K4EET
Chaplain
Very good and wise choice IMHO. I think you will be glad that you went the more expensive route up-front in the long run. Enjoy!
Cheers! Dave
choosing a uniden scanner
- Thread starter Akuriko
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Cheers! Dave
Akuriko
Member
so once it comes how do I put my favorite list from Sentinal into the scanner? I put in just all the counties around me hoping to hear all.
Akuriko
Member
it seems also a family member is sending me a scanner as well for my birthday as well, I will run a 3rd, so with sentinel and with free scan how do I use the free scan to program as well?, I did install a free scan. sentinel will be easier than free scan I think.
tvengr
Well Known Member
Sentinel works only on the BCD436HP, BCD536HP, SDS100, and SDS200 scanners. There is a separate HomePatrol Sentinel for the HP1 and HP2 scanners. FreeSCAN will work with the BCD325P2 and BCD996P2 scanners. If you are being sent a Whistler scanner, that requires entirely different software and different models use different software.
Akuriko
Member
well apparently from what I was told the scanner or 2nd scanner as I got mine coming, runs on the free scan, so I am curious how I save the frequencies and upload it to the scanner when the time comes, I played with free scan, seems more complicated then sentienal
You will need a cable to connect with the incoming scanner. If it is an earlier model than the 325P2 or 996P2, it would use the same cable that the 15X uses. If it is a 325P2 or 996P2, then the cable you need is a basic Mini USB cable. (The 536HP, as well as the 436HP, SDS100 & SDS200, also use a Mini USB.)
Be sure & read over the FreeSCAN user guide in the Wiki. If you've successfully programmed your 15X with FreeSCAN, you can save the file, and FreeSCAN can be used to program the scanner being sent by a family member. You can also use FreeSCAN to download the existing programming (on the son-to-be second scanner), and save that as well. If it was programmed for their area (and which is out of your area), then you'd have a head start on a file to use when you visit them. FreeSCAN, as noted before, does not correctly support DMR programming, and does not support NXDN at all. But, looking at your area (described in an earlier post), there doe snot appear any DMR or NXDN in use, other than a couple of business users. I did not run across any public safety agency in your vicinity that use either of those formats.
While you are not (currently) a Premium Subscriber, FreeSCAN has a feature called EZ-Grab, that you can use to copy from a webpage, such as the RR database, then paste that into the software for programming.
SDS100 uses a mini USB. SDS200 programming cable is micro USB.
Yep, my bad.
Akuriko
Member
so i buy a cable on amazon or another shop online, ok i got it.
tvengr
Well Known Member
A mini USB cable comes with the BCD536HP. You may not need any other cables.
Akuriko
Member
ok, thanks, I will look for it when it comes in via ups, as for me currently 2:30 am and no chirping on any channels, makes me feel like I live in a remote back woods, I am planning to buy this and set it near my window so I can see if I can get all the way to Skagit or Whatcom countries, currently, Thursdays chats were in an 8 hour was maybe 16 chirps on the police/ems channel, lol, hope the digital gives me more, I love listening but I don't know if it will work, also I don't think the county will ever go digital, we have our budget spent on more police and fire boats i think then many counties that have police and fire boats.
will this work if I buy it?
will this work if I buy it?
K4EET
Chaplain
Without putting an antenna analyzer on it while it the antenna is mounted to an adequately sized sheet of metal, it is hard to tell how good it will work at the various frequencies between 20 MHz and 1.3 GHz. Quite honestly, a metal coat hanger might receive just as good on the band(s) that you want to monitor in. Note that the key words here are where you want to monitor. If I were you, I would write down the frequencies/bands that you want to specifically monitor in and purchase an antenna with gain around the frequencies/band that you are primarily interested in. After I post this and I get some coffee to wake up, I'll look over your posts and see if I can tell if there is a particular band to focus on. I think you can do a lot better than with the antenna that you have mentioned...
tvengr
Well Known Member
Short of a rooftop antenna, the telescoping antenna that comes with the scanner will work about as well as anything for the frequencies in your area.
K4EET
Chaplain
Hi @Akuriko. I haven't forgot about you but I almost did forget about something that I had scheduled to do all day today. I'm gonna have to put off my comments until tomorrow at the earliest. I will say, @tvengr does know what they are talking about. The main thing we don't want to do is spend money needlessly.
Akuriko
Member
I understand about saving money, I just hope one day the county goes digital, so far its been slow for a Friday and we are a tourist trap so the scanners been chirping slow as slow can be, i think maybe i could of got the 15x and it would of worked for years and years, lol
wtp
Member
any piece of metal receives radio waves, some better, some worse.
the length is what sets it. longer for lower freqs, and shorter for higher.
but you can still hear stuff no matter what, just a question of how well.
i use a broken CB mag antenna that is about 3 inches tall to listen to my counties 700Mhz system.
it is much better than sitting the radio on the seat.
and try not to fall for sales pitches.
sure it can receive from 20 to 1300, they could also have said 0 to 25,000, but it only receives 1 freq the best.
on either side of that it falls off.
another thing is the height the antenna is used at, higher is better.
but that is if you are trying to hear a guy in a boat on a handheld many miles away. if you get the idea.
if you will end up with 3 radios use each for its own band and then get an antenna for that band.
you could use low/high/400 or high/400/7-800 and like i said you will still hear 800 on a CB antenna.
the length is what sets it. longer for lower freqs, and shorter for higher.
but you can still hear stuff no matter what, just a question of how well.
i use a broken CB mag antenna that is about 3 inches tall to listen to my counties 700Mhz system.
it is much better than sitting the radio on the seat.
and try not to fall for sales pitches.
sure it can receive from 20 to 1300, they could also have said 0 to 25,000, but it only receives 1 freq the best.
on either side of that it falls off.
another thing is the height the antenna is used at, higher is better.
but that is if you are trying to hear a guy in a boat on a handheld many miles away. if you get the idea.
if you will end up with 3 radios use each for its own band and then get an antenna for that band.
you could use low/high/400 or high/400/7-800 and like i said you will still hear 800 on a CB antenna.
K4EET
Chaplain
Not sure exactly where you are and I don't know where the Whatcom County communications towers are located so I used a "somewhat best case" scenario since both the Bellingham International Airport (BLI) and the Friday Harbor Airport (FRD) are fairly close to the water's edge. Using that criteria, we find:
Distance from Bellingham International Airport (BLI) to Friday Harbor Airport (FRD) is 29 miles / 47 kilometers / 25 nautical miles
Obtained from: Bellingham to Friday Harbor distance (BLI to FRD) | Air Miles Calculator
Given the approximate 30 mile shot in a "somewhat best case" scenario, which passes over multiple islands with foliage of unknown height, and since your window is at ground level, under normal conditions it is very doubtful that you would hear radio transmissions from either Skagit County or Whatcom County. The reason is this:
At ground level where your antenna is located in or near the window sill, your reception is limited to what the antenna can "see" out to the radio horizon. Without getting all wrapped up in theory, let's just say that the radio horizon for VHF/UHF signals is about the same as the visible horizon. Wikipedia has a decent explanation of the visible horizon derived from their references. So.......
From: Horizon - Wikipedia under the heading "Examples"
In your case, the value of "h" is near zero which means the horizon is also near zero, which means (relatively speaking) near zero probability of hearing those other two county communications systems. When you will start to have a glimmer of a hope of hearing something is when you get a roof-top antenna (what @tvengr mentioned) on a mast or small tower and the transmit antenna in Skagit County or Whatcom County that is nearest your location is on a tower at the 350 foot to 400 foot Above Ground Level (AGL). Then you might have a fighting chance.
Well... Will it receive something? Probably. Will it work the way that you want it to? Probably not. @wtp gave you a good response. I could chop that antenna into itsy-bitsy little pieces by dissecting it to show you why it is a bad choice. The same antenna elsewhere on Amazon says it uses RG-174 coax which is quite lossy at 800 MHz and above. Has a VSWR<2:1 -- at what frequency? Certainly not the 20 MHz to 1.3 GHz spread. The list goes on and on. You can do better.
I think a mag-mount antenna on a cookie sheet in your window sill is a viable option as a temporary solution but I would pursue getting a Discone antenna on the roof on a small tower or mast and piping that signal to the rental office and your place using the correct active hardware (to be determined). I'm suggesting that you "sell" the idea of a scanner in the rental office too as a way to monitor what events are going on around your complex as well as an early warning system to receiving severe weather alerts. Others can chime in on other features that would be of interest to the rental office. That roof-top mounted Discone antenna is about the only way you have any hope of receiving Skagit County and Whatcom County communications systems.
Well, my brain is fried and I'm tired. Hopefully I didn't make too many mistakes in writing this response. I apologize for not being able to get back to you as I had expected to this morning. Have a nice weekend!
Akuriko
Member
im 1 mile on top of the hill on tucker avenue, 1 mile from the ferry terminal.
wtp
Member
at least you did not mix her up with someone else...(i did last night)
tvengr
Well Known Member
I have a favorites list for San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom Counties with WA State Patrol and the VHF marine band. It includes the WA State DOT trunked system which has 2 talkgroups for the ferries. Let me know if you are interested and I will attach it so that you can import it into Sentinel.
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