Antenna help..

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westgateblvd

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Hi. So now I have the Pro-106 up and running. On some of the channels it sound real garbled. I was wondering.. Would a better antenna help?? I have a handheld now with a 800 MHz rubber antenna now. Thanks..
 

n5ims

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Hi. So now I have the Pro-106 up and running. On some of the channels it sound real garbled. I was wondering.. Would a better antenna help?? I have a handheld now with a 800 MHz rubber antenna now. Thanks..

Perhaps, but there's no real guarantee with the information provided. If you can provide your location as well as what you're trying to pick up we can better understand what's going on and provide you with some suggestions on how to fix things.

If you're listening to one of the various simulcast systems that are pretty common now days, a good antenna may actually make things worse. This would be due to what's called "multi-path distortion" that's where the signals from more than one tower are strong enough to cause your scanner to distort the signals when they mix together. In this situation, if you can reduce the signal strength so your scanner will generally only hear the signals from a single tower things will work fine, but with a powerful antenna that will pick up several towers strongly you'll end up with garbled transmissions, drop outs, and generally weak sounding signals (although in actually they're too strong).

If you're close to some strong signals (FM or TV broadcast stations, NOAA transmitters, paging transmitters, or even nearby cell phone towers) you may be getting signal overload from those strong stations that is causing your scanner to overload and work poorly on weaker signals. A good antenna may make those strong signals stronger, causing more issues. A good filter to reduce the strong signals may allow your scanner to pick up the weaker ones better.
 

westgateblvd

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Ok. I live in Duluth. The police call center has been relocated from downtown Duluth to almost the outskirts of town. I live right next to High Voltage towers. Back when the signals were Analog. I would get strong signals that I could hear the full message. Now it kind of skips threw it now, so it kind of sounds garbled with words missing on the Police calls. Is there something else that you need to know??
What kind of a filter??
 

10-7Goodnight

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Antenna help

I'm having the same problem Westgateblvd. I live on 27th west. It seems like it especially happens at night. I have a Home Patrol. 37803 will come in great, then will start sounding garbled or even go silent for a while. It's frustrating.
 

westgateblvd

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I also have a Pro-50. Of coarse it is Analog, so it won't work but I never had a problem with any signal coming in. I wounder if it will work better in the dead of winter?? 10-7 Goodnight. You know.. One of those clear nights when it is -24. You can pick up great coverage..
 
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Are you listening inside your house? If so, do you have metal siding? I have found that metal siding on houses really cuts the signal strength. I used to think I was having multipath issues, but I learned that it was just my house.
 

westgateblvd

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Aluminum siding. Doesn't matter though. I hwve a handheld wnd was outside away from the house wnd it didn't work.
 

RickJF

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Has the reception cleared up in the last couple of days? they just moved the offending tower on tuesday from the spirit mountian area to the fire school in Fond du Lac. Your issue is the common Multipath issue we all have in Duluth. It used to be really bad, and assuming you live on Westgate Blvd in west duluth, the multipath is horrible there.
 

westgateblvd

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That's where I am. I just fired up for the first time on Thursday night. I am about ready to take the other rubber duck I have from the other handheld. Cut it, and hook a wire from between the scanner and the high voltage tower by the house. I could hook right up to the lightning rod. That would be like a 70' antenna..
 

westgateblvd

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Need to try a thicker paperclip. I do have a question though.. If the radios sound great in the cars.. What kind, or size antennas do they have??, and can we get them??
 

westgateblvd

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What about one of those GRE signal boosters?? I see one on ebay.. I saw a youtube on it that says it can pull in 60 miles away.. Just asking..
 

blue5011

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What about one of those GRE signal boosters?? I see one on ebay.. I saw a youtube on it that says it can pull in 60 miles away.. Just asking..

Ask yourself this, "If you got a terrible signal now, how will it sound as a **boosted** terrible signal"?

I would try a beam antenna (for a specific tower site) or put some attenuation between the antenna and receiver to decrease the overloaded signal.
 

RickJF

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Using the same model antenna from a squad car would not fix this issue, its the recieving equipment. you need to eliminate a duplicate feed from one of the two tower feeds. The p25 radios that the police and other government agencys use on ARMER are able to automatically selectively pick and choose which tower to use by electronicaly filtering out the others by a timing notch in the control channel. Scanners on the market today cannot separate those signals and result is choppy audio. I know you said you have a pro 106, so really there is not much you can do while walking around with it, but when your stationary with it, i would use a ilson Electronics Single Band - 800 MHz Yagi Antenna Model Y8009EL. This will fix your issue. From your location you would point it towards the duluth tower farm. also have you tried turning on the ATT button? that may be just enough to null out the unwanted tower interference.
 

westgateblvd

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Do I have a ATT button on the 106?? Also that beam. Is that like a directional antenna that are used on motorhomes to find a tower??
 

RickJF

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Are you asking if you have an ATT button on the 106? yes you should, and when you turn it on the letter "A" will show up on the display next to the (T) and (G), That will reduce the overall signal into your scanner, hopefully lowering the offending carrier to the point it is no longer interfering. its a crap shoot weather it will work or not at your locaction. I will be, but have not tested the signal in your area since the tower move last week. But my guess that tower move should have improved your situation greatly. It did at my place in Morgan Park, I went from needing a crazy dual Yagi setup to a standard omni roof antenna. While mobile with my PSR/500 handheld i am still having a rough time.
 

blue5011

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I found one of those antennas. Does that go outside of the house??

Most folks put a beam antenna outside.

Try to check out an ARRL Handbook or ARRL Antenna book from a local library. The books might help explain antenna theory.

Just this weekend I was reading about a "Circularly Disposed Antenna Array Receiving System" or "elephant cage" that was used during the Cold War for HF radio receiving. I have the acreage for something like that, but not the money for all the copper...
 
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