I posted this question before but here it goes again

Status
Not open for further replies.

scannernutt

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
Messages
35
I have a digital bearcat scanner. When I am in town Columbia SC I can listen to it all day long. My work place is near the SCDOT. My cousin is a Richland County Deputy and he told me I have to be near a repeater. Plus what do I need to do to listen to it at my house? Can someone please explain? Thank you !
 

GMCKID45

Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2008
Messages
3
Location
Effingham. Il
Some more info would help,normaly you should be able to recieve 20 or 30 miles (depending on the
terrain and antenna) from the repeater. Do you have the right freqs for the repeater
 

UPMan

In Memoriam
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Apr 19, 2004
Messages
13,296
Location
Arlington, TX
You've narrowed it down to one of 6 models. :) But, that doesn't matter in regards to your question.

A couple of things are not clear from your message:

1) What system do you want to receive? (Richland County? Columbia SC?)
2) From what location are you trying to receive but cannot?

If you are 300 miles away, the answer will be different (i.e. find a web feed) than if you are 32 miles away (possibly put an antenna on your roof). Radio signals are generally line of sight...so if there are hills, buildings, trees, etc between you and the transmitting antenna, you have to find a way to overcome that obstacle.
 

scannernutt

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
Messages
35
You've narrowed it down to one of 6 models. :) But, that doesn't matter in regards to your question.

A couple of things are not clear from your message:

1) What system do you want to receive? (Richland County? Columbia SC?)
2) From what location are you trying to receive but cannot?

If you are 300 miles away, the answer will be different (i.e. find a web feed) than if you are 32 miles away (possibly put an antenna on your roof). Radio signals are generally line of sight...so if there are hills, buildings, trees, etc between you and the transmitting antenna, you have to find a way to overcome that obstacle.



It's a BCD 396XT. It a very nice scanner . Land where I live is flat. No hills. When I am in town I receive everything. I even get York SCHP . That is what puzzling the heck out me. Thanks for the help ! By the way I like your weather station! :)
 

sjlamb

Member
Joined
May 27, 2007
Messages
882
Location
Sarasota County, FL
It's a BCD 396XT. It a very nice scanner . Land where I live is flat. No hills. When I am in town I receive everything. I even get York SCHP . That is what puzzling the heck out me. Thanks for the help ! By the way I like your weather station! :)

He was basically asking you how many miles your house is from "in town".... 3 miles??? .... 10 miles.... 50 miles???
 

SkipSanders

Silent Key
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,059
Range depends almost totally on two things: How high your antenna is above the ground, and how high the transmitting antenna is above the ground.

Of course, things in between the two are the real problem, but whether they ARE 'in between' or not depends on the antenna heights.

Your antenna height, on a handheld, is maybe 4-6 feet. Range to Horizon, on flat ground: 2-3 miles
The transmitting antenna usually becomes the main determiner of 'range'.

If it's 100 feet up on a building, it's good for 10 miles. Add your end's antenna, you get 12-13 miles.
Oh, at times, the possible range may be up to double that, but that's the range you normally figure as 'reliable' range.

Some radio systems use repeaters on mountaintops, that might be 2000 feet up, or higher. 44 miles, for 2000 feet.

Trunking systems in cities, however, are often designed for 'minimum necessary coverage', and use low level transmitter sites, scattered around the city, which do not get much range, and are monitorable only near the city. This allows the frequencies to be reused much closer by others.

To determine why you aren't hearing something, we need to know what you're trying to listen to, and where YOU are, exactly. It's possible to look up the transmitting sites at the FCC records, to see how high the antennas are, and get a guesstimate of range from that.

If you are trying to listen to the Palmetto 800 system, the antenna heights I find for the Columbia area are from 100-200 feet above average terrain. While this in theory says 10-15 mile range, even relatively low hills can block antennas at these low heights quite easily.

It's possible your home is just plain in a 'dead area' for the system, and a spot a half mile away might be much better, or worse.

It looks like you should be programming in Site 30 of the Palmetto 800 system for that area. Are you?

030 1E Richland Simulcast (RICHCO)
855.78750 856.23750 857.23750 858.23750 858.73750 859.33750 859.73750 860.23750
860.33750 866.03750 866.53750 867.03750 867.53750 868.03750 868.53750
 
Last edited:

scannernutt

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
Messages
35
Range depends almost totally on two things: How high your antenna is above the ground, and how high the transmitting antenna is above the ground.

Of course, things in between the two are the real problem, but whether they ARE 'in between' or not depends on the antenna heights.

Your antenna height, on a handheld, is maybe 4-6 feet. Range to Horizon, on flat ground: 2-3 miles
The transmitting antenna usually becomes the main determiner of 'range'.

If it's 100 feet up on a building, it's good for 10 miles. Add your end's antenna, you get 12-13 miles.
Oh, at times, the possible range may be up to double that, but that's the range you normally figure as 'reliable' range.

Some radio systems use repeaters on mountaintops, that might be 2000 feet up, or higher. 44 miles, for 2000 feet.

Trunking systems in cities, however, are often designed for 'minimum necessary coverage', and use low level transmitter sites, scattered around the city, which do not get much range, and are monitorable only near the city. This allows the frequencies to be reused much closer by others.

To determine why you aren't hearing something, we need to know what you're trying to listen to, and where YOU are, exactly. It's possible to look up the transmitting sites at the FCC records, to see how high the antennas are, and get a guesstimate of range from that.

If you are trying to listen to the Palmetto 800 system, the antenna heights I find for the Columbia area are from 100-200 feet above average terrain. While this in theory says 10-15 mile range, even relatively low hills can block antennas at these low heights quite easily.

It's possible your home is just plain in a 'dead area' for the system, and a spot a half mile away might be much better, or worse.

It looks like you should be programming in Site 30 of the Palmetto 800 system for that area. Are you?

030 1E Richland Simulcast (RICHCO)
855.78750 856.23750 857.23750 858.23750 858.73750 859.33750 859.73750 860.23750
860.33750 866.03750 866.53750 867.03750 867.53750 868.03750 868.53750




Yes I am . I am only 5 miles from city limits of Columbia SC.
 
K

kb0nly

Guest
Put up a good antenna on roof, connect to scanner, enjoy...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top