So you have tons of scanners...

[wannabescannist]

Don't they interfere with each other, RF-wise? When I look at some of you guys' shacks, it makes me think that all the unconnected antennas make up some odd Yagi...But it's not so much a Yagi, but that the separate unconnected antennas serve as an array of out-of-place directors & reflectors.

And it's not just the antennas themselves, but the actual scanners as well. For example, couldn't the RF leakage (like the scanner detector thread brings up) interfere with another scanner? I know lots of electronics give off some stray RF, but is it significant enough to interfere with other scanners?

Or am I just wrong? Please shed some light on whether you can have lots of scanners in a small area and each scanner function independently, without interference, among the others.

 

[zguy1243]

All my gear is connected to outdoor antennas with preamps inline, very little RFI from the gear.

 

[n4voxgill]

i have never had a poblem with multilple scanners and if you check this site you will see that them interfering with each other is not a concern/

http://hometown.aol.com/scanaddict/index.html

 

[DaveH]

i have never had a poblem with multilple scanners and if you check this site you will see that them interfering with each other is not a concern/

NOT true. There have been numerous reported cases of leakage from
scanner local oscillators, usually older dual-conversion models, causing
each other to lock up or creating annoying "blips". I have had this
problem myself.

Dave

 

[n4voxgill]

I have only run 10 or 12 at a time so I have not had the problem you have experienced with your large number of scanners. Al Stern daily has 30 to 40 running at a time and has never commented on a problem.

 

[ohiodesperado]

The only thing that comes to mind when running multiple radio's is the possibillity of the IF frequencies being received by other units. It's similar to the birdies that all scanners have.

 

[Fast1eddie]

I've grounded several of my older J.I.L models, and have not had much of a problem. However, I hear cpu noise when monitoring hf.
Ed

 

[Bucko]

I run several scanners at one time and don't have any trouble with the newer models however the older scanners would cause interference with other scanners. An example is my old HX1500 Regency, it will cause problems with my newer model Uniden's and GRE's if located to close and I have had old crystal types also to do this.

 

[gmclam]

My scanners do not interfere with each other, but they certainly do pick up lots of JUNK from devices that are poorly designed/shielded. The controller in my Jacuzzi is a big culprit. Other emitting devices include PCs, routers, and devices I use for my work.

 

[N9JIG]

I have 13 scanners (BC15's, BC996's, BC785's, BC780's and a 2096) 3 two-ways and an R8500 in my shack and have no issues with them interfering with each other. Some share an antenna via a Stridsberg multicoupler which is very good at rejecting interference and the others have their own antennas.

All of my desktop scanners have metal cases, which makes a huge difference. While I loved my older Pro2005/2006's, their plastic cases allowed IF leakage. They generated quite a bit of in-band interference even when disconnected from the antenna. I was able to reduce this somewhat by spraying the inside of the case with a metallic spray. I have since replaced these with newer radios.

 

[scannerrail]

always wondered about this

 

[iMONITOR]

Back when I was using a PRO-2096, and a PRO-2055 with stock antennas, I noticed if they didn't have at least one foot between them, they would interfere with each other to some extent.

 

[Klaus_folken]

Multiple scanners.

Hi ppl,
I have 6 scanners running all in at once, all on defined frequencies, until now I had no problems with them. They are all connected to 4 different antennas with variable hight between them and I can say I can HEAR quite interesting conversations.
I am thinking to buy a digital equilizer with a spectrum analyzer and was going to connect it to the air scanner to filter noise in order to record the audio. I got the "Phonic i7600 " which was recomanded to me. I just wanted to see if this would help me to improve the quality of the sound. thanks for your help.

 

[kd5dga]

I have 5 running constantly.No problems here.

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi Wannabe and all,

Yes, antennas in close proximity to each other mounted in the same horizontal plane can interfere with each other. Likewise scanners connected to them can interfere with each other and it's particularly true with indoor antennas. As you can read it's not always the case, it all depends on the equipment involved and it's installation.

See how they argue with each other? You should read the write-up about us on www.hamsexy.com if you want to know what others think about such nonsense. Now don't take them TOO seriously, they like to burst >everybody's< bubble.

Please don't lock this thread, I didn't mention >his< name now did I? (;->)

 

[AZScanner]

Al Stern daily has 30 to 40 running at a time and has never commented
on a problem.

Thirty to FORTY at a time? Holy God....

My wife would run screaming from the house and never come back. (Hmmmmm....)

LOL - I kid, I kid!

 

[SAR923]

Thirty to FORTY at a time? Holy God....

My wife would run screaming from the house and never come back. (Hmmmmm....)

LOL - I kid, I kid!

But still true. My wife would kill me. If the truth be known, I suspect that most guys with large numbers of scanners leave most of them parked on one frequency so they don't miss traffic from different agencies or they only have two or three on at a time and the rest are sentimental value.

 

[scanfan03]

But still true. My wife would kill me. If the truth be known, I suspect that most guys with large numbers of scanners leave most of them parked on one frequency so they don't miss traffic from different agencies or they only have two or three on at a time and the rest are sentimental value.

I listen to 10 at a time in my wrecker. Except we use actual Motorola radios.

 

[jmp883]

I have 5 scanners, 2 ham radio transceivers, and a computer all set up on the same piece of furniture and I have never had any RF interference from them or going into them.

The only interference I've ever gotten is when I key up my Icom IC-756 HF transceiver. If my Sirius satellite radio is on I'll get a rumble through the Sirius speakers until I unkey. The Sirius radio is across the room from the rest of the radio equipment and computer.

Of course good amateur operation means that you have nothing on in the background while you're operating your amateur station so it really isn't an issue anyway !

 

[Astro25]

I've honestly never had a problem. The only thing that overloads are my cheap RadioShack (Pro96) and Uniden (bc996d) digital scanners when I TX on another radio nearby (everything is heliax, grounded, and well-sheilded mind you).

The only things that don't get intermod are my commercial radios and, oddly enough, an old Patrolman 4 I think it is (has crystals)