BCD996XT front end overload

[Dmac725]

Hi all,

Just purchased a Ramsey PR2 wideband rf amp in hopes it would help me pick up some of the weaker signals in my area. When I hooked it up the scanner did not lock on anything! I can only assume that I overdrove the input circuitry. Since the amp does NOT have a output adjustment I am stuck and am leery about keeping it hooked up while I play with any attenuator settings or otherwise trying to cut the signal down.

My question is:

Is this a hardware limitation and am I going to cause long term damage if I try to attenuate it while hooked up or is it a firmware issue where I can set the global attenuation in the setup to -20db? As you probably know the 996xt can set input attenuation for individual groups but rather than have it connected and mess with those settings if I use the global one will that work?

Thanks all, look forward to your expertise

Dmac

 

[SCPD]

ramsey

I wouldnt leave that connected at all ,leave the scanner alone,buy better coax and raise your antenna higher outside the house.Anything from Ramsey I would not leave on a $400 scanner.You do what you want,its your scanner but I wouldnt,you could damage parts in the scanner and make it totally deaf.A really good quality cable tv amp maybe but not the Ramsey.

 

[JamesO]

I run a Mini Circuits 20 dB gain Amp on my 996XT without any negative side effects.

I do also have a few cell phone sites within about 1 mile of where I live at the local High School.

I have found that my 396XT without an Amp seems to go deaf while in the High School parking lot. I have kids that play sports, so I am dropping off, picking up and waiting at the school quite often.

I find that once I enter the school property, my 396XT seems to go deaf. This is most likely due to the "cone of silence" as I refer to it, near field RF up under the towers at the facility.

Maybe what you are dealing with is a situation where you have a very strong signal(s) close by that happen to be overloading your Amp, compressing it and raising the noise floor?

This could even be FM broadcast or TV band as well.

This is why I try to get Amps spec'ed about 500 MHZ, they will usually work below 500 MHz, but the gain rolls off and is usually not as high in the concentrated RF spectrum below 500 MHz.

Not sure the Amp is really a problem, you may want to try it in a different physical location to see if you are near some strong signals where you live.

Might even try the Amp with an indoor antenna, it may actually perform better than the Amp on the outdoor antenna.

 

[Dmac725]

Thanks guys, appreciate your response. I stopped messing with the amp. Will probably use it elsewhere in near future. What I did do is purchase a Antennacraft ST4 and mounted it about 30 to 35 ft higher. We are looking real good now! Getting Enfield CT from close to the CT shoreline 50 plus miles and I am in a small valley so....