Looking For A Decent RR Monitor (Mobile or HT) :: SDS200 Seems Deaf On RR

[mmckenna]

I was between the TM-281 and Ic2300. I ended up getting the TM-281 but kinda wish I had the IC 2300 to do a sensitivity comparison between the two.

Yeah, you didn't make a mistake. I like Icom radios, but their hammy mics are a pain in the arse. Kenwood got the microphone right since it's a version of their commercial mics. Icom mics are way too busy and easy to accidentally mash the keys and send the radio off in some useless tangent.

 

[krtz07]

If you're on a budget, the Uniden BC125AT is hard to beat. Price usually runs just a bit over $100, but you can get them on Amazon from time to time for around $90 (that's where I got mine). It's an excellent little radio for general conventional scanning, and with your Smiley 5/8-wave Slim Duck will work better.

https://www.amazon.com/Uniden-BC125AT-Alpha-Tagged-channels-Lightweight/dp/B00772MR0K/ref=asc_df_B00772MR0K?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80470624768977&hvnetw=s&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584070153313345&th=1

If you're a ham radio operator, any decent VHF ham transceiver will work well; there are several models in the $200 or less price category.

Start moving into the commercial models and the price goes up accordingly. You're also dramatically increasing the complexity in terms of programming; these radios are much trickier to program, and all require proprietary programming cables and software, which may be tougher to find than the cables and software for ham transceivers or scanners.

Best bet is to start small. I use commercial radios all the time, but my BC125AT is really handy as a grab-and-go scanner that works anywhere with minimal programming effort.

I recommend the Uniden 125AT for beginners and those whom want to monitor other bands. it has good sensitivity but certainly isn't good as ICOMs or Kenwood. Everytime when I just bring the Uniden along and nothing else on my railfanning adventures, I regret it.

I think the ICOM V86 is the way to go. Still in production and don't have to go through hoops on eBay looking for something that's been out of production for years now

 

[MDScanFan]

Another vote for the 281

 

[natedawg1604]

I would second/third Kenwood. In my car I have a TK-5710 and a NX-3720, I normally use 1 of them just for rail monitoring and they both work great. You just turn them on and leave them alone (ideal while driving), they just work.

 

[Cognomen]

For a cheap/free portable, the Kenwood TK-2180 is an excellent VHF choice. It's the portable version of the TK-7180, and if you have both, you only need to maintain a single profile, just editing the button functions to program the other unit. For your spreadsheet, no mods needed for full VHF coverage.

The advantage of the 2180/7180 over the TM-281 is that you have more memories (128 alphanumeric memories) more alphanumeric characters in the display, and separate banks.

I use my 7180's and a 2180 for VHF scanning. I have a TM-271A (predecessor of 281A) that I keep around because it's frequency-agile, but I don't use it for scanning because I'd have to scan all 100 mixed-service channels at a time.

Btw, you cannot "name" the banks with the 2180/7180, so what I did was enter a dummy record as the first channel of each bank with the contents of that bank. So for instance ch-1 might be named "SAR" with a random freq like 150.0000, and I've unchecked the scan-add box. So as long as the radio is on the first ch of the bank, I can see the bank names as I step through the banks (if it isn't already obvious from the alpha tag).

I can usually tell what's in the bank from the ch list, but I figured out this method when I gave a 2180 to a buddy who was just getting into scanning, and he didn't necessarily know the channels. My radios are now set-up the same so I still only have to maintain 1 profile, just changing the power-on message to his name.

Be wary about purchasing from online auctions. Go to a Kenwood LMR shop and see what they have for trade-ins, that they can check or have checked on a service monitor. There's a lot of the analog radios floating around as companies migrate to digital.

 

[TYZ8AW]

I have an Icom 2730A and a Motorola CDM1550, I use. Both work great. I got the CDM for $150 on Ebay.

 

[mmckenna]

I have an Icom 2730A and a Motorola CDM1550, I use. Both work great. I got the CDM for $150 on Ebay.

CDM's are good radios. I'm running a 1550 in my truck, a 750 at home, and a 1250 in my UTV.
I think the 1550 was $150 bucks many years ago (2011?) The 1250 was $100 and I got the 750 for $75. All three radios have done really well. I did do an alignment on the 1550 a few years ago. It was still pretty close to spec, but I was able to perk it up a little bit. I'm still running it in my personal truck, mostly listening to work systems, but some occasional ham use.

 

[scannersnstuff]

Before spending any money,would setting any of the sds filter's help out ?

 

[krtz07]

Before spending any money,would setting any of the sds filter's help out ?

I remember what set me off on my little journey was owning a Uniden BCD325P2, it was fine in UHF but it was terrible in VHF. I live on a hill and could only receive the dispatcher from three miles away yet I couldn't receive any trains except at night or in the morning.

Once I've gotten a ICOM V86 with a tuned antenna, I've noticed an instant difference. Since then I've tried a few other receivers such the Uniden 125AT - that's good but it didn't receive as well as a dedicated VHF receiver or everyone's favorite ICOM which no longer have (R30).

If the OP is truly strapped for cash then there is nothing wrong with a cheap Boefeng with a stock Antenna but keep in mind in an urban environment it could get overloaded easily.

 

[top13]

I just keep it simple. At home I use an Antron Clean Cab radio hooked to an old GP9 150/450 antenna.
Portable I use a Motorola HT 1000 (Former RR radio) for local RR. When traveling I use the easy to program Icom H-16.
Transceivers are much better than scanners.

 

[TrainsOfThought]

When getting back into railroad monitoring several years ago I opted for a Kenwood TH-K20 handheld transciever and hated it. I'm not a ham operator but, while I did manage to enter the few target frequencies and receive (with exterior truck antenna), these units were incredibly complex with SO many features and buttons (with multiple button procedures to do X) one or two fat-fingered mistypes sent me somewhere in radio limbo never again to get back to my scan feature. The instruction books became worn and dogeared jumping all over trying to follow all the instructions or troubleshoot I finally gave up and went back to the ease of old analog scanners. If anyone is a novice at ham transcievers or old like me with a longer learning curve, maybe give one a shot but beware it's like rolling the dice.

 

[ratboy]

I gave up long ago trying to hear pretty much any rail traffic on my SDS200's. Like on airband, it gets little to nothing. Sitting in my car, at the tracks, I barely hear a train calling out the hotbox detector 3 miles away, and even when I do, it's not copyable. I have an Icom 2300 for a mobile, not presently installed, and my Yaesu VX-170 is my main railband radio, it's better than any handheld scanner I've owned on railband, with the exception of the old Regency HX-1000/1200/1500 radios, and they had weak audio, the VX170 is loud. The thing is a tank. At my former home, the Yaesu and the Icom could hear that same decector about 8 miles away, and the trains pretty much anywhere in the Toledo area. I can tell you don't even bother with the Yaesu FT-60R, nobody who has bought one for railband was happy with it at all.

 

[AK9R]

I can tell you don't even bother with the Yaesu FT-60R, nobody who has bought one for railband was happy with it at all.

Nobody? I use an FT-60R for rail scanning all the time. Works fine for me.

 

[iMONITOR]

Thanks for that... I've kinda been out of the amateur game for a bit. Kids, moves, cancer, open heart surgery and life in general happened and that (theft and other circumstances!) kinda knocked me off the air for decade or so. Recently renewed my ticket.

73 de N5KBD

Wow, you've been through a lot! You must be a very strong person and I commend you getting through all of that! Wishing all the best for you and your family in the years ahead! Take care my friend.

 

[ratboy]

Nobody? I use an FT-60R for rail scanning all the time. Works fine for me.

You must either run the stock antenna(Meaning you won't hear a lot), or you just live in a place without a lot of transmitters around. My friend's two FT-60R's both had all kinds of intermod at the 3 main places he watches trains at with any external antenna and pretty badly with one of the big ducks or a telescopic one. A nearby FM broadcast station could be heard on many freqs making the squelch break a lot with a word of two of audio. The FT60's were much worse than my Icom R-2, R-5 and almost any of the other handhelds I had over the years and I had over 30 at one point. Some real oddballs included, like the Welz WS1000 and WS-2000 which was a stinker period, the Yupiteru MVT-9000, AOR 8000(odd but receives well on VHF high), and many more. My Yaesu VX-170 is light years better than the FT60R on rail freqs. If you're happy with it, Ok, but my friend ended up with a VX-170 because mine is loud and receives very well on rail and VHF in general, and was just a lot better than most of the newer handhelds.