I'm a noob w/question Sacramento, CA

[Cathy95820]

Hi everyone!

Let me first apologize for being one of those "noobs" : ) ! I live in Sacramento California and love to listen to scanner via my computer. I do have a question. There are several police/sheriff scanner "channels" that I have to choose from.

One is Sacramento PD and Sacramento Sheriff combo. It is generally hard to listen to and understand due to static/interference noises therein.

Two is a Sacramento Sheriff only channel, which has a real clear broadcast.

I live in a small section of Sheriff territory surrounded by PD territory, so it is most beneficial to catch the dual broadcast (we really live in a rather bad area and knowing what is happening helps keep us and visiting grandkids informed when we see the helicopter or hear sirens)

Is there anything I can do via my computer to help pull the signal in clearer?

Any insight or even a brief explaination of how this works will be greatly appreciated!

Your friend,

Cathy
Sacramento, CA
Grandma of 7

 

[jasonpeoria911]

Cathy, all scanner feeds on radioreference are provided by volunteers who have the scanners themselves. Nothing you can do on your end to make the reception better. Unless of course you go out and buy your own scanner. Seeing as how the Sacramento area is still mostly analog trunked, you can get a pretty cheap one nowadays for around $100-250.

Jason

 

[zl2taw]

Hi Cathy, I guess you could go here and click on either report a problem or contact broadcaster and leave a message if it allows you to

 

[RolnCode3]

I used to run that feed, but gave all the equipment to kgowen. He now runs the feed. The problem lies with the actual radio system.

By broadcasting both SSD and SPD and pulling off both zones, you make sure all of the traffic is included. But sometimes you get good reception on one zone (in this case, City), and not so good on the other (County).

About the only thing to be done would be donating a high quality antenna setup so both zones receive well.

 

[gmclam]

Hi Cathy

Welcome to RadioReference.com!!!

I used to live in that zip code, and know exactly what you are talking about. The reality is that activity is spread among several channels and agencies. You should realize that most Sacramento Sheriff calls are dispatched via computer, and you won't even hear them with a scanner.

I've found listening to CHP and the Fire departments is as essential as PD and Sheriff. If the Sheriff gets a call that is computer dispatched, and medical attention is req'd; you'll only hear the Fire/EMS unless you get a lucky break just listening to Sheriff. There is also an aircraft frequency that is essential, especially when you're hearing a helicopter overhead.

The only real way to get what you want is to get your own scanner. Tailor what you want to hear, and provide yourself with the ability to enable other channels when something wild breaks out you want to monitor.

 

[Cathy95820]

Thank you all so much for your replies. I am glad to know that you all knew the situation specific to my area!! You know, getting my own scanner would be optimal, but I am a broke old lady LOL and am lucky that hubby pays my internet so I will just be happy knowing it isn't MY junk making the signal garbled.

I really can pull enough key words to get the general idea what is going on and am happy for that and for the kind hosts for this privilege!

Technology is a wonder and provides so much entertainment value for our "nickle" !

Keep up all the good work and I will give some of our other agencies a play.

Your friend,

Cathy

 

[CHScan]

Hi all, I'm resurrecting this old thread. I tried to write kgowen and ask if he is aware of the high pitch feedback on his feed but never got a response. Does anyone know him that can ask if he can check if its a cable issue that is causing that high pitch noise on that feed. Anyone whos listened to that channel must know what im talking about. I really enjoy the feed but the noise is really bad. Thanks

 

[kgowen44]

Hello all,

I am so sorry I never saw this thread earlier... I know, its been a few years. I realize that the feeds have background noise. I have tried to address it to no avail. I did some adjustments on the volume which seems to help slightly. Another potential issue, is that the reception in my area is spotty on the Site 2 channels. Unfortunately, that is not in my control. last but not least, this feed is on a very old Windows XP Jalopy PC. the PC is using 2 USB soundcard devices (That probably contributes to the issue as well). I am hoping someday to find the time to upgrade it. Unfortunately, with family, work, etc, time has been a factor.

Lastly, I have received feed problem reports, however, each time I replied to them, I received messages saying that "member does not accept private messages" or I never get replied to emails. I am always open to solutions. I do see that the feeds are pretty popular (especially at night) with over 100 users on at any given time. I hope this helps and once again apologize the "not so" timely response.

 

[CHScan]

hi Kgowen44

Wow, good to hear from you. I remember writting that post so many years ago. You really do have a great feed, just has that very high pitch still which makes it very difficult to listen to at higher volume. If you need any help with the equipment let us know. Thanks again for keeping your feed going.

 

[kgowen44]

Im sorry.. I am so slow to respond.. I am curious what others are running? I am almost positive it is the cheap USB soundcard devices I have. They cost a full dollar on ebay a few years ago (Inclosing shipping) Is there any easier way? Scanner are ok and have no odd noises when ran standalone. Could it be I am running 2 feeds on one computer? I am willing to spend a little money to improve it, but not rich by far Thanks!

 

[jim202]

Let me step in and ask a question or so. By any chance have you taken a volt meter and with the audio cables removed from your computer, measure both wires to the chassis ground of the scanner. You should not see any DC voltage at all on a well designed audio output from the scanner. If you do see any DC voltage, I would suggest that you use something like a 1 uf capacitor in series with the line to block the voltage.

This is a well known issue with Motorola radios, but I never had the opportunity to look at any scanners to see if they have a similar problem.

Some sound cards used in computers don't like to have any DC voltages applied to their input. It can cause some strange problems.

Hope this might point you in the right direction.

 

[gmclam]

The $1 USB sound cards are great, but they all aren't created equal. I had an issue when I tried to run too many at a time, and solved the issue by using a powered hub. You should be able to run 2 of those cards at once from a native USB port, several will overload the power available.

A big issue is how you get sound from the scanner. A headphone jack? Typical headphone jacks are not grounded directly. How to resolve the issue depends on exact scanner model (and whether you're using EXT SP, headphone or whatever).

I also connected my scanner audio through 600-600 ohm isolation transformers. I just wanted to keep scanner power and computer power separate.

The last tricky thing is setting the volume on the scanner (unless you happen to have a LINE OUT). If you set it too low, you pick up extra noise. Set it too high and you overload the input to the sound card.

I had several feeds on one computer, no problem. Two to RR and several private.

 

[flythunderbird]

Im sorry.. I am so slow to respond.. I am curious what others are running? I am almost positive it is the cheap USB soundcard devices I have. They cost a full dollar on ebay a few years ago (Inclosing shipping) Is there any easier way? Scanner are ok and have no odd noises when ran standalone. Could it be I am running 2 feeds on one computer? I am willing to spend a little money to improve it, but not rich by far Thanks!

The cheap USB sound interfaces can indeed introduce noise. I tried one from Amazon and it was a noisy disaster. I replaced it with one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/BEHRINGER-U-Control-Low-Latency-Interface-Digital/dp/B000KW2YEI

and have been very happy with the results - not cheap, but it WORKS. Like gmclam, I also use isolation transformers to knock electrical noise out of the audio signal.

Both of my feeds run through the same interface and use the isolation transformers; feel free to give them a listen and see what you think.

https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/18474

https://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/20203

 

[kgowen44]

OK. thank you all for the feedback. I will check for voltage on the cable. I would not be surprised since the computer and all the equipment is rather old. The feeds are running on a VERY old Pentium 4 PC with Windows XP (haha I know) with the 2 USB cheapie soundcards. Scanners are 2 BC246T handhelds . I had heard some folks had issues with handheld scanners and the feeds. Can someone send me a link to the capacitors I would need to locate? In theory, if I turn the scanners off temporary, should the noise disappear? This would simply be a troubleshooting step. Just for info, room is a slight issue where I have the feed equipment. I am a big dude and hard to get back there sometimes

 

[gmclam]

OK. thank you all for the feedback. I will check for voltage on the cable. I would not be surprised since the computer and all the equipment is rather old. The feeds are running on a VERY old Pentium 4 PC with Windows XP (haha I know) with the 2 USB cheapie soundcards.

Nothing wrong with old equipment. What I use is older than that (often I think older works better).

Scanners are 2 BC246T handhelds . I had heard some folks had issues with handheld scanners and the feeds. Can someone send me a link to the capacitors I would need to locate?

I am not familiar with that model. On the GRE-made scanners they "lift" the ground through a resistor. One solution is to connect audio output to antenna ground, rather than ground of the headphone jack. But that depends on the method you're using to connect to the soundcards.

In theory, if I turn the scanners off temporary, should the noise disappear?

Not sure about powering off. Certainly disconnecting inputs to the soundcards should kill the noise.