BC350C: BC365CRS Signal boosting

afwolf130 · Aug 14, 2017

I bought a Uniden BC365CRS scanner to listen to air traffic at an airport. I have an office in the airport building about 100 yds away from the radio tower. Yet we can barely get a signal from the tower. I tried buying a different antenna but it did not work.

I am looking for advice to boost the signal for the scanner. Is there an affordable signal booster that I can use, or a better antenna than the one that comes with it? The scanner sits directly next to a window with the antenna straight up next to a gap in the window. I don't want to spend more than $25 since at that point, it would just be better to buy a better scanner. Any advice is appreciated.

lu81fitter · Aug 14, 2017

Did you try taking the antenna off? You may be too close and it is overloading your scanner.

W8RMH · Aug 14, 2017

W-901 Airband Portable Antenna | Scanner Master

BPF-AIR Air Band Band Pass Filter | Scanner Master

JamesO · Aug 15, 2017

This is what you want if you can live with only using the Airband because this Pre-Amp/Filter reduces all the out of band signals. I have used other products from this seller and they are all high quality and perform well.

You can power this with a USB wall wart and a micro USB cable.

Airband LNA preamplifier with airband band pass filter aviation RTL SDR aviation | eBay

UPMan · Aug 15, 2017

Another question would be where is the actual transmitting antenna for the tower? If it is blocked (by terrain or structure) from your location, getting the signal will be more difficult. ATC antennas are typically set for great coverage of the sky, but no regard for ground coverage. (Ground control antennas are, however, positioned so as to provide RF coverage over all runways and taxiways.)

ScanRite · Aug 16, 2017

JamesO said:
This is what you want if you can live with only using the Airband because this Pre-Amp/Filter reduces all the out of band signals. I have used other products from this seller and they are all high quality and perform well.

You can power this with a USB wall wart and a micro USB cable.

Airband LNA preamplifier with airband band pass filter aviation RTL SDR aviation | eBay

That has got to be the coolest designed PCB I've ever seen!

afwolf130 · Aug 17, 2017

I did take the antenna off and it did not help. The airport antenna is about 100 yards north of my positon. It is not blocked since I can see it from my window. There is some eleavation differences, but it shouldn't be a problem. The airport fbo building I am in has a radio that they listen to inside, my school just wanted one for our office since we send students up in the air solo and have to monitor the radios.

I like that amplifier but if I'm going to spend $40, I may as well just buy a different scanner that is better.

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jonwienke · Aug 17, 2017

If the tower transmitter is only 100 yards away with a clear line of sight, then you definitely don't need a preamp. Your problem is that the tower is overloading your receiver when it transmits. A scanner with a better receiver that can handle strong signals without going deaf is probably your best bet.

afwolf130 · Aug 17, 2017

So it's not because the scanner is indoors? The building has metal siding and I thought maybe that is what the problem is. I put the scanner in the window with the antenna against the window. Is there any way an antenna mounted outside the window would help?

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techman210 · Aug 17, 2017

If the transmitting antenna is that far away, the metal building should not affect it too much.

I would think the radio is either:

A) Bad
B) is getting overloaded by a local FM broadcast transmitter or
C) Getting jammed by local sources of noise - computers, routers, etc.

Try turning off everything electronic - including fluorescent lamps and see what happens.

JamesO · Aug 17, 2017

You sure the scanner front end is not already damaged/fried? Can the scanner monitor NOAA Weather broadcast?

What happens if you walk outside with the radio? What happens if you monitor from 3 miles from the airport?

What happens if you put in Commercial Aircraft frequencies and monitor them from a differnet location?

W8RMH · Aug 18, 2017

You may have better luck with an air band radio like the Icom IC-A14 COM Aviation Radio - from Sporty's Pilot Shop

KD4UXQ · Aug 29, 2017

afwolf130 said:
So it's not because the scanner is indoors? The building has metal siding and I thought maybe that is what the problem is. I put the scanner in the window with the antenna against the window. Is there any way an antenna mounted outside the window would help?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I would suspect the window has a metallic tinting. I would not suspect 100 yards away would desensitize the receiver or damage the RF transistor. Most air band transmitters are no more than 50 watts with an ERP much less than that due to feed line losses. I would certainly try the scanner outside the building to verify it works ok. Are you sure that is a transmit antenna nearby, or is it a receive antenna. They are separate unless it is the antenna for the multiband transceiver.

BC350C: BC365CRS Signal boosting

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