Newbie just learning how to use a scanner

[wa8pyr]

Hi everyone. I’ve caught up on the replies since I was last online (couple weeks ago). Thank you. I have a followup q on scanning only known active freqs vs all 97 channels.

Tomorrow I plan to sit trackside at Thurmond, WV, in the New River Gorge(ous scenery) on the CSX New River Gorge sub, to see Amtrak 50 come through Thurmond en route to Washington and New York. I’ve done some homework and I’ve learned that this CSX sub uses channels 8 (road) and 14 (AM disp). I also read that Amtrak uses its host railroads’ freqs, so I assume if I monitor only 8 and 14 I should maximize my chances of hearing train talk.

That said, the biggest issues will be Amtrak performance at all and the fact that I’ll be about 1,000’ below most human occupancy while IN the gorge at river level! So I may not get any signals anyway!

But my real question is: in this case, should I program my Bearcat 125AT to scan only channels 8 and 14 for this trip?

Thx again for helping this newbie.

You can scan all 97 basic channels and you should be fine. Being so deep in the gorge you won't pick up anything that isn't close anyway.

Besides, Amtrak often has a separate channel for onboard communications, so it would probably be advantageous to scan all 97.

I have my BC125 set up with channels 7 through 50 in bank 1 and channels 51-97 in bank 2. Bank 3 is programmed with the EOTD/HOTD and DPU frequencies. I use the other banks for specific locations around home. That way I always have the full list of 97 channels available all the time if I need them.

PS - in Bank 1, I put AAR 7 in channel 7, AAR 8 in channel 8, and so on. In Bank 2, AAR 51 is in channel 51, AAR 52 is in channel 52, and so on. This way I can simply punch in the channel number based on the AAR channel number and go right to it.

 

[ratboy]

I just put my BC 125 in railband search. No need to program anything. I use this antenna, the Abbree foldable 2M/440. Pretty much indestructible, and it doesn't hit stuff when it's not in use. For some reason, a lot of people don't understand what it's made from. Maybe Lufkin will make one some day.

 

[teknishun]

Thank you for this! Yes it helps a lot.

As for the map pgm, trust me, I got that one bookmarked! I’ve been a map freak and a visual Learner all my life, so this and the fragis and the arcgis maps are all in my iPad favorites page! 😆

WOW - Thank you SO MUCH for that inter-active railway map! I have always wanted to have something like that!