What scanner would you guys recommend for a rural area. I have a diskcone antenna about 25 feet in the air. My main problem is that i live in Union County. I want to monitor Franklin, Wayne, Fayette counties. They each have at least one site but sometimes reception is not the best. I dont want to always use the outside antenna. Is one radio better than another for that?
Best scanner for a rural area
- Thread starter keithbias1
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doctordialtone
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I recommend the Uniden 996P2.
It's reasonably priced and has no manufacturer-related issues. It works great with the stock antenna or if you want you can use your Discone.
I do that and it works great!
Good luck!!
I have a home patrol 2 now and not impressed with Reception on the inside or outside antenna
It all depends really on what your wanting to use it to monitor. As it sounds like your trying to do SAFE-T, you want one of the following: Uniden - BCD436HP, BCD536HP, BCD325P2, BCD996P2, or the older but still very reliable - BCD396XT, BCD996XT. Whistler - TRX-1, TRX-2, WS1088, WS1098, WS1095 etc... Or even the old school Radio Shack PRO-96. For very good antenna for SAFE-T the Remtronix 800 MHz ducky rules.
I agree with the 996p2 and use you outdoor antenna all the time. Also get the antenna as high as you can because height in this case will be your friend and help you with your reception problems. You didnt say what frequency ranges your trying to listen to but a yagi pointed in the direction of the towers will also help with reception.
For the most part I want to monitor P25 system in all three counties. However in two of the counties they still use VHF for some of their fire and ems dispatches. I am in a county where I want to monitor three surounding counties. That was one reason i did not get the yagi. One county is 20 miles south, one is about 15 miles west and the other is about 25 miles north. The strange part, (I am guessing maybe weather related) my diskcone is no longer picking up P25 traffic. It is working perfect for all of the VHF. I never seen anything like that. I have tried both my home patrol 2 as well as my radio shack pro 106.
doctordialtone
Member
There's nothing that can prevent an antenna from receiving P25 in particular. Maybe just a weak signal.
It's just a piece of metal.
Maybe try another Discone?
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It is so strange. I had my home patrol connected to my diskcone and get no p25 traffic. I am still picking up vhf. I have a short mobile antenna that i just stuck out the window and connected it to my home patrol and it is working perfect. Then i connected my diskcone to my radio shack pro 106 and it gets no p25 just vhf. I have never seen anything like this. It just started when our rain started. there are only two connection. The one on the antenna is inside a pipe and should get on water and the other is in the house. This is driving me crazy
Ya the analog is all in 154 to 155 range
How is your cable from the antenna into the house? I'm wondering if you got some water in the cable/connection. 800mhz will have higher loss per ft as compared to vhf frequencies. If your were on the edge with 800 before, maybe water was enough to kill the signal the rest of the way.
That is the only thing I can think of. I had a guy install it. I wonder if the coax got nicked or pinched.
Unless he used low-loss RG8-style cable, such as Times Microwave LMR-400 or Belden 9913, and properly installed quality connectors, your reception will be compromised.
You keep referring to P25 traffic. Whether it's P25 or not, you still need an effective antenna system at the frequencies involved. The antenna system includes the antenna and the feedline that runs to your radio. The Indiana SAFE-T system frequencies are mostly in the 800 MHz band, though some are in the 700 MHz band. So, you need an effective antenna system at those frequencies.
While discones are the jack-of-all trades in the radio world, they are the master of none. Your antenna's receive capability may be OK at VHF, but not-so-OK at 800 MHz.
Combine a poorly-performing antenna with poorly-performing feedline and you have a real problem on your hands.
But, let's back up a minute...You also mentioned using a Uniden Home Patrol 2. Your scanner should be perfectly capable of hearing and decoding SAFE-T. Does your scanner have the current firmware? Have you updated the database? If you are still running the same scanner you took out of the box a few years ago, you may easily be missing things because the systems you are trying to monitor have moved on and changed things.
But, let's back up again...You mentioned that your HP2 receives just fine with a different antenna. That certainly points a finger at your antenna system.
If I were you, I'd take a critical look at your antenna and feedline before I considered buying a new scanner.
Thank you so much for the information. I installed RG8 cable. A 100 foot section. The discone antenna sets town over a 1 inch OD pipe. I ran the cable down that and into the house. I bet it has water in the connector or a nick in the cable. I am going to get a new 100 foot cable and reinstall. I don’t know how to seal the connection. It sets up in the antenna base. Would you recommend a different antenna? I am needing to listen to 3 different sites. All in different directions. Thanks again for all the help!
I would call it fair. I could hear but seemed to have some garbled traffic at times
The database is down, but I wonder if simulcast may also be a factor? Another thing to consider is putting a 536 or SDS200 where the antenna cable first comes into the house (so you have the shortest possible coax run), then streaming the audio and scanner control to a computer running ProScan. If simulcast is used in your area, the SDS200 would be preferable, but if not, the 536 would work.
I don't think he has a simulcast problem. There are no SAFE-T towers in his county. It's a small county and any SAFE-T traffic for his county is probably carried by towers in Connersville and possibly Richmond, Peppertown, or Sunman.
With RG-8, 800MHz, 100 Feet, you almost have 7db of signal loss.
If you are going to go to the trouble of replacing the coax, I'd suggest something better, and/or shorten the run as much as possible.
www.timesmicrowave.com
If you are going to go to the trouble of replacing the coax, I'd suggest something better, and/or shorten the run as much as possible.
Coaxial Cable Attenuation and Power Handling Calculator | Times Microwave Systems
Calculate the attenuation and power handling capability of coaxial cables using the online calculator by Times Microwave Systems. Choose from a variety of cables and get started now!
www.timesmicrowave.com
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