The more you scan the less you hear. Try cutting back on some departments and see if activity improves.
Discone Antenna
- Thread starter gregpawlak
- Start date
Are you saying that it only stops on 4 departments within NWORPSS? I don’t think that would be the antenna. Even my 996T will stop on all programmed TGs.
Yes. It scans all of them but doesnt seem to pick up any activity except a few.
Uhhg. Ok i'll try that. Ty
I lived in several apartments and condos in Florida. Certainly not the best places to receive anything using an antenna.
I'd personally lookup active frequencies and see what's strong. My places did have foil backed insulation and expanded steel so stucco had a place to bite to. Not a big help.
Windows. A telescopic antenna. And a look at the cop car photo so you know about how long to extend the elements for each band you are looking for activity on.
Good coax and if you do it right and want the best performance. 50 ohm. No hardware store 75 ohm TV coax. That's when you decide on an antenna.
I had good luck hanging a discone in the crawl space between floors with a piece of fishing line screwed to the joists.
The space was tight but I was able to run the coax across to a hole in the ceiling. Move? Stuff it with toilet paper and Colgate and make it look like popcorn. Just ideas. A window for a discone will work. Just don't poke your eyeball out.
For a bit I made a J-Pole and tuned it for 152 MHz. Worked okay. Parked it at a window.
I'd personally lookup active frequencies and see what's strong. My places did have foil backed insulation and expanded steel so stucco had a place to bite to. Not a big help.
Windows. A telescopic antenna. And a look at the cop car photo so you know about how long to extend the elements for each band you are looking for activity on.
Good coax and if you do it right and want the best performance. 50 ohm. No hardware store 75 ohm TV coax. That's when you decide on an antenna.
I had good luck hanging a discone in the crawl space between floors with a piece of fishing line screwed to the joists.
The space was tight but I was able to run the coax across to a hole in the ceiling. Move? Stuff it with toilet paper and Colgate and make it look like popcorn. Just ideas. A window for a discone will work. Just don't poke your eyeball out.
For a bit I made a J-Pole and tuned it for 152 MHz. Worked okay. Parked it at a window.
I’d double check to make sure that you have all the service types and favorites lists that you want to listen to enable.
prcguy
Member
If the OP is only interested in local public service stuff in the VHF/UHF/800 bands and is not interested in VHF/UHF air band or things outside typical public service I would recommend a modest mobile multiband VHF/UHF/800 antenna with a ground plane kit. That is much easier to deal with indoors compared to a big gangly Discone and it will probably work a little better due to a slight amount of gain over a Discone.
Something like a Tram 8079 triband whip like this Pardon Our Interruption... then a ground plane kit like this Pardon Our Interruption... would be cheaper than most Discones and should work better. I use the Tram 8079 mobile and it works about the same as some much more expensive versions from Larsen and other mfrs. This particular ground plane kit has an SO239 and a version with N connector would be better but they cost more.
If you needed more frequency range like VHF air, UHF air, 220 amateur and other stuff then a Discone will give more consistent performance over all those bands compared to any multiband whip.
Something like a Tram 8079 triband whip like this Pardon Our Interruption... then a ground plane kit like this Pardon Our Interruption... would be cheaper than most Discones and should work better. I use the Tram 8079 mobile and it works about the same as some much more expensive versions from Larsen and other mfrs. This particular ground plane kit has an SO239 and a version with N connector would be better but they cost more.
If you needed more frequency range like VHF air, UHF air, 220 amateur and other stuff then a Discone will give more consistent performance over all those bands compared to any multiband whip.
How do I do that?
This YouTube video will show you how to enable and disable your favorites list. It’s in the second half of video. It’s the same procedure on a 200.
Yes everything is enabled the fav list.
Are all the service types that you want to listen to enabled? Are you getting a strong signal from the antenna that you are using?
Just curious, what system(s) are you scanning and how many sites?
Scanners for the most part have better sensitivity so you may do OK with an indoor discone.
I am 2nd story in a 2 story building, flat roof. the owner didn't like the idea of an antenna farm on the roof. TV or dish antennas OK.
I told him my discone was a TV antenna so on the roof it went. Actually, it does feed my TV besides a couple radios.
Works great for amateur, GMRS, and a couple SDRs
I am 2nd story in a 2 story building, flat roof. the owner didn't like the idea of an antenna farm on the roof. TV or dish antennas OK.
I told him my discone was a TV antenna so on the roof it went. Actually, it does feed my TV besides a couple radios.
Works great for amateur, GMRS, and a couple SDRs
The little thing that look like a thumb drive with an SMA antenna connector. SDR = Software Dfined Radio.
I did that til I got my discone on the roof.
I don't have that.
I have only these enabled. I turn off weather. I went in and avoided anthing I dont want it to waste time scanning as you suggested so hopefully I can hear more of what I want.
Attachments
Question: Are you using these choices from the main database or have you created your own custom Favorite list(s) with limited sites?
If you’re still having issues. Try putting it in your car and driving to one of the NWORPSS tower locations. That will eliminate any problems that may be caused by your apartment location.
You can click on the tower icons, that will show you the address of each tower.
Northwest Ohio Regional Public Safety System Site: Lucas County Simulcast
Northwest Ohio Regional Public Safety System Site: Lucas County Simulcast Details
www.radioreference.com
You can click on the tower icons, that will show you the address of each tower.
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