Bethleham area help

[Deespag]

Hello I just recently purchased sds100 but had homepattol2 and bcd325p2. Do you have any advice for clear reception I live in Bethlehem area. I thought upgrading to 100 would be better but don’t know everything about this scanner.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Welcome to the RR forums. What are you using as an antenna on the SDS100? You should expect simulcast distortion on the other two scanners so I'd forget about tracking anything simulcast using them but you should have a pickup on Bethlehem's trunked radio system on the 100 (which is optimized to deal with simulcast systems) if you're within system coverage. Toss the 100's stock antenna aside if you're still using it and pick up a REMTRONIX REM-820S which is optimized for 700-900 mhz reception. If little to no improvement, try experimenting with different filters. What's the RF environment like where you are? Any cell towers in close proximity?

Lastly, keep in mind that all law enforcement is fully encrypted in Bethlehem as is every mode "DE" talkgroup in the database so no scanner will be able to pick these up. Also, be sure all service types are turned on for the talkgroups you want to hear (reference "tag" column in the RRDB). By default only EMS Dispatch, Fire Dispatch, Law Dispatch, Custom 1, and Multi-Dispatch are enabled, the rest will have to be enabled by the user as needed

 

[Deespag]

Welcome to the RR forums. What are you using as an antenna on the SDS100? You should expect simulcast distortion on the other two scanners so I'd forget about tracking anything simulcast using them but you should have a pickup on Bethlehem's trunked radio system on the 100 (which is optimized to deal with simulcast systems) if you're within system coverage. Toss the 100's stock antenna aside if you're still using it and pick up a REMTRONIX REM-820S which is optimized for 700-900 mhz reception. If little to no improvement, try experimenting with different filters. What's the RF environment like where you are? Any cell towers in close proximity?

Lastly, keep in mind that all law enforcement is fully encrypted in Bethlehem as is every mode "DE" talkgroup in the database so no scanner will be able to pick these up. Also, be sure all service types are turned on for the talkgroups you want to hear (reference "tag" column in the RRDB). By default only EMS Dispatch, Fire Dispatch, Law Dispatch, Custom 1, and Multi-Dispatch are enabled, the rest will have to be enabled by the user as needed

There’s a tower close plus all the cell stuff on top of buildings. Yes I know about my police being encrypted so that is why I had to look for other stuff to scan. Right now I have that bcd325p2 hooked up to working decent but wanted better

Hustler DCL-B Discone Base Station Scanner Antennas DCL-B​

 

[Deespag]

So got the 820s and have tried all the filters still very frustrating with reception. I see people saying Northampton county radio will be changing soon?

 

[JimBobTerp]

Hey, if I knew how to do it or if I could figure it out, I could maybe program it for you, but you would have to bring me the radio to my job and see if I could do it in my car real quick to get it to work for you.

 

[Deespag]

Hey, if I knew how to do it or if I could figure it out, I could maybe program it for you, but you would have to bring me the radio to my job and see if I could do it in my car real quick to get it to work for you.

Can you explain more let me know are you serious

 

[JimBobTerp]

Like if you could bring the radio to my job and I can maybe look at how to program it for you to get it to work. I think that has to come with a AC adapter so you might have to plug it in your cigarette adapter, but I’ll see what I can do to try to get it to program correctly for you to make it to work right

 

[Deespag]

Anyone live in ABE area and use SDS 100? What setup do you use filters antenna

 

[jtwalker]

Anyone live in ABE area and use SDS 100? What setup do you use filters antenna

Filter usage will vary from one location to next. Even one house to house across the street, so what works for someone probably won’t be ideal for you.

 

[Steveradio]

Curious has anyone tried to monitor Allentown systems?

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Curious has anyone tried to monitor Allentown systems?

Nope, I'm sure no one has

 

[JimBobTerp]

Curious has anyone tried to monitor Allentown systems?

What they have another new system? Or you talking about the new system that they use now? I had it in my radio and sounds pretty good