Frequency Counter question
- Thread starter CVPI4Ever
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CVPI4Ever said:
No such thing as good and cheap.
Look no further then http://www.optoelectronics.com/
Heh, last time I bought an optoelectronics frequency counter, I thought the battery was dead. I plugged it in to the charger and the damn thing literally exploded in my hand. Dead serious. It stunk so bad I had to ventilate the whole apartment.
I called up Optoelectronics and he wanted $70 something an hour to work on it and he kept tryingto pile more fees on. Jeez. Fixing it is much more then its worth. It went into the trash.
I called up Optoelectronics and he wanted $70 something an hour to work on it and he kept tryingto pile more fees on. Jeez. Fixing it is much more then its worth. It went into the trash.
jparks29
John McClane
what are you using it for? general 'stuff', or testing radios??
fineshot1
Member
CVPI4Ever said:
Well then - The optoelectronics line is likely what you want. Like Dubbin said "no such thing as good and cheap" and I would have to agree after about 25 years of using their products and longer for using other freq counters and test gear. Sounds like you just had one bad experience and condemned the entire product line. I use the Scout 40 and it performs well for that purpose. I have had to replace the battery in it about 5 times since I purchased it due to alot of use(not sure but i think i had it now for about 15 years). I beat it up pretty bad during those years and it been back for service twice. My next purchase will probably be the CD100.
Yes - there is cheaper but probably not better for what you want it for.
You'd be better off getting a scanner that has signal stalker or something like that, if you're just trying to snag frequencies,.. Plus then you can actually hear what you just stumbled upon..
Right, a true frequency counter is a bit of rather expensive test equipment not meant for "sniffing" frequencies in the air. There are less expensive but still not cheap hand held searching devices but like any counter must be periodically calibrated, not something you can do at home without proper equipment, knowledge and skills. You're better off with a scanner having search capabilities but you need to learn it's little quirks or you can be off by a few KHz. In other words once you've spotted an active frequency you have to dig a little deeper to make sure you got it right.
Oh, I'd like to see the look on your face when the cop asks you what you've got in your hand and what you're doing with it, hint hint.
Oh, I'd like to see the look on your face when the cop asks you what you've got in your hand and what you're doing with it, hint hint.
Get a PRO-97 and use Signal Stalker, or a Bearcat BC246T and use Close Call. Both are better suited to what you want than a frequency counter is. If you snag a frequency of, say, 154.310, you will see "154.310" on the scanner. Using a frequency counter, you might see something like, "154.309856442" or something as confusing. Plus a scanner will tell you the PL or DPL tone in use, assuming there is one. Plus they're both good scanners to boot!
Happy holidays!
Happy holidays!
According to Uniden's site, they say the "Close Call" feature on the BC246T will tune to signals from nearby transmitters where as the Radio Shackstore tag says "Signal Stalker" on the PRO-97 will pick up transmissions within 1000 feet. Whats the range on the Uniden BC246T?
CVPI4Ever said:
There is no set range. How far you will pick up transmissions depends on a lot of things, like the power of the transmitter, distance, obstructions between you and the transmitter, height of the transmitting antenna, etc. For a hand held radio, you might get anywhere from a few dozen feet to a couple hundred feet, for a base station, it could be from a couple of blocks to a half mile or more. Generally, I have observed that the PRO-97 Signal Stalker will receive farther than the Uniden BC246 Close Call, but this is by design. This is not really a bad thing, IMO.
The "cheaper" units may take you up 125 mHz, but that's stil a unit similar to my HP #1090, which is still a good piece of bench equipment. The smaller handhelds may go up to ~50 mHz. Alot of the newer VOM meters have freq counters that can go up to 120-150 mHz. I've picked up some good heathkit sets on the Ham Swap meets.
If looking at a scanner with Close Call or Signal Stalker, consider the frequency range these radios cover. My 396T got a CloseCall hit once on a 189 MHz Telex system but the 246T would have never found it since it doesn't cover that frequency range. Something like the OptoCub covers 1MHz - 2.8GHz frequency range.
CloseCall is really great because like others have mentioned, you can hear what CloseCall received instantly (after a push of a button), you can lock-out frequencies or frequency ranges from future CloseCall hits, and you can autostore CloseCall hits while the scanner is in your pocket, car, hotel room, etc. -- None of these can I do on the OptoCub. Still it's nice having both options but I rarely use the OptoCub anymore.
CloseCall is really great because like others have mentioned, you can hear what CloseCall received instantly (after a push of a button), you can lock-out frequencies or frequency ranges from future CloseCall hits, and you can autostore CloseCall hits while the scanner is in your pocket, car, hotel room, etc. -- None of these can I do on the OptoCub. Still it's nice having both options but I rarely use the OptoCub anymore.
kd7rto
Member
Obviously the battery was dead. Call it an expensive lesson learned and check out the nicads with a DMM to make sure they are not old and shorted whenever you purchase used electronics in the future.CVPI4Ever said:
kd7rto
Member
I'm saying the electronics were not the problem, the ni-cd battery cells were. Had you tested them, you would have detected the problem, bought new cells, and you would have a working Optoelectronics counter today.CVPI4Ever said:
When ni-cd's get old, they short out. The current you applied attempting to charge them encountered this dead short, and caused the explosion. This should be expected when you buy something containing ni-cd's, that the previous owner had not powered up for several years.
What happened is not cause to question the quality of the manufacturer's product. Regardless of what you buy or who built it, when you obtain a used item containing rechargeable cells, test them to make sure they are not shorted before you attempt a charge.
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