New Scanner, no APD AFD?

[rwkeller]

I have a scanner, programmed with radioreference and downloads. We still are not getting any AFD and APD traffic. I pick up UAA traffic and parking though! Any ideas?

 

[kl1el]

Might be able to help with more information

I have a scanner, programmed with radioreference and downloads. We still are not getting any AFD and APD traffic. I pick up UAA traffic and parking though! Any ideas?

More information about your scanner model and software you're using to manage it (if any) would go a long way towards helping people help you. APD and AFD are now on a digital APCO P25 system, so your scanner needs to be capable of decoding digital signals. Your report of hearing UAA traffic suggest you *might* be monitoring them on 453.55 which is not part of the new digital system.

Beyond that, the migration from ~400 Mhz to the new ~ 800 Mhz frequencies has brought with it a need for better antennas since the new frequencies don't propagate as well as the old. I've had good luck with the Radio Shack 800 Mhz antenna (model 20-283) as well as a home made Yagi antenna tuned for the new frequencies.

Good luck. I'm new to this forum as well but there seem to be lots of knowledgeable folks here willing to help. Sometimes they just need to be primed with a little more information.

 

[rwkeller]

thank you

Thank you for your response.

We have a Radio Shack Pro197 and used the free software included that hooks up with radioreference for downloading the frequencies.

Another clue is that it seems like we can sometimes hear the APD dispatchers, but the car to car comes across garbled.

 

[kl1el]

The Pro 197 is definitely digital capable, so that's good news. I don't have any experience with the included software, but the next thing to check is that the data being loaded into the scanner matches up with what you see via the web interface here:

Anchorage Wide Area Radio Network (Project 25) Trunking System, Anchorage, Alaska - Scanner Frequencies

If the frequency information and talk groups match your programming, then my next suggestion would be to try a different antenna if you're using the stock telescoping antenna that came with the scanner. 1/4 wavelength at 770 Mhz (approximate center frequency for the new system) is about 3.8 inches, so even fully collapsed that antenna is too long to be a good candidate for receiving APD. Radio Shack makes an antenna specifically tuned for 800 Mhz (model 20-283), I have one and it works quite well. You'll want a 90 degree BNC adapter to go with it so the antenna is near vertical when installed. If you're only using the scanner for APD/AFD, then the antenna may help quite a bit. However, that antenna is tuned just for the 800 Mhz band so if you are monitoring other systems outside that frequency range it will likely be quite deaf.