Maryland Scanner Test

[TinEar]

I'm going to let the webcast scanner run on just the VHF/UHF fire band of freqs from now until the normal 8 pm. start time.

However, I can't be here to monitor it so I hope it doesn't get hung up somewhere.

 

[TinEar]

There will be some extended coverage on the website for this snowstorm but I'm not sure at this point just which systems will be covered or the hours. As the storm approaches and we get more of an indication of the snowfall amounts, I'll make the decision. It will be the regular stuff during the normal 8pm-midnight hours tonight and then I'll leave it on overnight with limited channel coverage. Bear105 posted he will have his webcast going also so take a peek at his weather related thread to get his instructions, hours and coverage and give him a listen. He'll have the west side of Route 95 covered and I'll probably concentrate on the eastern side.

[Edit] Just prior to 11 p.m. the word from the National Weather Service is that the snowstorm will not begin until about sunrise in the Baltimore area so there isn't much sense in running the webcast all night. We'll take another look in the a.m. to see where we are.

 

[TinEar]

This is to answer a couple of questions that I get on a regular basis in response to the webcast at mdscanner.com

The selection of frequencies: Some want only digital trunked systems because they don't have that capability. Others just want all the trunked systems and no conventional. Others want just the distant conventional freqs that I seem able to hear and they can't. Others want just government/military nets. Many want just fire. Some want more aviation, some want no aviation. Some want me to concentrate on the DC area since they are in or above Baltimore, and those in DC want me to go the other way. Well, you get the idea. There is absolutely no way to please everyone's preferences. And that's exactly why I have a little of everything. I'd like to include more of the trunked nets available in this large metro area but with current scanners, the limit is 10 until the next generation of Uniden base/mobile radios. However...and this is a big HOWEVER... I'm working on something that might allow me to increase the banks to 20 or perhaps 30 with my current scanners. That's still a few weeks away.

The other constant suggestion is to leave the broadcast up 24/7. Obviously, it couldn't be a monitored situation and there is always the problem of freqs hanging up and stopping the scan. The other problem is that although I have six monitors here in front of me, I use them during the day for work that I do from home. The broadcast can't be run in the background because the Windows Media Encoder works on a screen capture method and I'd have to tie up monitors for the broadcast. I can't do that. Perhaps, in the future, I can add a couple more monitors and another PC. As it is, although the advertised hours are 8 p.m. to midnight (Eastern time), I often start the broadcast an hour or two early and run well past midnight on some nights - especially on the weekends.

Audio levels: Some complain that I have it too loud, others say they can barely hear it. There are wide variations in audio capabilities and speakers used by listeners and that's out of my control. Early on, I set the audio levels to where most people said it was fine and I don't know how to provide additional corrections. The current level seems to please about 75% of listeners.

Video quality: If you're using a dialup connection and it isn't a very good connection, you're not going to see the video portion. Even with a good dialup connection it might be a bit choppy. I've tried to hold the bandwidth down as low as I can to allow some dialup users to see it and many report they can. DSL or cable connections should pose no problem at all.

To forward comments/suggestions feel free to email me directly at boston@erols.com

If you happen to hear a major event on your scanner and it's within my listening area, fling an email to me and I'll try to get on it. Some do this already and it's greatly appreciated. At times there are competing events and I have to choose one so don't be offended if it isn't yours. It's still appreciated that you took the time to let me know of the event.

Alan

 

[TinEar]

Finally added an outside antenna - a Diamond discone - and although it's only about a foot above the peak of the house, it seems to have greatly improved reception. I know many of you have told me I had great reception already with the radio whip. However, the improvements include much less noise along with the signals and a little further reach. Tonight I'm listening to all three counties in Delaware although just in conventional mode since I have no more room for trunks. Even with their digital mode, they seem to be mostly readable. I'm also picking up the Arlington VA 453 UHF police freq which I've never been able to do before. So, first impressions are that the discone is doing a great job and has improved the quality of the webcast streamer.

 

[n3bxv]

Alan,
Sounds great! Its pretty cool to hear Delaware followed immediately by DC, with both coming in loud and clear. I wish that I had similiar reception..... You receive digital from Delaware better than what I get from Howard County.

Chuck

 

[TinEar]

Thanks for the report Chuck. I enjoy hearing those more distant signals. In fact, that's the best part of this hobby, more so than hearing all the local departments. I know we all have different reasons for having our scanners but the more distant the signal, the more I enjoy it.

 

[TinEar]

Now that I've had the discone up for about a week, I'm getting a good feel for the improvements to signal quality as a result. Here's how those improvements affect the scanner broadcast:
1. I no longer have to lock out Oxon Hill and Clinton districts in PG County because they are now readable. I can also now hear PG Fire channels 3 & 7, the southern fireground and ops channels.
2. Coverage of Washington DC police trunk has improved greatly and, for the first time, I'm able to hear the DC Fire trunk although it's spotty at times. The only way I heard them in the past was with a pair of co-phased 7-element Yagi antennas but never under the normal indoor radio whip scenario that I run for the broadcast. I've opened that bank for normal scan operation now. And, for the first time, I can hear DC Fire 154.19. That was one of those freqs that should have been readable but never was for whatever reasons.
3. Coverage of VHF freqs from southern counties in Pennsylvania has been constant every night this week.
4. The three Delaware counties have been intermittent but copiable at night.
5. Coverage of VHF freqs from counties such as Wicomico and Dorchester are now heard on a regular basis and the eastern shore counties are being heard very clearly and are no longer difficult to copy.
6. Coverage of low band MSP signals has markedly improved.
7. In general, all frequencies on my scan list have improved in quality - both signal strength and readability. My next task is to go back to a search function to find new signals and add them to the scan list.
8. And, oh yeah, the intermod problems that killed me on all the freqs that didn't have PL/DPL tones attached to them have just about disappeared. That, in itself, might be the top benefit.

Needless to say, I'm very pleased with this Diamond Discone - especially the 100 mile or so range I'm getting to the north and northeast and comms from places such as the Elkton PD now seem normal. It was a good investment. And so, of course, I'm thinking it's only a foot over the peak of the house...what if it was higher? The never ending quest for range and readability continues.

P.S. I appreciate the tips various listeners of the webcast have been sending. It gets the scanner focused on the more important happenings. Scanning 1000 channels doesn't allow me to catch everything so your reports are appreciated. There is now an email link on the web site. Sorry for overlooking that for so long.

 

[TinEar]

Starting Tuesday, May 3, I'm going to bring the web site to active status somewhat earlier - around 5 p.m. rather than the 8 p.m. start time. However, it will mostly be unmonitored for the first couple or three hours so, if it hits on a hot item, I'm not going to be around to stop the scan. I know how frustrating that can be since I listen to other systems on the net and none of them are monitored. I guess the extra three hours are better than not having it on at all during that time though. This is in response to many that have asked me to run it more hours, especially earlier in the evening when they have time for it before their evening TV hours kick in. TV? I may change the turn off time to a bit earlier but haven't decided that for sure just yet. The reason is that I can see the listeners/viewers dropping off around 11 p.m. which I guess is bed time for all the early morning risers.

 

[TinEar]

Just a note on the FDNY freqs heard on my website scanner...

I've been getting a lot of emailed questions wanting to know how I'm hearing FDNY every night from the folks tuning into the webcast of my scanner. So, rather than answering the same email over and over, I figured I'd just explain it here.

Ever since I went to an outside antenna and installed the Diamond Discone I've been hearing them every night (200 miles from my location). The bottom of the discone is barely a foot over the roofline. I had never tried to hear them in years past and just stumbled on them this year while doing an activity/PL tone search on the 154 mHz band. I was shocked when my search in the database showed the signals to be coming from New York City. So, I programmed all five of the FDNY borough dispatch freqs and it's been fun listening ever since. Sometimes they're crystal clear, other times full of static - but there. I have no amplifiers or anything special - just a Uniden 785D attached to the discone - which is the message I've been passing on to everyone that has asked. Some people have reacted with skepticism, others with downright disbelief but at least no one has come right out and called me a liar. Last night a couple of the FDNY freqs sounded like locals which set off another round of email since there were lots of people connected at the website that heard them. I guess conditions are just right or perhaps I'm just in the right location such as I seem to be with a couple of other out-of-state signals. I have found the 785 to be a fantastically sensitive scanner, more so than anything I've ever used in the past (other than some government equipment that costs about as much as a house). They talk about the 780 being the best MilAir scanner ever produced but I'd put the 785 ahead of it - whether for MilAir or just general searching for weak signals. Anyway, that's the story of the FDNY being heard from here. Nothing special - a run-of-the-mill scanner, a cheap outside antenna that's not high off the ground and a good listening location.

Alan

 

[Llwellyn]

I can add the Llwellyn "no-bull****" seal of approval to Al's post; I've seen his setup now and everything he mentions above is factual with no embellishment or stretching the truth one bit! It's just a 785D hooked to a multicoupler hooked to the Diamond antenna on his roof. Blessedly simple and it works like a charm!

 

[Dank]

Alan-
You advise that your discone is just o your roof. How far above ground level would you estimate?

 

[TinEar]

Well Dan, I'm on the 61st floor so....
Nahhh...just a single family, split level house, with the peak of the roof probably 20 feet at most off the ground.