SDS100 and CHP

[sds100noob]

I recently just purchased a SDS100 and would like to listen to OC and Riverside County CHP. I have created a favorites list and added them from the Sentinel. I can listen just fine when I’m in my house or outside, but whenever I’m driving nothing comes through. Is there any fix to this? Thanks!

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Welcome to the RR forums. It would help to know the antenna you are using while driving. Stock rubber ducky on scanner? Mobile antenna on car? Something else?

 

[sds100noob]

Welcome to the RR forums. It would help to know the antenna you are using while driving. Stock rubber ducky on scanner? Mobile antenna on car?

Thank you! And I’m using just the stock antenna that it came with.

 

[mmckenna]

I recently just purchased a SDS100 and would like to listen to OC and Riverside County CHP. I have created a favorites list and added them from the Sentinel. I can listen just fine when I’m in my house or outside, but whenever I’m driving nothing comes through. Is there any fix to this? Thanks!

VHF low band is really particular about the antenna.
Outside or inside a residence, there is probably enough signal getting through that the antenna on the radio is "good enough". Keep in mind that the antenna is mostly designed around VHF, UHF and 700-800MHz.
Yes, if there is a strong enough signal, it will work on other bands, just not very well. You can use a paperclip stuffed in the antenna jack and it'll pick something up.

Anyway, putting the radio AND the antenna inside the car isn't going to work well. The car is a big steel box, probably with metallic tinting on the windows, etc. That makes it very difficult for the longer wavelengths of VHF low to get into the car. Also known as "Faraday Cage". You are not the first to discover this.

Putting an antenna outside the car will probably resolve this.

 

[tsalmrsystemtech]

Yes I completely agree with mmckenna above. CHP is just hard to listen to on a handheld portable radio period unless you live close to one of the repeaters. Its also hard to listen in the house or the car unless you have an outdoor antenna. I have one of those old ST-2 Antennas and I can pickup CHP from about 50 to 60 miles away depends anyhthing North or South. The Copper is pretty easy to pickup because of their strong repeaters.

Even with a base scanner in the house I can't pickup anything at all with the antenna just on the radio. I have to have an outdoor ST-2 antenna or a big discone up at 30 feet. You just need lots of metal up high in the air with LOW Band. Its ticky. Even on foggy nights or just some nights period even with an outdoor antenna some channels are just hard to pickup sometimes. Its an art to pickup low band.

As to the car I have to use a mag mount and it seems to work pretty well. So good luck. Maybe in the next few years or so CHP will not be on low band and move forward to the statewide TRS but TBD at this point.

 

[gmclam]

While an SDS-100 works pretty well, and is required for a Simulcast system; when I am on the road I run a separate scanner on a separate antenna just for CHP. Presently my preferred scanner for this is the PSR-310, but most work just fine (although I feel you also need to employ CTCSS codes and not all receivers can do that). By doing this I have one mobile antenna designed for UHF and one for VHF.

 

[markclark]

I recently just purchased a SDS100 and would like to listen to OC and Riverside County CHP. I have created a favorites list and added them from the Sentinel. I can listen just fine when I’m in my house or outside, but whenever I’m driving nothing comes through. Is there any fix to this? Thanks!

I'd like to refer you to recent thread on the topic of CHP reception and the need for a dedicated low band antenna if you want maximum reception. Here:

Looking for help with CHP frequencies, N Cal, and 4 surrounding counties, SDS-100

I am looking for help from someone, that is familiar with the CHP channels in SF, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Dublin, and Pleasanton. I have all color channels, (gold, Bronze, etc), programmed in Sentinel, as well as most all their frequencies listed selected to scan. I only hear a rare...

forums.radioreference.com

 

[rdochb]

Hi.
I will agree to all of the above. On my older Uniden's the lower frequencies reception was the first thing that went. My Icom R5 worked well with lower frequencies. The car is is one big metal box.
I had a similar problem with my BCD436HP. Living in OC and do road trips, CHP came in everywhere but in the car while driving. I unplug my USB phone charger one day, and it was like flipping a CHP switch. While charging my phone it block me receiving the lower frequencies.
Unplug any USB cables that are connected into your car. See what happens. Then try using an antenna on top if the car. To start, I got a low-cost DVB antenna off Amazon to start experimenting with. Surprising it work very well.