BCD996XT on 1.2GHz ???

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AE7Q

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Is anyone receiving anything on 1.2GHz with the BCD996XT?

I have an Icom ID-1 transceiver, which operates on 1.2GHz. I can easily hit an FM repeater 35 miles away with 1W, and I can easily hear the (25W) repeater. However, when listening to the repeater's output on the scanner, I hear nothing, and see nothing on the signal strength display on the scanner.

I have tried three different antennas (two are 2m/70cm/23cm tribanders) on the scanner, nothing. All three antennas work fine with the ID-1 and this repeater. I have tried three different short (1.5-3ft) BNC RG-58 interface cables, all giving nice strong signals to the scanner from 100MHz up through 850Mhz.

Now, if I transmit 1W locally on the repeater's output frequency (with the same tone setting), the scanner receives that just fine with a nice strong signal strength display on the scanner, but it also does that with no antenna/cable connected.

The 12db SINAD for the ID-1 receiver is 0.18uV; for the scanner on 1.2GHz it is supposedly 0.40uV.

The only thing remaining that I can think of, is that the repeater is slightly off frequency, and that the ID-1's receiver is able to capture the off-frequency signal, but the scanner is not. The ID-1 and scanner are in frequency sync with each other, as I can vary the ID-1's frequency slightly and verify the limits of the scanner's capture range (just under +-10kHz in this band). The repeater's input capture range tests at a similar range (just under +-10kHz).

Unfortunately, I cannot vary the repeater's output frequency, and I have not found an easy way to slightly vary the scanner's receive frequency, so I have repeatedly modified the receive frequency in the scanner, but that's clumsy, unless there is a way to vary it with the knob. In fact, this is my main complaint about the scanner: No way (that I have found) to use the knob to change frequencies. Anyway, by repeatedly modifying the scanner's frequency in 5kHz steps, it does not hear the repeater within +-30kHz,

That leaves the scanner as being partially deaf in the 1.2GHz band.
 
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AE7Q

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
May 2, 2013
Messages
130
Location
Mill Creek, WA
Solution!

Is anyone receiving anything on 1.2GHz with the BCD996XT?

...

That leaves the scanner as being partially deaf in the 1.2GHz band.
Sigh ... I had set up the scanner with a CTCSS tone (103.5) for KB7CNN, the only 1.2GHz FM repeater I can hit. Of course, on a scanner, the CTCSS tone setting has nothing to do with repeater input, but rather repeater output. The KB7CNN repeater only enables CTCSS during normal M-F working hours (to counter industrial interference during that period), which wasn't when I was doing my testing.

Turned off the tone setting for this repeater, works fine.
 
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