Frustrated with low band

[jaymatt1978]

Ok I'm in Cape May,NJ and have gotten my share of good propagation with my BCD996T with an outdoor antenna (Logged as far south as NC and as far north as MA Coast Guard on VHF-HI) the thing thing frustrates me is low band.........besides 46.460 in Baltimore County (which is great from here) ALL I get is white noise. I would think being on the ocean they'd be rolling in, but nothing is happening., I tried the CB band and get bits nd pieces but it's gibberish. Just looking at the other logs I thought they'd be booming in! So I'M open to suggestions and tips.

 

[marvinsuggs]

I think the band has been open to South America lately.

 

[217]

One great tip for VHF low is to plug into your receiver every freq kkn50 logs if your not already doing that. Another good tip is 24/7 monitoring. There are different methods on doing that but my method is a simple one, I have a speaker next to my bed to alert me when my eye lids are closed.

 

[jeepsandradios]

What antenna are you using ? On lowband a decent antenna helps. My CB is a mess now with skip from VA to DE every week.

 

[Dispatrick]

One great tip for VHF low is to plug into your receiver every freq kkn50 logs if your not already doing that. Another good tip is 24/7 monitoring. There are different methods on doing that but my method is a simple one, I have a speaker next to my bed to alert me when my eye lids are closed.

Yes great idea, I do the same!

I have a "Test bank" where I put in freq's that I see pop up frequently in this forum and see if I can receive them. If i get a hit I move them into my "List Bank" of all confirmed frequencies. I also have an "Unknown Bank" of frequencies that i've picked up and can't ID yet. I use proscan which literally runs 24/7 for me and can use context clues to figure out what my unknowns are. sometimes I even see someone post them here and use that as a confirmation as well if the PL/DPL matches.

 

[jaymatt1978]

What antenna are you using ? On lowband a decent antenna helps. My CB is a mess now with skip from VA to DE every week.

Well I'm looking for suggestions of a good low band antenna also. I have a coax running to the attic I'm not using since I moved my primary scanner antenna outside. So this is what started this quest to get a decent low band antenna

One great tip for VHF low is to plug into your receiver every freq kkn50 logs if your not already doing that. Another good tip is 24/7 monitoring. There are different methods on doing that but my method is a simple one, I have a speaker next to my bed to alert me when my eye lids are closed.

 

[217]

Well I'm looking for suggestions of a good low band antenna also. I have a coax running to the attic I'm not using since I moved my primary scanner antenna outside. So this is what started this quest to get a decent low band antenna

I have never bought a scanner antenna so I can only suggest a horizontal dipole within the small space of an attic. You could buy one of those 10 meter wire antennas online. I have made two aluminum dipoles and currently working on my next antenna, a double extended Zepp.

 

[mmckenna]

2 rules about receiving low band:
#1. It's all about the antenna
#2. See rule #1

It's not difficult to make a basic 1/4 wave vertical antenna, or a off center fed dipole. It should make quite a difference if the band is open.

 

[sprman1955]

You have to hang in there and listen.Depends on many things to what you will hear,when the bands open in your area you will hear lots of stuff.

 

[marvinsuggs]

Band was open today in Texas. Heard Baltimore Co, MD Fire Dispatch all evening.

 

[WaveFront]

Use the WWV and related time signals, and various beacons to identify open bands, and confirm you have a suitable antenna.

 

[ecps92]

Ok I'm in Cape May,NJ and have gotten my share of good propagation with my BCD996T with an outdoor antenna (Logged as far south as NC and as far north as MA Coast Guard on VHF-HI) the thing thing frustrates me is low band.........besides 46.460 in Baltimore County (which is great from here) ALL I get is white noise. I would think being on the ocean they'd be rolling in, but nothing is happening., I tried the CB band and get bits nd pieces but it's gibberish. Just looking at the other logs I thought they'd be booming in! So I'M open to suggestions and tips.

Try VHF High , it is open from NC to NS this am, and the FM Car Radios band is full of new stations as well

VHF Propagation Map

vhf.dxview.org

 

[Jimepage]

Hey Jay I am one county to the north of you and I havent got much more than that but its not the best time for it at the moment. Try this one its a Costa Rican taxi company 32.180 pl 77.0 . Been hearing it all week.
By the way I am using an imax 2000 tuned for 28.200 mhz.