Greene County - EMS Response

[brokenrobot]

Hey guys,

Anyone in the Greene County area having terrible static/feedback on Greene County EMS Response?

I'm hitting 151.4825 on my SDS200 with NFM and I'm getting a constant chugging kind of noise over everything on the frequency. I've tried a few different filters, I'm generally pretty new to scanners as a whole and I don't really know anyone else around that has a scanner.

Law Response (159.1275) seems crystal clear - Just want to make sure I'm not missing something I could fix!

 

[W1KNE]

Try the IF exchange (Hold on the channel, press Function - 7, it will display "IFX" on the display)

If that doesn't work, then you're likely suffering from the poor VHF overload performance of the SDS series.

 

[brokenrobot]

I attempted to turn this on and it seemed to help a little bit, but unfortunately we're still getting a 'chugging' kind of noise. I also tried turning on the attenuator after googling a bit about the VHF Overload and having no idea what any of it means - This made the frequency just not get picked up at all, it seems.

Is there anything that can be done about the VHF Overload?

Appreciate the help!

 

[k2hz]

I attempted to turn this on and it seemed to help a little bit, but unfortunately we're still getting a 'chugging' kind of noise. I also tried turning on the attenuator after googling a bit about the VHF Overload and having no idea what any of it means - This made the frequency just not get picked up at all, it seems.

Is there anything that can be done about the VHF Overload?

Appreciate the help!

It is inherent in the design of the scanner. You will find various frequencies like that, some depending your local conditions such as other nearby frequencies active in your area. It had been discussed extensively on these Forums. You can play with the filters, IFX and attenuator settings to sometimes fix a specific issue but no universal solution. I found external bandpass filters on the antenna input don't help since the overload is usually from in-band signals.

 

[pro92b]

151.4825 is undistorted in northern Ulster County on an old analog scanner (BC898T). The frequency is licensed to four locations: Cairo, Earlton, Hunter and Windham. Is it simulcast?

 

[brokenrobot]

151.4825 is undistorted in northern Ulster County on an old analog scanner (BC898T). The frequency is licensed to four locations: Cairo, Earlton, Hunter and Windham. Is it simulcast?

I'm unfortunately not really familiar with what would make a frequency simulcast and not - I don't have any inner knowledge of the frequencies of the area. Those would be the areas it would cover. We're located in Leeds, so we're just about in the middle of each location listed.

For explanation's sake - We moved to the house we're in and it already had an antenna on the shed which I then hooked into. I have zero knowledge about *any* of this stuff, and kind of just winging it. The antenna is about 20 feet in the air and has 6 'spines', if you will. I've run wire off it into coaxial that's then run directly to the back of the SDS200. There's no signal booster or anything involved.

The setup picks up the 911 Polling and the PD/Staties 100% crystal clear without any issues, and I've noticed that the live feed on broadcastify (Greene County EMS Live Audio Feed) does not have the chugging noise, which is what got me tinkering.

 

[k2hz]

Is it present on the frequency when the antenna is disconnected? If so it is an internal what is called a "birdie" in the scanner. If IFX doesn't clear it there is no cure.

Is it present with a simple "rubber duck" type antenna connected to the scanner? If not it is due to overload when connected to an outdoor antenna (typical SDS problem).

If it is present with even a simple antenna connected it could be either a local interference condition or typical SDS "glitch". One solution to SDS overload is to use a "stubby" or what Radio Shack used to call a "Race Track" antenna which picks up only local signals and avoids the overload issues. It works if the desired signal is strong enough to be picked up by the inefficient antenna.

 

[LathamScan]

I believe all of the Greene County Public Safety radio system is simulcast. That might be part of the issue, if your receiver is getting hammered by two (or more) stations on the same frequency. Sometimes, when it comes to simulcast systems, I find that 'less is more'. Try a different antenna, especially one that does not have gain.

 

[DaveNF2G]

In the SDS scanners, you can turn on the attenuator for any channel. Try just attenuating the EMS channel and see if that helps.