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Delivers1234

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So I have my setup yaesu 100 and bearcat 980 with half whips. I can't get the wx on the bearcat, but only the 2m/70cm. Is it location? I got the weather earlier? I'm in salinas. Does the weather play a role? It's overcast.
 

kf4eyr

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i dont know what ya mean by half whips,,, but sometimes you need to use the dual band antenna made especially for cb and the weather band,,,, since the weather band is just above the ham 2 meter band,,,the vhf/uhf antenna will work for that but the cb antenna might be a big iffy if trying for a wx station a little far away,,,,
 

Delivers1234

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i dont know what ya mean by half whips,,, but sometimes you need to use the dual band antenna made especially for cb and the weather band,,,, since the weather band is just above the ham 2 meter band,,,the vhf/uhf antenna will work for that but the cb antenna might be a big iffy if trying for a wx station a little far away,,,,



So it's just when I am vs where the antenna is? The 2m works fine for weather. I was just wondering why I could not get the signal on the CB radio.
 

mmckenna

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So it's just when I am vs where the antenna is? The 2m works fine for weather. I was just wondering why I could not get the signal on the CB radio.

No, it's not where you are. There's a NOAA weather transmitter on McQueen Ridge, just south of Loma Prieta.
The issue was as stated above, your CB is using the CB antenna for receiving a VHF signal, and as you discovered, it doesn't work well.
Rarely does. Adding NOAA weather radio to CB's was a really good idea, problem is the antennas are not well suited for it.

Since your dual band radio is designed to do VHF and it's hooked up to a VHF antenna it's naturally going to work better.

Your results are not at all surprising.
 

bharvey2

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"Adding NOAA weather radio to CB's was a really good idea, problem is the antennas are not well suited for it. "

In concept, yeah it is a good idea but that is going to frustrate a lot of people just as it is with Deliveries1234.
 

JayMojave

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I wonder if a Duplexer would work allowing both the CB and VHF band to arrive at the radio, with separate antennas feeding it?

Jay in the Great Mojave Desert
 

sloop

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Its not the antenna, its the radio. I had a Cobra 25wx in my truck and could pick up one weather station (most of the time). When I switched it out for a Midland 1001LWX I could receive 3 stations, 2 stations all of the time. When I got tired of CB (nobody on the air) I replaced it with a Bearcat scanner and could still receive the weather stations using the same CB antenna that I had used with the Cobra and the Midland. An antenna doesn't have to be resonate on the frequency that a receiver receives. Think of a portable SW radio that covers from 200 meters to 10 meters on a 2 1/2 foot whip antenna.
 

Delivers1234

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Its not the antenna, its the radio. I had a Cobra 25wx in my truck and could pick up one weather station (most of the time). When I switched it out for a Midland 1001LWX I could receive 3 stations, 2 stations all of the time. When I got tired of CB (nobody on the air) I replaced it with a Bearcat scanner and could still receive the weather stations using the same CB antenna that I had used with the Cobra and the Midland. An antenna doesn't have to be resonate on the frequency that a receiver receives. Think of a portable SW radio that covers from 200 meters to 10 meters on a 2 1/2 foot whip antenna.



It seems to pick up less when I'm away from shore and the weather is overcast. I did get it on my 2nd floor apartment.
 

sloop

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According to NWS there are 3 stations that you should be able to receive in your county. Monterey and Monterey Marina with transmitter located on Mt. Umunhum at 162.550 and 162.450. The third is located in San Francisco on 162.400. The signals are low power and will travel better over water (or flat land). If you receive the signals on the Yaesu 100 you should be able to on the CB. Check out nws.noaa.gov menu and go to weather radio, it will give you all kinds of information.
 

Delivers1234

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So could the weather etc effect the signals for the cb radio more than on my yaesu? to the point of it not being heard? as the storm was coming in overcast etc, i did not seem to get a weather station on my cb. it worked on the yaesu. i also started using the wireless mic on the bearcat 980. could this interfere with obtaining the weather station? i think the wireless mic is a 1.2 ghz freq.
 

Delivers1234

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I tried the CB radio again. I'm thinking since it's squished in the console maybe something messed up. I went to Davis and blanco and was able to get the signal, week and scattered and also on the overpass on Davis. I think the hills block some reception. This was at about 7am.

I looked at the noaa maps from above and if I'm reading to right the brownish lined part means there is no signal. It makes sense that the 2m/70cm gets the signal better due to being closer to 127.00.
 

prcguy

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Have you tried swapping antennas between the Yaesu and CB to see if the CB will then pick up weather? I think you said there is a VHF/UHF antenna on the Yaesu and if weather goes away on the Yaesu and comes up on the CB then its obviously the CB antenna that's the problem.
prcguy
 

mmckenna

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I tried the CB radio again. I'm thinking since it's squished in the console maybe something messed up. I went to Davis and blanco and was able to get the signal, week and scattered and also on the overpass on Davis. I think the hills block some reception. This was at about 7am.

I looked at the noaa maps from above and if I'm reading to right the brownish lined part means there is no signal. It makes sense that the 2m/70cm gets the signal better due to being closer to 127.00.

What frequency are you listening to?

162.550 and 162.450 should work well for you. It's direct line of sight from Salinas.
 

Delivers1234

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What frequency are you listening to?



162.550 and 162.450 should work well for you. It's direct line of sight from Salinas.



So from my car port parked out from under the roof,

I heard 162.550 and 162.450 on the CB antenna on the yaesu.

I heard 162.550 on the 2/70 antenna on the bearcat.

I did not hear anything when the CB antenna was connected to the bearcat.

???
 

prcguy

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That says the 980 is not working so good on VHF weather. I've got one and I'll stick it on my service monitor and see what the sensitivity is on weather channels.
prcguy

So from my car port parked out from under the roof,

I heard 162.550 and 162.450 on the CB antenna on the yaesu.

I heard 162.550 on the 2/70 antenna on the bearcat.

I did not hear anything when the CB antenna was connected to the bearcat.

???
 

Delivers1234

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That says the 980 is not working so good on VHF weather. I've got one and I'll stick it on my service monitor and see what the sensitivity is on weather channels.

prcguy



Thank you. I'm trying to figure out if I should go back to silke regarding it. If the bearcat is weak or poorly made for weather then that's fine especially since the antenna works will for CB range.

I could email...
 

prcguy

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I just measured my 980 at about .1uv sensitivity on 162.55MHz, which is very good. It breaks its internally set squelch around .15uv and will go down to about .1uv before it squelches again, so its hard to pinpoint the exact sensitivity but its more sensitive than most VHF receivers.
prcguy

Thank you. I'm trying to figure out if I should go back to silke regarding it. If the bearcat is weak or poorly made for weather then that's fine especially since the antenna works will for CB range.

I could email...
 
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