Has anyone heard this?

[rabidmoose57]

Hi folks!
I was wondering if anyone was getting interference on the MHP. low band? From time to time I am experiencing a helicopter type noise which seems to wander up and down the various 42 mhz based MHP channels. It will settle on one frequency for 30 to 40 seconds then move on to another frequency.It's really irritating at times. I'm in Buchanan county, and I've noticed it's less pronounced the farther away from the Missouri river I get. Maybe a radar? Or perhaps some automated equipment? Thanks in advance for any info!

 

[talkpair]

I have a radio and antenna dedicated to low band only, and not picking up any interference like that from Clinton county.

Since Troop H headquarters is in St Joseph, I would think they would be having problems hearing local cars calling on 42.78 if it were a major interference problem.

Do you pick it up on anything NOT licensed to the highway patrol?.........for example 42.3 ?

I really never have had problems with interference or intermod with low band, other than when my radio is too close to my computer equipment.

 

[rabidmoose57]

Ah.....I see....

I had a thought that it may be a local artifact from a fairly weak source. There has been a problem or two with car to car communication because of this crud, but only near the river. I suspect it's some sort of data transmition, beacuse it's a short duration signal. Thankfully it isn't constant and doesn't occur every day either. Looks like it's just one of those things you get near an industrial area that you have to put up with. Thanks for the quick responce talkpair, I really appreciate it! Have a good one!

 

[mjthomas59]

I have very similar problems in the St. Charles County and Franklin County areas as well as in and around the St. Louis Metro. I have no idea what causes it, I think its just the usual interference associated with lowband. Lowband skip can be absolutely terrible and i've heard Troop C move its normal traffic to a different frequency due to one of their channels being overloaded with radio traffic from other states.

The only solution I found was to use a scanner with the PL tones entered. This did away with the interference more than anything else. I've tried different antennas, coax, scanners, etc. The only solution I found was to enter the PL tone with each frequency. By doing so I rarely if ever have problems.

Good luck!

 

[talkpair]

The only solution I found was to use a scanner with the PL tones entered

I also use the tones to filter out unwanted transmissions.........This could be why I'm not hearing it as well.

As more agencies move away from the low band, I could almost see an increase in unauthorized usage from those assuming the band has been abandoned.

While the assumption that nobody is using lowband locally may be valid, the unlicensed use remains unauthorized, and the interference caused by skip will still be noticed miles away.

 

[rabidmoose57]

It's just odd.

Well I ended up using the attinuator on the dispatch freq to get rid of the noise. The rig I use for the non-digital stuff is an RS 2053, so I don't have pl tones to set . It's a local thing I'll just have to deal with. I wish it were skip, I actually enjoy that! Have a great day!

 

[rankin39]

I occasionally get that sort of thing in my car where it is the car's computer. At home my wife's desktop Dell causes low band interference. It could be coming from a neighbor's house too.

Bob, WoNXN