Upgraded antenna, can't hear MSP?

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Dave2582

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Apr 21, 2010
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Curr: Hudson, NH Lived: Tewksbury/Billerica MA
Hey everyone,

I finally bought myself a pro-106 a few months ago, and still new to all of this. I finally have that beast tweaked out, and it works great. I took a ride over to the HRO in Salem, NH. I upgraded the rubber duck to the RH77CA Diamond antenna. I was told that this is a shifty product; sometimes it works well, sometimes it's the same as stock. Since I upgraded, I haven't been able to hear MSP. The rubber duck picks it up just fine, Is it because it's a better antenna, and skips over their frequency, or do you have something better in mind?

I do travel to and from work listening to police/fire nearby from my car. I know using it as a handheld while driving is not the ideal use for it. I will setup mobile down the road sometime. Also, does tinted windows have an effect on it as well?

Thanks.
 

ecps92

Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
14,358
Location
Taxachusetts
Billerica, so likely Zone 5 ??

If so, have you reprogrammed ?? Zone 5 ReBanded last month and the Control Channels changed, along with multiple Voice Channels.

( http://forums.radioreference.com/ma...m/263300-msp-zone-5-trs-changes-h-troops.html )


Hey everyone,

I finally bought myself a pro-106 a few months ago, and still new to all of this. I finally have that beast tweaked out, and it works great. I took a ride over to the HRO in Salem, NH. I upgraded the rubber duck to the RH77CA Diamond antenna. I was told that this is a shifty product; sometimes it works well, sometimes it's the same as stock. Since I upgraded, I haven't been able to hear MSP. The rubber duck picks it up just fine, Is it because it's a better antenna, and skips over their frequency, or do you have something better in mind?

I do travel to and from work listening to police/fire nearby from my car. I know using it as a handheld while driving is not the ideal use for it. I will setup mobile down the road sometime. Also, does tinted windows have an effect on it as well?

Thanks.
 

n5ims

Member
Joined
Jul 25, 2004
Messages
3,993
Hey everyone,

I finally bought myself a pro-106 a few months ago, and still new to all of this. I finally have that beast tweaked out, and it works great. I took a ride over to the HRO in Salem, NH. I upgraded the rubber duck to the RH77CA Diamond antenna. I was told that this is a shifty product; sometimes it works well, sometimes it's the same as stock. Since I upgraded, I haven't been able to hear MSP. The rubber duck picks it up just fine, Is it because it's a better antenna, and skips over their frequency, or do you have something better in mind?

I do travel to and from work listening to police/fire nearby from my car. I know using it as a handheld while driving is not the ideal use for it. I will setup mobile down the road sometime. Also, does tinted windows have an effect on it as well?

Thanks.

Your problem is that you got an antenna for the wrong band. The MSP is on the 800 MHz band and the Diamond RH77CA is designed for the VHF-Hi and UHF bands. Yes, I know they say "It can additionally receive these bands: 120, 150, 300, 450, 800 and 900 MHz", but that just indicates if you have a very strong signal there you may pick it up, not that it will really work well on those bands. While it does work great where it was designed, it works OK on strong signals on the 700, 800, & 900 MHz bands, but poorly on weaker ones there.

Take your RH77CA back and get the designed for 800 MHz band antenna from Radio Shack (800MHz Scanner Antenna : Scanner Antennas | RadioShack.com) and you'll get much better results for the MSP on their 800 MHz frequencies.
 

awattam

Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
268
Location
Nashua NH
Or keep the Diamond and have both antennas. I have 3 different antennas for driving now, the Diamond RH77CA, the GRE-800 and a Comet BNC-24. Each works better for a specific band than the other so I switch them out depending on what I want to listen to. The Comet picks up MSP while in my car and I am way up in New Hampshire.

I have learned from experience that there isnt one good antenna that covers the scanners full range of frequencies.
 

Dave2582

Member
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
122
Location
Curr: Hudson, NH Lived: Tewksbury/Billerica MA
Billerica, so likely Zone 5 ??

If so, have you reprogrammed ?? Zone 5 ReBanded last month and the Control Channels changed, along with multiple Voice Channels.

( http://forums.radioreference.com/ma...m/263300-msp-zone-5-trs-changes-h-troops.html )

I'll take a look at that this weekend. I may have to update those changes. Thanks for the help.


To n5ims and awattam, I'll definitely consider buying another antenna designed for 800 MHz to hear MSP. I may or may not keep the diamond.

Thanks for your help.

Some of the p25 channels sound a little off. Lowell and Reading sounds much better than Nashua. NH State just sounds funky.
 

ecps92

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Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
14,358
Location
Taxachusetts
You might want to keep an eye/ear on ScanNewEngland as it popped up there first.
A Few of us wanted to give it a few days as the Techs tweaked the system, before making the submission for the RRDB

A few other Zones might also need rebanding, waiting to hear the Techs making changes

Glad it worked

Quick update on my dilemma...It was the rebanding issue that ecps92 has mentioned. I went in and manually changed the frequencies, and MSP came alive. I'll still consider other options for a different antenna. Thanks for the support!
 

KB1OQA

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Mar 24, 2012
Messages
22
Location
Wayland, MA
Mass. State Police Control Channels

As has been noted by several others, the Mass. State Police is in the process of rebanding Zone-5, Troops A and H with a resultant change in Control Channels. As I write this, the current Control Channel being used is 854.6125. The others are: 854.5625, 854.0625, and 854.0875.

Therefore, it would be a good idea to program all four CC's into your scanner(s), as they've been known to shift frequencies as their rebanding effort continues forward.
 

ecps92

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Joined
Jul 8, 2002
Messages
14,358
Location
Taxachusetts
Glad to see it cured your problemo :D

Quick update on my dilemma...It was the rebanding issue that ecps92 has mentioned. I went in and manually changed the frequencies, and MSP came alive. I'll still consider other options for a different antenna. Thanks for the support!
 
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