Greetings and a question

[dangerboy81]

Hi,
I'm a southern Ontario railfan who has just bought a new scanner. I bought the Radioshack pro 97, and am learning how to use the radio and about the scanning hobby.
My question seems kinda dumb even to me, but I'm so new to this, and I want to make sure i'm getting the most out of the radio that I can.
My radio scans in diffrent modes, AM,FM, some other modes I haven't explored yet, but what is the best mode for railroad reception? Is everything on FM, or is there stuff on other modes? I have put all the AAR channels in the radio, and manage to catch some conversations. I guess is what i'm wondering is should I be in FM?
Another question, what should I be looking for in a scanner antenna for my truck? Would a longer rubber duckie be better than a mag mount for the roof?
I know there is debate as to which antenna is better, but I just want to know what i should be looking for.(dual band? 5/8 wave? I don't even know what that means.)
Thanks for any help,
Leon Richard

 

[wwhitby]

Railroads use FM modulation, so be sure to set it on FM. Pretty much everything uses FM, except for aircraft and CB radio.

If you're listening at home, i'd recommend a good base antenna or a collabsible metal antenna like the type Radio Shack sells. That should give you much better reception over the stock rubber duck.

For use in the truck, i've heard good thing about the Larsen NMO150/450/800 tri-band antenna (see http://www.tessco.com/products/displayProducts.do?groupId=360&subgroupId=45). I use an Antennex dual band antenna (I can't remember the model number) that works great for VHF/UHF and 800mhz.

Take care, and good luck!

Warren

 

[dangerboy81]

I was looking at the radioshack web site to see whats available from them,(up here in Canada they call themselves "the source"),
and this was the best I could find.
http://www.thesourcecc.com/estore/P...n+Band+Antennas+&+Accessories&product=2100972
Is this completely inapropreate for railroad scanning? It doesn't say what kind of connector is on it.
The source doesn't really offer as much in the way of scanning equipment as they used to.

 

[icom1020]

I was looking at the radioshack web site to see whats available from them,(up here in Canada they call themselves "the source"),
and this was the best I could find.
http://www.thesourcecc.com/estore/P...n+Band+Antennas+&+Accessories&product=2100972
Is this completely inapropreate for railroad scanning? It doesn't say what kind of connector is on it.
The source doesn't really offer as much in the way of scanning equipment as they used to.

No...The antenna is CB only and amateur 10 meter. I found this place on the web http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=196 .