Need help with no reception

[OK956]

Before you consider another antenna upgrade, could you post a link to the P25 system you're trying to monitor so we can determine if simulcast distortion could be the issue? If it is then I doubt you'll notice any improvement no matter what antenna you use. But I could be wrong, everyone's situation is different...

Tvengr did me a favor and posted the link. I do not believe its simulcast. But you guys are far more way advanced in knowledge of these systems than I am. But I'm getting there.

Not new to scanners but I'm definitely new to how complicated it can be now as compared to my first scanners as a kid 30 years ago with my big Bearcat frequency book and all you had to do was just enter the frequencies you wanted and you're done.

 

[cpfinlay]

Found an old thread you may find interesting: Tulsa OKWIN on creek

 

[OK956]

Found an old thread you may find interesting: Tulsa OKWIN on creek

Thanks!

 

[hundeesport412]

Well looking at the link above. Most of the Law enforcement are encrypted and a couple EMS TG's. Their is your dead zone. Also check out their old system.

Oklahoma Wireless Interoperability Network (OKWIN) (Motorola) Trunking System, Various, Oklahoma

Oklahoma Wireless Interoperability Network (OKWIN) (Motorola) Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

 

[OK956]

Well looking at the link above. Most of the Law enforcement are encrypted and a couple EMS TG's. Their is your dead zone. Also check out their old system.

Oklahoma Wireless Interoperability Network (OKWIN) (Motorola) Trunking System, Various, Oklahoma

Oklahoma Wireless Interoperability Network (OKWIN) (Motorola) Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Yeah a lot of their car to car and tac channels are encrypted, but those talk groups are not programmed into the scanner. Just their main side dispatch channels are programmed in and those are not encrypted

 

[cpfinlay]

Well looking at the link above. Most of the Law enforcement are encrypted and a couple EMS TG's. Their is your dead zone. Also check out their old system.

I thought about that too and almost posted it, but it wouldn't explain the loss of reception of the control channel.

 

[tvengr]

All of the talkgroups in the file are open. I did the file. Although it does not say simulcast, the Tulsa site on the OKWIN P25 system shows 6 locations in the site license.

 

[lu81fitter]

If you are only interested in 800 MHz, you should try a short whip on a mag mount for starters. It works very well on 800 here in Illinois, although mine is drilled in. Most 700 comes in pretty good as well.

 

[OK956]

If you are only interested in 800 MHz, you should try a short whip on a mag mount for starters. It works very well on 800 here in Illinois, although mine is drilled in. Most 700 comes in pretty good as well.

Thanks. Yeah at this point I really need to give an external mobile antenna a try. My reception at home is perfect luckily.

I'm just trying to do some research which will perform better. The Larsen Triband at 16" or a Larsen 800 mhz specific at about 12"

But if a short low profile 800 will help I'm all for it. I have a feeling this will just be trial and error and probably needing to sell off the antennas that flopped. But maybe I'll get lucky.

 

[OK956]

I'll tell y'all this much. I'm becoming a sponge. I'm confused but I'm still soaking up what I can.

I've searched this forum and the internet trying to figure out antennas. Some mobile 800 mhz are only 4 inches long and said to work great... others are 16 inches and also said to work great.

I'm trying to research and figure out what situations call for which antenna lengths.

Theres more choices and styles to choose from than there is Ranch dressings in supermarket aisle! It's a bit overwhelming.

I certainly appreciate everyone's sharing of knowledge here.

 

[hiegtx]

Thanks. Yeah at this point I really need to give an external mobile antenna a try. My reception at home is perfect luckily.

I'm just trying to do some research which will perform better. The Larsen Triband at 16" or a Larsen 800 mhz specific at about 12"

But if a short low profile 800 will help I'm all for it. I have a feeling this will just be trial and error and probably needing to sell off the antennas that flopped. But maybe I'll get lucky.

I'd lean toward the tri-band. While the 800MHz specific antenna might be good for the trunked systems (presuming that simulcast is not your biggest problem), there are still a number of smaller agencies on Vhf-high & Uhf in Tulsa and the surrounding counties. While the "800MHz" antenna may still work reasonably well on Uhf (the Remtronix antenna I use does), you likely will loose a number of the Vhf channels. If none of those are of interest, then go with whichever you want.

 

[OK956]

I'd lean toward the tri-band. While the 800MHz specific antenna might be good for the trunked systems (presuming that simulcast is not your biggest problem), there are still a number of smaller agencies on Vhf-high & Uhf in Tulsa and the surrounding counties. While the "800MHz" antenna may still work reasonably well on Uhf (the Remtronix antenna I use does), you likely will loose a number of the Vhf channels. If none of those are of interest, then go with whichever you want.

I'm gonna go ahead and pull the pin on the Triband. I like it for the versatility in the event I need to tune to something other than 800 band.

Question though.... I'm doing a trunk lip mount. There is some cheap ones on Ebay from Taiwan that claim all the high grade components but I'll steer clear of those I guess.

So I'm going to order from antennafarm. I dont know if all NMO mounts are universal and compatible so I'll play safe and order a Larsen trunk lip mount.

I have a Uniden 325P2 that is a BNC connector. It has a lot of connector options for the mount with an extra 10 dollar charge which sucks but oh well. I'm not well versed in all of this yet to venture out.

Question is... what connector option? My scanner has protruding knobs on the base to fit into the channels of an attaching antenna so I would assume I need to order a BNC female connector. But there is also an option for a reverse polarity BNC connection.

I doubt that applies to me but just checking

 

[tvengr]

You need the BNC Male connector installed on the cable. You have a BNC Female connector on your scanner. The stock antenna that came with your scanner has a BNC Male connector. Male and female connectors mate with each other. The male connector has the pin and the female connector has the hole.

 

[OK956]

You need the BNC Male connector installed on the cable. You have a BNC Female connector on your scanner. The stock antenna that came with your scanner has a BNC Male connector. Male and female connectors mate with each other. The male connector has the pin and the female connector has the hole.

That's what I always thought. But I'm confused because my scanner itself has the protruding knobs to fit into the empty channels of my antenna. So to me... the end with something protruding would be the Male end and my antenna, the one with the channels that twist onto the "protrudements" would be a female. Meaning I would need a female connector on the coax leading to the antenna

 

[mmckenna]

That's what I always thought. But I'm confused because my scanner itself has the protruding knobs to fit into the empty channels of my antenna. So to me... the end with something protruding would be the Male end and my antenna, the one with the channels that twist onto the "protrudements" would be a female. Meaning I would need a female connector on the coax leading to the antenna

Well, you passed sex ed, you've got that part down.

However, on coaxial connectors, the male/female determination is based off the center conductor. Your scanner has a female BNC connector. It's female because theres a socket that the center pin on the male connector fits into. You can figure out the rest.
anyway, that's where little baby antennas come from.

You made a good choice with the Larsen Tri-Band. Good solid antenna from a reputable manufacturer.
The 800MHz Larsen would have worked well, too. It's about 12 inches long, has a loading coil about 1/3 of the way up. Spring base, very solid. I have one of those on top of my work truck and I've beat the crap out of it on overgrown site access "roads".
The shorter 1/4 wave 800MHz antennas, about 3" tall, will work well, but they have a bit less gain. That could be an advantage if you discover you have some simulcast interference, but for now stick with what you have.

And good move on the trunk lip mount. Import antennas on E-bay can claim all kinds of things, but you'll never know what you've got until it shows up at your door. Larsen is a reputable company that has been making professional antennas for a long time. You probably paid a bit more, but chances are high that it'll outlast your car. I've got 30 year old Larsen antennas that still work and look like new.

 

[OK956]

Well, you passed sex ed, you've got that part down.

However, on coaxial connectors, the male/female determination is based off the center conductor. Your scanner has a female BNC connector. It's female because theres a socket that the center pin on the male connector fits into. You can figure out the rest.
anyway, that's where little baby antennas come from.

You made a good choice with the Larsen Tri-Band. Good solid antenna from a reputable manufacturer.
The 800MHz Larsen would have worked well, too. It's about 12 inches long, has a loading coil about 1/3 of the way up. Spring base, very solid. I have one of those on top of my work truck and I've beat the crap out of it on overgrown site access "roads".
The shorter 1/4 wave 800MHz antennas, about 3" tall, will work well, but they have a bit less gain. That could be an advantage if you discover you have some simulcast interference, but for now stick with what you have.

And good move on the trunk lip mount. Import antennas on E-bay can claim all kinds of things, but you'll never know what you've got until it shows up at your door. Larsen is a reputable company that has been making professional antennas for a long time. You probably paid a bit more, but chances are high that it'll outlast your car. I've got 30 year old Larsen antennas that still work and look like new.

Yep. Was doubting that 7th grade sex ed slide show and regretting I shot spit wads at the chalk board instead.

So let me get this straight. The protruding lugs on the scanner itself does not make it male. In scanner terms, what makes male or female is determined by the whether it has a protruding coax internal pin.

Lord... I never knew I would struggle so much in electronics like this. I'm a guitar player and deal with all kinds of electronics, cables etc. I've installed and wired lights and sirens in vehicles.

But now all of sudden when it comes to male and female connectors I've got it all wrong. Well... it is 2020.

 

[OK956]

And thanks for the help also. I'll order male bnc connector. Glad I asked. Hopefully this thread can be closed out soon now. I sincerely appreciate everyone's knowledge and help.

 

[tvengr]

If you look at the male connector on your stock antenna, you will see that it has a center pin that inserts into the female connector on your scanner. Since you are a guitar player, you need a cable to plug your guitar into your amp. Your cable has male plugs on both ends. The jacks on your guitar and amp that the cable inserts into are female. With XLR audio connectors, the ones with the pins are male. The ones that the pins insert into are female.

 

[OK956]

If you look at the male connector on your stock antenna, you will see that it has a center pin that inserts into the female connector on your scanner. Since you are a guitar player, you need a cable to plug your guitar into your amp. Your cable has male plugs on both ends. The jacks on your guitar and amp that the cable inserts into are female. With XLR audio connectors, the ones with the pins are male. The ones that the pins insert into are female.

Yep it all makes sense now. It was the lugs on one end and the channels on the other that threw me off and I totally forgot about the internal pins.

 

[mmckenna]

Many many years ago I worked in the professional film/tv industry.
There were some extremely colorful sayings used to remember which end of the XLR audio cables were run back to the truck and which one ran to the audio source. Unfortunately that's the sort of stuff that sticks in my mind when I'm trying to remember stuff.