frequency scanner

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b4c346

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hello, is there a frequency scanner i can buy that will pick up frequencies in a maybe , 1/4 mile area?that is when someone keys in, i can read that frequency and put it in my scanner.?probally will be in the 450.0000 -870.0000 range.i see some on e-bay for like 50.00 but, will they do what i need it to do? thanks.new to this ,your help is appreciated.
 

Airdorn

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Yeah, a bunch of scanners have that built-in.

I think Radio Shack calls it "Signal Stalker".

Uniden calls it "Close Call'.

Even that cheap Pro-84 NASCAR scanner from Radio Shack has what you are looking for. I'm pretty sure the tech is called a frequency detector.
 

b4c346

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ch1ron

sorry guy's frequency counter.where can i get one that will pick up in a 1/4 mile area?looking to pick up the frequencies on my job's motorola and trunking systems close to my area. thanks.is there something that will give me frequencies that are being keyed in my area ,thanks.
 

SkipSanders

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Bear in mind that actual range is NOT going to be even a quarter mile.

On low powered stuff like drive in windows coms, it might be 25 feet. For someone's 1 watt handheld, maybe 50 feet. A 50 watt mobile unit passing by (rare that they're that powerfull, though), maybe 150 feet.

That FM Broadcast station over there running 10KW? Your 1/4 mile, or maybe half mile.

These units work by detecting things stronger by a significant amount than the 'radio floor', the general level of signal present from all the users around. In a big city, that 'floor' is pretty darn high, and something has to be very close to pick out.

Out in Plaster City, California, rural, maybe it'd work better... though there's less to hear, o'course.

If you actually want to know 'who transmits from near me' other than wandering mobile units, the FCC Report site will happily provide you with a list of every transmitter located within a given distance down to 1 km.

They'll work fine for discovering your OWN system's frequencies, though you'll still need to use some intelligence to figure out the full information. They'll do you no good if you're on one of the 'unmonitorable' trunk systems like Pro-Sky, for instance.
 
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fineshot1

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SkipSanders said:
Bear in mind that actual range is NOT going to be even a quarter mile.

On low powered stuff like drive in windows coms, it might be 25 feet. For someone's 1 watt handheld, maybe 50 feet. A 50 watt mobile unit passing by (rare that they're that powerfull, though), maybe 150 feet.

That FM Broadcast station over there running 10KW? Your 1/4 mile, or maybe half mile.

These units work by detecting things stronger by a significant amount than the 'radio floor', the general level of signal present from all the users around. In a big city, that 'floor' is pretty darn high, and something has to be very close to pick out.

Out in Plaster City, California, rural, maybe it'd work better... though there's less to hear, o'course.

If you actually want to know 'who transmits from near me' other than wandering mobile units, the FCC Report site will happily provide you with a list of every transmitter located within a given distance down to 1 km.

They'll work fine for discovering your OWN system's frequencies, though you'll still need to use some intelligence to figure out the full information. They'll do you no good if you're on one of the 'unmonitorable' trunk systems like Pro-Sky, for instance.


Although Skip is correct my experience is a little better. I have a 275' tower about a mile from my home. The terrain is flat between my home and the tower. Most of the approx 3 dozen transmitters have a power output of 100W or more per each fcc license data. On my Scout 40 and Explorer I consistantly get hits from the tower from about 1 dozen of the transmitters from inside my home. But there is a down side to this also. If the site is real busy and there are many transmitters going at the same time the counter interprets this as noise and cannot distingwish one from another. Its sometimes a matter a being patient and waiting with pen & paper and writing these hits down for later investigation with a scanner.
 

b4c346

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fieshot1

thanks man,fireshot what i'm trying to do is pick up frequencies coming off a motorola mts2000 portable and a motorola5000 base unit.the base is in my building and the mts2000 portable is used with in a block area.and thats what i'm gonna do is sit with a pen and paper and write them down.it's not really busy at all that much.i seen one counter on ebay for like 60.00(10mtz-2.4mtz )and will pick up trunking.i rather go this route instead of keying the mike a whole lot to find the frequency.i am doing a hi -low searh with the scanner,but it's a pain .i'd just rather just key ,and write down the frequency everytime i key.thanks
 

n2mdk

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Might be easier to look up the system in the FCC Database and see what frequencies are used by the license.
 

b4c346

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n2mdk

i looked it up in the database and there are only a couple 800 frequency numbers in there,and down below are the talk groups.the frequcecy range is 806.0000-824.0000 and 851.0000-870.0000 in the motorola manuel.i had the darn frequencies and lost the page.it may have newer frequency channels since last time i used the scanner.that's kinda why i want a counter.what do you think?thanks.oh and those frequencies are for public works.this is for my pro51 scanner 1996 model where i have to put them in individually.my 396t is on it's way,then i will really be confused with talk groups.
 
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SkipSanders

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If he's wanting to listen to what I think he is, (oh, gee, another user who thinks there's no need to actually TELL anyone what specifically he's trying to listen to, we can just psychically intuit it, right), he's going to have some work to do.

It looks to me like he's interested in an 800 MHz LTR system which so far is NOT fully detailed (in fact, not at all) in the database, as the true channel LCN's aren't known yet.

At least it's not digital/encrypted. <grin>
 

b4c346

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skip

skip, i'm trying to listen to public works who i work for.we have a base and a handheld motorola radio's.the radio's are probally a 1/2 block apart.these frequencies are available to the public but i lost my page with the frequencies on them.i could not find them in the data base, so i was just going to buy a counter to find them when the radio's are keyed.it's just an analog system i'm trying to pick up
 
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UPMan

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The range/performance of Close Call will be about the same as the Opto. Although they use different methods for determining the frequency, at the basic level they still rely on having a signal strong enough to be captured over the existing noise floor and any other in-band signal.
 
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