FM Radio Reception (noobie question)

[mjbcomp]

I was listening to the Dallas Cowboys football game yesterday and decided to program the FM station along with a few other FM stations and a few AM radio stations into my Pro-95 only to find out that i couldn't hear any of them.

So i feel dumb now.

Since the scanner can scan those ranges why can't i receive these channels:

98.7000 FM
102.9000 FM
103.7000 FM
570.0000 AM

Help me understand?

 

[N_Jay]

I was listening to the Dallas Cowboys football game yesterday and decided to program the FM station along with a few other FM stations and a few AM radio stations into my Pro-95 only to find out that i couldn't hear any of them.

So i feel dumb now.

Since the scanner can scan those ranges why can't i receive these channels:

98.7000 FM
102.9000 FM
103.7000 FM
570.0000 AM

Help me understand?

Does a Pro-95 have FM-Wide? (real FM-Wide 75 to 200 kHz bandwidth)?

Does a Pro-95 realy go down to 570 kHz, AM?

 

[mjbcomp]

N-Jay,

You're right. The Pro-95 doesn't cover those bands. Thanks.

:?

 

[KR4BD]

The (old) Radio Shack Pro-2004 will tune (not scan) wideband FM stations from 88-108 mHz. I use mine to do this, but it will not scan the band as it will lock up on each signal (carrier) it finds. You can program FM stations into the memory and tune them manually to find the one you wish to listen to. This model scanner can tune just about everything above 25 mHz, including the Citizens Band in AM mode. With modification, it can also receive cell frequencies.

There are some radios, not scanners, that will tune virtually EVERYTHING. I have a Kenwood TH-F6, which is a 3 band VHF/UHF transceiver with a "DC-to Daylight" receiver it it. This radio is smaller than a pack of cigarettes! You can listen to two frequencies simultaneosly, so I often have it on a local AM or FM broadcast station and monitor a ham repeater (or public service frequency) on the other frequency.

I am amazed at the size and performance of this tranceiver that features a 5 watt transmitter on 3 bands along with the multi-mode (AM, FM (wide and narrow), SSB, and CW) receiver!

 

[Newstech]

FM Radio Reception

Well, I'm a Pro-95 newbie too, and I've noticed the same thing, but I'm puzzled. Don Starr's software lets one enter frequencies from 500 KHz to 1.3 GHz. I understand that the radio will not be sensitive in all bands, and that it doesn't handle wideband FM, but that doesn't explain why I can't pick up the local loudenboomer at 1090 KHz AM, or why I'm not getting something -- even if it's distorted -- in the FM broadcast range. Similarly, I programmed in a list of TV audio frequencies, and most of them are mushy but fairly listenable, although I have to set the mode as AM (??!). Some others, like Ch. 45 (661.75) don't seem to be there at all. This is not a gripe, but if anyone can offer further explanation I'd be grateful.

 

[gpsblake]

The good news
You program the PRO-95 to pick up frequenices outside the normal scanning range (minus cell phone range)
Instructions:
http://www.starrsoft.com/freeware/win95/ScanEx.txt

The Bad News:
A lot of those frequencies will not be picked up by the scanner. FM Radio uses wide band while FM on the scanner is narrow band. And the internal filters can cause the signal to be attenuated severely in that range.

A good example is the Military Air Band. You can enter 331.5, but the
internal filter ends at 225.0. Signals above 225 to 406 are almost impossible to pick up even though you can program them in the scanner.

 

[Newstech]

I should have paid more attention to Don Starr's sensitivity tests, particularly:
"No reception below 17 MHz"
"No reception between 580 MHz and 806 MHz"
and it looks like an extremely strong signal is required to break through into the FM broadcast frequencies, and from 275-ish up to 405.

Still some military air possibilities I guess, but I'd be better served redoing the two military banks I copied from somewhere to exclude the high end of the range, and using those channels for better things.

Thanks for pointing me back to the Win95 site.