Interfearence (help)

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xenonmatrix

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As of now i am using two 4 foot whip antennas for my BCT8 scanner. the antennas are mount on each side of my trunk. now the clarity and signal is great but my only problem is when i try to transmit out on my CB it interfears with my scanner. Now the CB antenna is right between my two scanner antennas and they have about 2 foot space in between them.
I was wondering if i need to move the CB antenna to the roof or somewhere else or is there something else i could i do thank you!
 

Pro-95

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xenonmatrix said:
I was wondering if i need to move the CB antenna to the roof or somewhere else
That's what I would try first. Another option would be to shut off the scanner while transmitting on the CB.

However while in Moab Utah using a handheld CB and a Uniden 246T with only the rubber ducky and transmitting on the CB within 2 feet of the Uniden I never did experiance any problems. Well after I shut off the close call. :oops:

Someone else may chime in but you may have some extraneous signal leakage in your CB system that is creating the interference.

Assumptions: You are not running any additional power out of your CB and your CB hasn't been messed with. ;)
 

twolf816

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well, the dual antennas might be the problem.
the antennas are made to tx and rx cb frequencies correct?

friend of mine put dual antennas on his scanner and had the same exact problem and worse.
i had a cb antenna 6inches from my single bct8 antenna and i recieved 0 interference when operating the cb. so check that route.
 

cdenton

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CB Interference

I get interference with my CB when I Tx from my K40 antenna ... and I have a handheld with a duck inside the car. I just turn my scanner off or down before I key up. I'm not sure that's avoidable ... I'd like to know if there is a solution!
 

xenonmatrix

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your right they are supposed to be CB antennas but im getting them tuned for scanning today thank you all so much and if i find the way to lose the interfearence i will post
 

studgeman

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As always try the simple and cheap solutions, and people have given you some very good ideas. If those do not work, i would suggest a low-pass filter or a CB notch filter as an alternative. This of course assumes you are not planning on using your scanner to monitor CB radio.

What i susupect is happening, and this is quite typical with scanners, is the front amplifier on the receiver is being overloaded becasue it does not have enough rejection. A lowpass or notch filter will help with this problem.

Again try the simple things first, everyone has had good suggestions for you. Best of luck and happy scanning
 

KB8UYC

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Something else to remember:

If the "CB Radio" is doing more than 4watts it will interfere with anything in the area. Also if there is a different microphone(other than the original) like a D104 that allows the modulation to exceed its limits then you will get interference.



Eric
 

Al42

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xenonmatrix said:
your right they are supposed to be CB antennas but im getting them tuned for scanning today thank you all so much and if i find the way to lose the interfearence i will post
You can't "tune" a CB antenna for multi-band scanning - unless someone's invented a new form of physics while I wasn't looking.
 

twolf816

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thats what i was thinking;

just a thought, how bout using a scanner antenna for the scanner?

i betcha that'll help alot
 

eyes00only

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Al42 said:
You can't "tune" a CB antenna for multi-band scanning - unless someone's invented a new form of physics while I wasn't looking.

I would say that you can't tune any antenna for "MULTIBAND" reception :roll: .

Jerry
 

eyes00only

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xenonmatrix said:
As of now i am using two 4 foot whip antennas for my BCT8 scanner. the antennas are mount on each side of my trunk.

Having two antennas for any SINGLE use is a waste, unless they are a least eight feet apart.

Jerry
 

K5MAR

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eyes00only said:
xenonmatrix said:
As of now i am using two 4 foot whip antennas for my BCT8 scanner. the antennas are mount on each side of my trunk.

Having two antennas for any SINGLE use is a waste, unless they are a least eight feet apart.

Jerry

That would depend on the frequency in use (assuming the antennas are tuned for that freq.). For instance, if they were tuned 2meter 1/4 wave whips, optimal seperation would be about 19". (This is an approximate, off the top of my head figure, exact spacing would depend on the frequency) CB is (roughly) 108 inches.

Mark S.
 

Al42

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eyes00only said:
Al42 said:
You can't "tune" a CB antenna for multi-band scanning - unless someone's invented a new form of physics while I wasn't looking.

I would say that you can't tune any antenna for "MULTIBAND" reception :roll: .

Jerry
You can tune a parallel dipole for multiband reception. You can tune a trap antenna for multiband reception. You can tune a very broadband antenna (like a discone) for multiband reception.

You can't tune a helical antenna for anything better than a lossy dummy load.
 

Al42

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eyes00only said:
Having two antennas for any SINGLE use is a waste, unless they are a least eight feet apart.

Jerry
That's only true for a) CB and b) a 2 X 1/4 wave phasing harness. You can lengthen or shorten the phasing lines to accommodate different antenna spacing.

And that's just assuming you want a bidirectional pattern at right angles to the line between the antennas.

Broadcast antennas for directional stations are a lot less than 1/4 wavelength apart, but they maintain the patterns they're designed for.
 

eyes00only

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OK, before I go to sleep, I will try to put my case to rest. A wave LENGTH is just that! A frequency of 154 MHz would use an antenna trimmed to .5133 meters for optimum use. The key word here is "multiband", and I was simply saying that no antenna could be EXACTLY that.

Jerry
 

kb2vxa

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Hi guys,

Speaking from 40 years of experience, one of two things, likely a combination of both is happening here. First, the scanner is being overloaded by the CB transmit and second a CB usually puts out a lot of crud even if unmodified and no big "leenyar" is contributing to the problem. I have seen CBs radiate harmonics from the case which of course can't be filtered plus all sorts of spurious emissions that readily show up on a spectrum analyzer. While they must meet FCC certification standards they seldom actually do, I found this out when working with the FCC on interference complaints. In any case, listening to both at the same time would drive me crazy, transmitting is worse, one is a distraction to the other.

A common misconception is "co-phasing" two mobile CB antennas. Antenna Specialists was the only company to actually accomplish this with a system that electronically rotated a signal using two identical antennas spaced 9' apart on the vehicle. They had to be mounted "fore and aft" to work properly, any other spacing totally upsets the apple cart. BTW, it worked at it's best while "mountain topping", that is stationary. While moving it's too hard to stay pointed in the right direction which is why an omni position on the phaser was provided.

I laugh myself silly when they fall for the "Twin Trucker" snake oil hype that proports to make an omnidirectional pattern out of a figure 8 created by the vehicle body. Without getting all techie about it, let it be sufficient to say it just can't be done with any sort of predictable results. My OM fell for this nonsense and put them one on each side of the trunk of his '63 Olds Holliday. When I inherited it one came right off and nothing had changed signal wise, the pattern still fired off the front of the car. BTW, they're a booger to tune like that, not worth the effort when absolutely nothing is gained.
 
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