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Im getting a lot of just noise and bleed over

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ScanMaine

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What can I do till drown out unwated nosie and cross over from towers and ham radios and freqs


I live near a mountain with 50 to 100 different towers and stuff and I want to get the most out of my radio but no losing anything. Im trying to attach a photo of the mountain but im not having a lottla luck, They have Microwave towers, cell Towers, Trunk towers, am/fm radio tower, dmr and nxdn towers


Im trying to get a ground shot of what around on google earth but i cant and if you wanna search it you wanna search it its Streaked Mountain in Buckfield Maine


https://www.google.com/maps/@44.2501.../data=!3m1!1e3


from my house as the crow flies im probably 4 miles straight shot!
 

W5SAB

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sounds like the best thing to do is get some good filters

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ScanMaine

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What do you suggest. I get lots of interference on vhf from 150 to 170 and not as much on ufh 450 to 470
 

ScanMaine

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i have a tower up 60 feet and like i said im a 4 mile straight shot so i would like to eliminate some noise! not sure where to start
 

W5SAB

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would recommend connecting at ant jack band pass filters

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EricCottrell

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Hello,

One or two strong transmitters nearby can cause a lot of problems across a wide spectrum of frequencies due to overload. You likely have a high power paging transmitter, or FM Broadcast Transmitter within a couple of miles. It is better to figure out the strong station rather than blindly buying filters.

The best solution would be use a spectrum analyzer to check the signal levels coming in on your antenna. It might be possible to use the spectrum display on a RTL-SDR or other SDR device to do the same thing. The RTL-SDR can be sensitive to overload, so using a small whip antenna may be better. You could also use a whip antenna on your scanner, turn on the attenuator, and search the FM and VHF-High bands for really strong signals. If you find a strong paging transmitter going 24/7 then you can get a filter for that frequency. If it is a FM Broadcast station, then you can get a FM Broadcast Filter.

Some suspects for Paris, Maine in the FM band:
Call ERP
WMDR 100K
WJJB 40K
W245CQ 0.15K

73 Eric
 

ka3jjz

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Actually I would use no antenna at all. All the strongest signals will then come through without the possibility of the antenna adding to the signal, regardless of what range it might be.. If you absolutely need an antenna, unbend an aluminum paper clip..Mike
 

dlwtrunked

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You need to determine the frequency of who is causing the problem. Often it is pagers or FM broadcasters. Note that if you are hearing two stations interfering (intermod), notching just one may be enough. I usually use both FM Broadcast band notches (the cheap work OK) and a 152 MHz notch (PAR). If you are using a pre-amp, you need to fix this problem before trying such and using a pre-amp in such an environment requires one with very good specs and a lot of configuring with filters etc.--and may not be possible. Also, try just attenuating the signal with an inline attenuator or using a poor antenna. Depending on what you are trying to hear, that may help You did not state the receiver--scanners are very prone to overload while other more expensive receivers are not due to their design and ability to house more electronics at the cost of size (but usually will not do trunked systems). Any filter is by its nature not perfect and you will always loose something in frequency on either side of it.

Depending on what your are trying to hear, a tunable bandpass may be helpful but that is up to eBay having one.

If you do not want to loose anything, with the receivers you probably have, there is no magic cure (other than moving). Or you may just have to buy a better radio. If there was, they would already put it into the radio.
 

ScanMaine

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Thank you all.. I will try the no antenna tomorrow. Im about 85% sure its paging freqs and NXDN and DMR freqs and noise. but i dont have my my dmr radio yet so i cant go on that point yet!
 

ScanMaine

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So this is what i have came up with, I get a pager noise on 151.6000 and just like someone is holding a mic keyed up on 153.0100 and 156.670 and that was using a factory telescope antenna not my discone on my tower
 

kb4mdz

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FWIW, pager systems have a notoriously bad track record for generating RF trash.

And if there's a lot of corroded metal at a site, that too can generate more trash (for example, rust anywhere acts as a semiconductor diode. A good layer of rust is a good layer of diodes.
 

ScanMaine

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FWIW, pager systems have a notoriously bad track record for generating RF trash.

And if there's a lot of corroded metal at a site, that too can generate more trash (for example, rust anywhere acts as a semiconductor diode. A good layer of rust is a good layer of diodes.

Is there a cure???
 

kb4mdz

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Is there a cure???

Sorry, I didn't get to really finish my thoughts earlier. What you get when you have 2 (A & B) radio signals hitting a diode is like an RF mixer. You'll get lots and lots of mixing products; the sum of the 2, the difference of the 2, (A-B) and then lots of others (2A+B, 2A-B, A+2B, 2B-A, 3A+B, etc etc. )
When you get a lot of RF carriers, all mixing on all those rusty joints it's gonna create pandemonium. Some , maybe most, interference signals happen outside. Sometimes, they happen in the receiver. And chasing these things down takes time, experience, and preferably expensive test equipment like spectrum analyzers.

Cures? Several, of various capabilities. As has been mentioned, filters, like bandpass, or notch, filters. And as counter-intuitive as it sounds, some adjustable attenuation in the antenna line.

I'd start with some small bandpass filters, like VHF Hi (like 136 to 170 MHz) and UHF (450-470 MHz)
 

ecps92

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He was told all this back in 2014 :roll:
Just moved way up to our new house on a huge hill

many folks explained he needed to ID the frequency first...but alas...
until he actually ID's the Offending Freq and not just those being interfered with, he is $oL

You need to determine the frequency of who is causing the problem. Often it is pagers or FM broadcasters. Note that if you are hearing two stations interfering (intermod), notching just one may be enough. I usually use both FM Broadcast band notches (the cheap work OK) and a 152 MHz notch (PAR). If you are using a pre-amp, you need to fix this problem before trying such and using a pre-amp in such an environment requires one with very good specs and a lot of configuring with filters etc.--and may not be possible. Also, try just attenuating the signal with an inline attenuator or using a poor antenna. Depending on what you are trying to hear, that may help You did not state the receiver--scanners are very prone to overload while other more expensive receivers are not due to their design and ability to house more electronics at the cost of size (but usually will not do trunked systems). Any filter is by its nature not perfect and you will always loose something in frequency on either side of it.

Depending on what your are trying to hear, a tunable bandpass may be helpful but that is up to eBay having one.

If you do not want to loose anything, with the receivers you probably have, there is no magic cure (other than moving). Or you may just have to buy a better radio. If there was, they would already put it into the radio.
 
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radioman2001

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Personally I would chuck all the scanner stuff and use real radios on the frequencies you want to monitor. Scanners are Wide Band and are designed to cover a large frequency spread. Installing filters does 2 things it filters what you don't want and lowers the signals of what you DO want to listen to. Filters can be expensive and may not always correct what you want to.
Commercial radios are meant to work within specific bands, and considering the costs of new scanners you can buy used commercial radio for a lot less. Yes there is an investment in programming cables and software and a programming learning curve, but if you are able to make you own cables the costs can be reasonable. As an example to monitor a simulcast P-25 system, scanners which do not handle simulcast distortion very well are about $4-500.00 range. A Mot XTL portable or even an Astro Spectra are less than $100.00. If you want to monitor a conventional radio system you can buy a non narrow bandable radio for about $25.00.
I too live on a mountain top with towers surrounding me, I use all Mot used radios and can even pick up NYC which is 60 miles away.
 

ScanMaine

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Well here it is I bought one of these and my problems have been solved and im buying a second one for my pickup truck tomorrow, Cut all the noise right out completely!

BPF-VHF Band Pass Filter | Scanner Master and I had one of these and its sweet listening now. Scanner Bandpass Filters | PAR Electronics | Filters for the commercial 2 way market, MATV, FM broadcast, laboratory, marine industry, amateur radio, scanner and short wave listening enthusiasts'


Thanks for everyones help!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Delta33

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Well here it is I bought one of these and my problems have been solved and im buying a second one for my pickup truck tomorrow, Cut all the noise right out completely!

BPF-VHF Band Pass Filter | Scanner Master and I had one of these and its sweet listening now. Scanner Bandpass Filters | PAR Electronics | Filters for the commercial 2 way market, MATV, FM broadcast, laboratory, marine industry, amateur radio, scanner and short wave listening enthusiasts'


Thanks for everyones help!!!!!!!!!!!!!
. I'm glad that worked for you, because I was going to suggest you MOVE !
 
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