Handheld wideband receiver for UHF wildlife tracking?

[sarah_wildlife]

Hi all,

I'm a wildlife biologist, so very new to the world of radios/receivers, so please forgive any missteps on my part! I'm hoping to get a recommendation for a handheld wideband receiver - we track animals with UHF radio backpacks (frequencies to the tune of 916 MHz). We generally use the Alinco DJ-X11T, which has unfortunately been discontinued and is now very hard to get ahold of.

Our equipment has to be handheld and easy to take to the field, and needs good directionality (we use the UHF signal to track the animals in the field, so the more specific we can make the range, the better chance we have of triangulating a device). A great perk would be a BNC coax connector to hook up the receiver with a Yagi. Our budget is max $500, but in conservation, the more economical we can be the better.

If anyone has recommendations or can point me in the right direction I'd be so grateful!

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

Having the technical details model serial number FCC certification if any, of the transmitters would be helpful in making a recommendation. Are they sending any data? Are they simply sending on off keying like CW? The Alinco has SSB and CW mode, so it has a BFO that would make detecting on off keying more sensitive.

 

[mmckenna]

We had a group doing that and they were using older Icom portable receivers. This was probably 20 years ago. Current models are the Icom IC-R6 or the IC-R30:

IC-R6 | Products | Icom America.

Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems

www.icomamerica.com

IC-R30 | Products | Icom America.

Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems

www.icomamerica.com

BNC connectors have fallen out of favor in the hand held radio world, but it's easy to either use an adapter cable, or get a new connector crimped on your coax cable.

If you felt comfortable sharing which agency/group you work for, there may be someone here on this site that could assist you directly. Building custom cables isn't a big deal.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

We had a group doing that and they were using older Icom portable receivers. This was probably 20 years ago. Current models are the Icom IC-R6 or the IC-R30:

IC-R6 | Products | Icom America.

Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems

www.icomamerica.com

IC-R30 | Products | Icom America.

Icom,America,Land Mobile,Marine,Aviation,Amateur,Network,Systems

www.icomamerica.com

BNC connectors have fallen out of favor in the hand held radio world, but it's easy to either use an adapter cable, or get a new connector crimped on your coax cable.

If you felt comfortable sharing which agency/group you work for, there may be someone here on this site that could assist you directly. Building custom cables isn't a big deal.

The IC-R6 lacks the BFO for SSB/CW, as it is AM/FM/FMW only. The IC-R30 was recently discontinued. They may be had discounted IF any were available, but doubtful. Icom apparently has an IC-R15 planned, however the specs are DOUBTFUL as to whether it will have SSB/CW mode.

 

[vagrant]

For 902-928 MHz and if the signal you are tracking is FM, then you may want to review the Retevis RT10. They're $150 for two of them. You will need an SMA to BNC adapter though for your Yagi coax, but that is a few dollars. You will also need to order a programming cable. They come pre-programmed, but you can delete that and just add whatever freqs you need. Still, the Icom R6 may be what you need/better solution.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08P1N21V3/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[BinaryMode]

916 MHz (ISM type B band?) is available for a whole wide selection of traditional analog scanners. I don't think you would need something super expensive. Unless you're using a certain modulation beyond FM of course. Also, you don't have to limit yourself to just BNC. There are many connectors out there that can be had on eBay and other radio retailers online. I use many myself. Though, they do introduce a bit of signal loss, but that's more exaggerated for higher frequencies. Like in the gigahertz...

Biggest question here would be what kind of modulation are you guys using? Is it straight FM or something else like SSB (Single Side Band) or whatever? Is it digital?

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

I would put money on these being on off , CW keying, so an SSB/CW receiver would be needed. It only makes sense if it required the Alinco dj-x11t receiver.

 

[bearcatrp]

How about a ham handheld radio? Not top of the line.