckie onto the back of the Pro2096 and it came to life.....Bad antenna maybe??? One would think that as expensive as they are, they would work better than this. It picks up the weather channels great and the 800 mhz rubber duckie didn't for obvious reasons....I am thinking that the ST2 might not be the best suited for 800mhz and I should send it back and try something different???? Am I barking up the wrong tree, or maybe get a signal amplifier and keep it??? Any more suggestions. Tune into my feed and give me some feedback if you have time...Thanks guys...Dave

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It may be overloading the front end of the scanner. If you can use your portables without an antennna, that might be the problem. Have you tried using attenuation on the radio? I know my 96 was a hot receiver on the 800Mhz band. I have used the short duck that came with my Pro-99 with great success too on my 106 and 197. I was always receiving my county without an antenna on the 96. Pretty much the same for my newer digital scanners.
Larry

N8IAA said:

It may be overloading the front end of the scanner. If you can use your portables without an antennna, that might be the problem. Have you tried using attenuation on the radio? I know my 96 was a hot receiver on the 800Mhz band. I have used the short duck that came with my Pro-99 with great success too on my 106 and 197. I was always receiving my county without an antenna on the 96. Pretty much the same for my newer digital scanners.
Larry

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I'm sorry I must have not made my self clear. I can tell that the tower is in the same location and has not moved recently by getting close to it in the car, and taking the antenna off and still getting a good signal. I am about 5 miles away from the tower right now so I don't think I am getting overloaded. I have the rubber ducky plugged into the scanner right now and it is working like a charm. Check out my feed and see what you think. I think it might be antenna troubles????? maybe...that is what I am trying to figure out.

Well, you've pretty much eliminated the antenna (ST2) and the scanner. I'd be really suspecting the coax between the antenna and radio. If, for example, water is getting down into the guts of the coax cable it can almost certainly degrade your performance dramatically and vary over time. May just want to quickly try a temporary new cable to see if that perks everything back up. If so, replace the old.

Rick

I wish I could say it was something in the coax but this was just as I unpacked the box as it was delivered from Solid Signal. It is a new setup and I did a lot of research and was looking forward to increased reception but insted got not much for my buck. Not to mention crawling around on the rafters in a 120* attic at 8pm in th evening stringing the coax, I really don't want to un do it but it seems like I have no choice??

That sounds like no fun at all. Unfortunately, the only way to troubleshoot this is a piece at a time. As you know, this means putting everything where you can get at it easily and eliminate as you go. I don't envy you at all.

The ST2 is a good performer for the lower bands, especially low band, VHF and UHF but is far from being the best choice for 800 MHz. A discone with low loss coax should provide noticable improvement over the ST2 on 800 MHz.

I agreed with the fact that using the outside antenna could be overloading the receiver in the scanner. I have found in a lot of my scanning that getting the best rubber duck I can buy for the freq's I listen too is better than using on outside antenna except in one case when you are picking up a simulcast system and you are trying to isolate just one tower using an 800MHz beam antenna. I use the Radioware & Radio Bookstore - Seeker 800 MHz Duckie Antenna in weak areas.

Mike

This is just a thought I was having while reading here, and may seem simple, but.. do you have your antenna properly grounded to Earth? Im no expert with antenna's or anything radio related, but when I was trying different setups/antenna's, I noticed without a deacent ground there was a lot more "noise" and static coming thru on the stations/freqs I was tuning, it was a night and day difference to be honest..

That kind of points toward the whole "overloading" issue as well, because the noise/static would cause the same effect I think..something to \consider at least.

rfradioconsult said:

The ST2 is a good performer for the lower bands, especially low band, VHF and UHF but is far from being the best choice for 800 MHz. A discone with low loss coax should provide noticable improvement over the ST2 on 800 MHz.

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That is exactly what I am begining to think. I hear the 162.55 weather broadcast clear as a bell with it, along with the 124.75 ATIS broadcast from the Charleston Airport also, but it is stone deaf up on the 858.7625 control frequency of the Palmetto 800 system I monitor. I think I will stick with this rubber duckie and maybe try something else.....or send it back depending on what I hear from Solid Signal. Thanks for the input...Dave

I just got an email from Solid Signal where I got the antenna, and they sent me an RMA, return merchandise authorization to send it back. From the info I had gathered lately, the ST2 is great on the lower bands but pretty deaf on the 800 stuff. I appreciate all the input so far and if anyone has suggestions on a good outside ground plane that will work on the 800mhz trunked systems, drop me a PM or reply to this thread and I will check them out..Take care, Dave

ARCA-Dave said:

I just got an email from Solid Signal where I got the antenna, and they sent me an RMA, return merchandise authorization to send it back. From the info I had gathered lately, the ST2 is great on the lower bands but pretty deaf on the 800 stuff. I appreciate all the input so far and if anyone has suggestions on a good outside ground plane that will work on the 800mhz trunked systems, drop me a PM or reply to this thread and I will check them out..Take care, Dave

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This isn't what you asked for but I ran across it while looking. This would be awesome if you just want 800 and it is all in the same direction.
Wilson Yagi Cell antenna 10 Db gain 800-900 MHz New - eBay (item 290451854056 end time Jul-13-10 12:25:45 PDT)

I didn't find an omni tonight but I have seen them on ebay before. You just have to keep looking. They pop up occasionally.

Thanks a bunch for the heads up. It will keep up another hour looking I can see it now!!! Thanks and take care, Dave