Pro-2046 receive quality

[ETMegabyte]

I have 2 scanners hooked up to the antenna on my roof. I also have a 2m/440 ham antenna up there as well.

One scanner is the Pro-197 that I use for RR streaming, and the other is a Pro-2046 that I primarily use for scanning ham frequencies. This is a fairly new set up, as I just recently got the scanner antenna up on the roof.

My issue is that the Pro-197 appears to be working just fine, but the Pro-2046 seems to have weak receive. If both the scanner and my ham radio are listening to the same frequency, even local repeaters appear to have low signal into the scanner, while they are full quieting on the ham radio. And sometimes, a conversation will be happening on the local repeater, and it appears to fade in and out on the scanner, but comes through nice and clear with full signal on the ham radio.

I tried changing the antenna cable from the splitter to the scanner, and that didn't fix it. I don't know what to do. All the scanners I've had in the past simply worked until they didn't work. This seems to be somewhere in the middle? Has anyone ever heard of this?

 

[ETMegabyte]

Update:

I swapped out my Pro-2046 for a Uniden BC860XLT, and am having the same problem.

Is it that the older scanners just have a weaker receive than the newer ones, or is my Pro-197 specifically just so good that it's spoiling me?

I'm thinking of trying one of those scanner preamps. Something like this:
GRE Super Amplifier

Anyone ever used one of these? How well do they work?

 

[N8IAA]

Could it be that they narrow banded the frequencies, and the fact that the 197 hears it better? Newer technology and the fact that you can put in frequencies that it will decode better than the older wide banded scanners.

You might want to ask in the New Hampshire state forum further down the forums page.
HTH,
Larry

 

[ETMegabyte]

Solution!

So, I took the long way around, but I figured it out...

Since I started this thread I found and purchased a GRE 0-20db adjustable signal amplifier, thinking this would help out, which it didn't. After a few days, the battery was dead, and in that time I had noticed no gain in signal quality. I had pretty much given up at this point, but tonight I decided to try something as an afterthought...

As it turns out, my Pro-197 really WAS spoiling me. It really IS that good.

As my signature shows, I have both a Pro-106 (Handheld) and a Pro-197 (Mobile - which is what I use for broadcastify). I never really use the Pro-106 anymore. It was my original broadcastify scanner until I replaced it with the 197 a couple years ago, the idea being that the 106 could now come with me when I go out. In theory that works, but in practice, I never remember to grab it on the way out the door, so it sits on the shelf next to my desk.

But tonight I decided to program the 106 with the ham repeater frequencies i have been trying to listen to on the 2046, and hooked it up to the same antenna connector previously used on the 2046, and all my signal level problems seem to be gone.

So, yeah. The older scanners just don't seem to do as well as the new ones.

 

[ETMegabyte]

Alright, I think this shall be my final reply, as my quest has come to an end...

My previous post I was using my Pro-106 handheld scanner to scan local ham frequencies and such. And while this worked alright, I still liked the idea of a base or mobile scanner to listen to instead of a portable. And, though as before I don't otherwise use it much, I'd like to have my portable scanner available to come with me when I go out. I think that aesthetics are a big part of it. A portable scanner with an antenna cable and power wire coming off the side of it looks like crud.

Well, since the second scanner is really only needed for scanning ham frequencies (and I've programmed in GMRS and FRS frequencies since I live near a state park), I don't need a digital scanner for that, so I went into a bit of research on scanners similar to my Pro-197 but without the digital capabilities... And I came up with the Pro-163. Trunking scanner, but analog only. 1000 channels is plenty for what I need. And it appears to be newer receiver technology like my Pro-197.

So I found one on eBay for a decent price, and it arrived today. I purchased ARC-300 Programming software about a week ago (they gave me a discount because I already own ARC-500), and had it ready to go, so I took my new scanner out of the box, hooked it to the same programming cable my Pro-197 uses, and VOILA the scanner's all programmed and ready to go. And it works awesome!

I am a bit bummed, though. My 2046 used to work awesome. I dunno if the signals are different now, or the scanner is just getting old or something, but it (and the rest of my older scanners) just don't seem to do as well as the new ones...

 

[ka3jjz]

The 2046 is so old that I have no doubt that at least some of the components in the RF stage(s) have aged and thrown the sensitivity out of spec. Probably not worth restoring it though, with all the better scanners around

Mike

 

[drdeputy]

I'm only 5 years late to this dance, but since the ham frequencies aren't narrow banded, I don't see how that would matter. I only ran across this because I dug out my 2046 (made by Uniden given what the main board says inside) and it's receiving very poorly on UHF (440-ish). I was going to re-solder the antenna connector just to make sure, but maybe it is just too old. I like the form factor of it and don't use it a lot. It still receives NOAA very well, though.

 

[Ubbe]

It could very well be that the RF enviroment have gone worse in later years and it migh be needed to either reduce the signal to a scanner by using a variable attenuator or using filters, a FM trap filter would be the first and cheapest to try.

The $20 variable attenuator are a good tool to check for if the scanner gets overloaded and desense. If you add attenuation and signal improves then it's a case of overload and you either have to use that attenuation or try to filter out the strong signal, which will probably need a $20 SDR dongle receiver to be able to have a look at the spectrum.

/Ubbe