Need help badly w/ inteference issue on PSR-310

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Radioman_911

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I know GRE scanners are known to have more inteference issues than most scanners and i have learned to deal with that especially when i am near cell towers/other towers in most cases... however i just moved to an area that i know has reception but i have a cell tower located right out of our complex = BARELY picking up trunking system, but i can go maybe 1/4 mile either direction from the tower and POOF perfect reception, ive tried using the ATTN but it doesn't help either in this situation... any ideas?
NOTE: I do have the proper control channels programmed in.. so that is also not an issue.
 

jackj

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Jordan, you have given almost no info on your problem. There are a lot of reasons why you might get poor reception in one area but great reception 100 feet away, cell towers are just one of many possible problems. What is the terrain like? Are you using an outside antenna or the rubber ducky that came with the scanner? The same antenna in both places?
 

Radioman_911

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Jack- sorry about the lack of info..
The terrain is flat... I mention cell towers because I run across this a problem in a few particular areas that I know have cell towers in the same place! So I'm 99% sure it's a tower causing the problem. I have a 800mhz antenna as well as stock rubber ducky and both have same problem.


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jackj

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Okay, that answers one question, I was wondering if you might be down in a valley. Is the radio indicating that it is picking up anything, the signal indicator showing anything? Do you hear anything, noise, buzzing, etc on the scanner when you open the squelch? You could try driving/walking around the cell tower while listening to your scanner to see if the cell tower is about in the center of your problem area. If the cell tower is your problem, there isn't much you can do to eliminate it except wait until rebanding is complete. Then, maybe, your problem will be solved. The interference could also be generated by something in your house. Unplug EVERYTHING except the scanner and see if the problem goes away. Don't just turn it off but unplug it, a lot of stuff today isn't really turned off by the on/off switch. Satellite TV receivers and cable boxes are very good examples.

Good luck Jordan.
 

Radioman_911

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Okay, that answers one question, I was wondering if you might be down in a valley. Is the radio indicating that it is picking up anything, the signal indicator showing anything? Do you hear anything, noise, buzzing, etc on the scanner when you open the squelch? You could try driving/walking around the cell tower while listening to your scanner to see if the cell tower is about in the center of your problem area. If the cell tower is your problem, there isn't much you can do to eliminate it except wait until rebanding is complete. Then, maybe, your problem will be solved. The interference could also be generated by something in your house. Unplug EVERYTHING except the scanner and see if the problem goes away. Don't just turn it off but unplug it, a lot of stuff today isn't really turned off by the on/off switch. Satellite TV receivers and cable boxes are very good examples.

Good luck Jordan.

Signal indicator goes in an out... hearing LOTS of buzzing, im pretty sure this is caused by this tower. I verified it was nothing of mine by turning everything off like you said, but as soon as i go within about 1/4 mile each direction from the tower signal is restored 100%. Im wondering if there is any filter or something i can install between the scanner and the antenna? I dont even know if there is such thing. Like mentioned before i have noticed problems with this GRE scanner near similar towers in the past. Same exact problem. Someone also told me that certain modes of cell networks transmit in 800mhz range, im wondering if im just getting a lot of interference from the cell towers.
 

jackj

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Jordan, I own a PSR-800 and, from what I've heard, they are susceptible to front-end overload or de-sense. Turning on the attenuator is about the only thing you can do if that's your problem, and it sounds like it is. I don't know of any filter that would help.

You are right in that some cellular systems are still using the old 800 Mhz frequencies but they will have to off of them sometime in 2013. This may or may not solve your problem. Sprint is supposed to migrate all of the Nextel customers to the 2 gHz range very soon and when that happens Sprint will shut down Nextel's old systems.
 

Radioman_911

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I'm thinking it's deff a front end overload issue as well. The ATT only helps so much but problem is still there. Oh well guess I'll just have to live with it. Makes me wish I would have gotten a different device now (b/c of the known issue or GRE devices being more sensitive than others when it comes to interference.)


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