improving reception for South Bay Regional Communications

[HBdigital1]

Hello. Used to live in Gardena, and now live in Huntington Beach, and I can receive AT TIMES dispatches from Gardena and Hawthorne. Problem is, the signal goes in and out, and tends to be better on the warm days(trophospheric ducting??),and occasionally in the evenings. Question I have, has anyone used the Grove ant amplifiers for reception? I have seen one for about $50 on their web site, but before spending money on that, wondering if anyone has any experience with this? As a corollary, used to hear S. Pasadena PD perfectly, but for past year, I hear nothing! Have they gone APCO 25 now, or did they change frequencies? appreciate any help with these 2 questions. I have PSR 500, so if APCO 25, if signal is strong enough, should be able to hear S Pasadena, or do I need an amplifier?(esp if they have gone digital). thanks!

 

[trooperdude]

Cheap (and $50 is cheap) broadband signal amplifiers will cause you more headache in an urban signal environment than they are worth. They will amplify the noise floor and make it useless.

Your money is MUCH better spent on a directional gain antenna, up as high as you can afford, and fed with good quality coax cable.

Isn't South Pasadena now on ICIS ?

 

[rananthony04]

Isn't South Pasadena now on ICIS ?

-Negative(AFAIK), still analog and still using 470.98750, not sure of the tone. I can hear S. Pasadena from Santa Ana on occasions with moderate to heavy static.

 

[Mick]

I get 97.4 Hz for South Pasadena PD on 470.9875.

-Negative(AFAIK), still analog and still using 470.98750, not sure of
the tone. I can hear S. Pasadena from Santa Ana on occasions with moderate to heavy static.

 

[rananthony04]

I get 97.4 Hz for South Pasadena PD on 470.9875.

Thanks Mick.

 

[HBdigital1]

thanks for info on S Pas! Maybe they tuned down their transmit power and/or tweaked their antennae array/direction? I used to hear them very well without any static, here in Huntington Beach, and now, it is just background hiss with no discernable signal.