Choppy Reception

[utahcalif]

I have a:

1.) New Uniden BC3300XLT Bearcat scanner.

2.) New Radio Shack RG-58/U coaxial cable at 50 foot of length (although most of it is coiled to take up the excess cable).

3.) Diamond D-130J discone antenna clearing the highest peak of my house.

My reception on one certain channel that I like is sometimes acceptable and sometimes "choppy", as if you are turning the volume knob on and off at a very fast pace. It's as if someone has erased a recording at regular half-second intervals. My scanner display while this "chopping" is occurring displays what is normal for this Uniden BC3300XLT Bearcat: The frequency, the range, the scanning interval which is 12.5k and the frequency band which is FM. Whilst this "chopping" is occurring, no bar graph regarding reception is visible.

Can anyone please tell me what is causing this? Thank you.

 

[whiskeytango]

whats the certain freq? milair/ems/pd? does it tx from the same site as other freqs that dont havet he prob?

 

[utahcalif]

Choppy Reception 2

I'm sorry, I omitted something. During the "choppy" reception, "5K" and "SRCH" appear on my scanner's display, not "12.5K". The reception is conversation of two parties. Sometimes BOTH parties are "choppy" and sometimes only one party is "choppy". The parties are the sherrif and the police from several city and county agencies and people who own those sophisticated radios that replaced the "CB". I never did jot down their frequencies. The private radio users may resent me placing their frequencies on this site. Thank you for any help that you can give.

 

[K7CAR]

The signal you are trying to listen to may be moving from different transmitter sites depending on who is using the site. Or you could be only getting a marginal signal and at times it's coming through just enough to break your squelch. You have adjusted your squelch right? What frequency/mode are you at?

If it's a weak signal, first thing I'd try is moving the antenna around on your roof. You might have trees or wires blocking part of the signal. At VHF-UHF frequencies it's surprising how only a few feet can make a big difference in signal strength. If moving it horizontally doesn't help, then go up. Adding another 10 ft. in antenna height might get you that extra bit of signal and get you above any interfering obstacles. Antenna height is gold.

You have poor coax, but since you already have it installed try the above 2 suggestions before you start spending lots of $$$. You have a decent enough antenna, but if you absolutely have to listen to that channel then I see more $$$ spent in your future.

 

[SkipSanders]

Make sure you don't have the 'priority' feature turned on, as well. That will produce this kind of 'chop' in the middle of transmissions as the scanner checks the priority channel for activity every second or so.