Uniden close call on construction sites

[mike619]

If on a construction site would Uniden close call be effective in finding out what frequencies the companies are using?

 

[IC-R20]

Oh yes, very. Depending on how strong the sea of there signals in the area are you can get hit on them off site but nearby depending on the antenna you use. Using a 3 foot telescopic on my BC92xlt I can get 200mw FRS radios from 500 feet, 4 watt handhelds from 1/4 mile, and 50 watt mobiles from 1.5 miles since the spectrum is not too crowded at once where I live. A little over half of that on my 436HP since it's not sensitive but yeah close call is made for that. That's how I log most businesses and originally why I got the 436HP (I can record with metadata eliminating the need to listen live and making hiding it easier. I either belt clip it and pull my shirt over it or if it's cold enough put it in my jackets interior pocket and walk into a business.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Worth a shot but if comms are DMR simplex, close call is virtually useless. I'd suggest checking common itinerant & business frequencies. Don't forget FRS as well. If construction company name is known try searching for licensee via FCC ULS or maprad.io (US or Canada) for fixed base and/or itinerant licensing. Also be familiar with the radio rental shop licenses / systems in your area and scan them for undocumented talkgroups (ID search) or generically-named "construction" talkgroups in the RRDB, this is when it helps to be armed with a DMR & NXDN capable receiver. Keep in mind not all construction companies utilize LMR radios.

 

[mike619]

Oh yes, very. Depending on how strong the sea of there signals in the area are you can get hit on them off site but nearby depending on the antenna you use. Using a 3 foot telescopic on my BC92xlt I can get 200mw FRS radios from 500 feet, 4 watt handhelds from 1/4 mile, and 50 watt mobiles from 1.5 miles since the spectrum is not too crowded at once where I live. A little over half of that on my 436HP since it's not sensitive but yeah close call is made for that. That's how I log most businesses and originally why I got the 436HP (I can record with metadata eliminating the need to listen live and making hiding it easier. I either belt clip it and pull my shirt over it or if it's cold enough put it in my jackets interior pocket and walk into a business.

What do you have your squelch set to while in close call?

 

[wtp]

most of my unidens are set to 2 all the time.
i use mine around the mall, it is like a ghost town in there.

 

[IC-R20]

What do you have your squelch set to while in close call?

1

Same as for regular listening with the exception of LoBand sometimes when there's too much noise then I set it to 2. The squelch is pretty smart on these radios so I never had any issue with falsing. I'll just hit the attenuator or collapse the telescopic antenna if I want to limit what I get hits on.

 

[wtp]

Close Call squelch setting

I would like to know what number should the squelch be on for recieving better close call hits and if that even plays a roll?

forums.radioreference.com

2

 

[radioman2008]

most of my unidens are set to 2 all the time.
i use mine around the mall, it is like a ghost town in there.

I walk around malls scanning in discovery mode (so it stores audio in specific folders for each business). usually ill set one uniden on 466-470 and another from 464.4625 to 464.55
Tillys uses 464.4625 in my area, and 464.50 and 464.55 are easily active with some store radios.