Best set up for BC125AT

[tv0n]

I do the known freight in my area on bank 1, known passenger rail on bank 2, local police/fire on 3 (i'm still suprised how much analog still exists in my area), and then the AAR channels on banks 4/5. I also add EOT/HOT on bank 0.

Reason for this.. when im in my home area, i can scan the first two banks and the alpha tagging will tell me exactly what im' hearing. Local police/fire is obvious, and the AAR channels are for when i'm in new areas or maybe think I missing something. And bank 0 is for when I have the scanner in my pocket and just want to know theres a train nearby. I'm realatively new at this so I'm sure my setup could change!

 

[N4DJC]

I do the known freight in my area on bank 1, known passenger rail on bank 2, local police/fire on 3 (i'm still suprised how much analog still exists in my area), and then the AAR channels on banks 4/5. I also add EOT/HOT on bank 0.

Reason for this.. when im in my home area, i can scan the first two banks and the alpha tagging will tell me exactly what im' hearing. Local police/fire is obvious, and the AAR channels are for when i'm in new areas or maybe think I missing something. And bank 0 is for when I have the scanner in my pocket and just want to know theres a train nearby. I'm realatively new at this so I'm sure my setup could change!

Whatever works best for you. It's pretty easy to try different set ups in software. I'm not close enough to a mainline to hear the EOTD or HOTD from my house. I haven't been getting out much at all, but hope to change that soon.

 

[JoshuaHufford]

Whatever works best for you. It's pretty easy to try different set ups in software. I'm not close enough to a mainline to hear the EOTD or HOTD from my house. I haven't been getting out much at all, but hope to change that soon.

Have you ever tried getting EOT or HOT from your house? With a tuned antenna I'm often surprised how far a way I can pick them up at times, as much as 10 miles before. When I am out watching trains sometimes reception can be too good because the warning comes way too soon or you pick up other lines you don't want to and it gives you a false warning.

This isn't always the case though, a lot will depend on terrain, but at times I've purposely switched to an off band antenna because I was picking up HOT/EOT/DPU chirps from so far away it wasn't useful when I was using that as a warning a train was close.

 

[N4DJC]

I have them programmed but have yet to hear any of the telemetry. I'm not in a great location, near the shores of a lake with trees on one side of my QTH.

 

[N4DJC]

Good for air band too. I heard the Blue Angels and a super tanker during the flyby a couple of days ago.

For rail scanning, be aware that a few have moved to NXDN already and the only scanners that handle that without a paid upgrade are the Whistler brand, Icom IC-R30, and two from AOR. This link refers to my area, but applies to all systems. Michigan - Michigan Railroads Scanner Frequencies and Radio Frequency Reference

I've been thinking about this for a couple of days, how long will it be before NXDN is the norm? For many in metro areas probably sooner than expected, for those of us in rural areas, depends on the road.

I owned an R-30, a really nice communications receiver. It has faults, not many, a bit overkill for those not interested in HF and SWL. $700 with software is out of the range of most railfans, what would you spend?

 

[N4DJC]

I've been thinking about this for a couple of days, how long will it be before NXDN is the norm? For many in metro areas probably sooner than expected, for those of us in rural areas, depends on the road.

I owned an R-30, a really nice communications receiver. It has faults, not many, a bit overkill for those not interested in HF and SWL. $700 with software is out of the range of most railfans, what would you spend?

**meant to say, which scanner would you buy?

 

[jbhunt04]

Whatever works best for you. It's pretty easy to try different set ups in software. I'm not close enough to a mainline to hear the EOTD or HOTD from my house. I haven't been getting out much at all, but hope to change that soon.

I live about 120 ft from the CSX Henderson sub, and I used to have the Head end and EOT frequencies on scan, but disabled them as they became very annoying. There are two defect detectors north and south of me that transmit. So if nothing has come through in a awhile and then you hear the detectors, you know something is coming. You’ll also hear the crews call the signals as well. When the trains are close enough, you’ll be able to hear the DTMF tones when they dial the dispatcher.

 

[kudzu_kid]

I took off the rubber duckey stock antenna and replaced it with a Diamond antenna. It picks up so much better, especially when I’m outdoors.

What model Diamond?

Thanks,
--Pete

 

[jbhunt04]

What model Diamond?

Thanks,
--Pete

RH77CA