900's EDACS

[southhaysfireman]

I was not sure where to put this so i put it here. We run the LCRA 900 Trunking with EDACS. now when I am carying my FD Radio I get great reception everywhere. in my car,
in walmart, at the station. but when i have the scanner to listen to PD (as our radios only have SO) I only get good reception outside in my car in walmart and in the station it has lots of static does anyone know why I cant figure it out. I am running a radioshack pro 94.

 

[studgeman]

My first guess would be the antenna on the scanner. I am assuming from your post it is a 900MHz EDACS system. The antennas which come with most scanners are designed more for VHF or UHF bands. You will see much better performance with an antenna optomized for the frequency band in which your system operates. The antenna on your radio is optomized for the frequency band. Hope this helps.

 

[southhaysfireman]

Do they make a 900mhz optimized antena for handheld scanners?

 

[eyes00only]

I have a Pro 94 & 95, and trust me, the 94 sucks on 900 (and 800) MHz reception.

Jerry

 

[bwhite]

removed mssg

 

[southhaysfireman]

SMPD HCSO SHFD SMFD and about a hundred other people use this system

 

[W4KRR]

The problem, as has been pointed out, is that the PRO-94 with its "all band" antenna can't compare to a dedicated EDACS radio. Usually a professional two way radio will beat the pants off most any scanner in reception quality.

 

[Al42]

Do they make a 900mhz optimized antena for handheld scanners?

An antenna made for a regular 2-way portable (if the antenna connector is the same) will work on a scanner - probably better than a "scanner" antenna for the same band.

 

[DaveH]

Exactly, or use a surplus 800MHz portable cellular antenna, with the correct adaptor. It may not be tuned exactly to the 900MHz band, but still much better than most multiband "rubber resistors", and can often be found cheap on the surplus market.

Dave