Niagara EMS Fleetnet

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bhermans

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Aug 27, 2006
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Niagara
Hi All:

I just picked up a new scanner (BC246T) and loving it. I am having a problem picking up Niagara EMS in the room of my house where the scanner is setup, unless I place the scanner directly in the window, then on ocasion I can get the fleetnet signal. I am having no problems picking up the VHF signal for the niagara fire departments dispatched by St. Catharines, or 800MHz trunks such as Peel region.

Does anyone have any experience with certain appliances causing interference with the fleetnet signal? I am wondering if it has anything to do with my wirless router, because if I go further away from it, the fleetnet signal seems to get better.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Bryan
 

EJB

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Oct 29, 2002
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Downtown Hamilton
Where in Niagara are you?
Along the QEW, east (south?) of Hamilton around Grimsby Lincoln area it has hard to hit a tower for me, Grimsby's tower has been de-activated for over a year now.
Try Welland or Hamilton for action.
Also, the 246 as I remember it is not as powerful as my 296.
Also, get it away from your computer if this is the case.
 

bhermans

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Aug 27, 2006
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Niagara
I am in Beamsville, on the south side of the QEW.
I have the scanner programmed for the Weland Fleetnet tower, I have also added a Diamond RH-205 telescopic antenna, to help my VHF signal a little bit.
 

xml

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Feb 20, 2006
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From about Vineland to Stoney Creek... portable coverage isn't that swell. Your best bet is to use the Welland and/or Hamilton towers. I recall reading somewhere that the Welland tower is actually on the old OPP tower in Fonthill, on RF mountain where there's dozens of other radio sites. And depending where you are positioned along the escarpment... that might be another thing affecting your ability to get a clean signal in.
 

jellotor

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Jan 6, 2004
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Hamilton, ON
From my recollection Beamsville is, like xml said, kind of a dead spot for portable coverage. You may have to invest in a base antenna for your house for that 246T. Bear in mind, too, that you likely have no demonstrable way of determining how well you can recieve a given control channel with that scanner since it has no S-meter...you can either hear it or not, and it either works or it doesn't.
 

wyldman

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May 25, 2006
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Center of the RF Universe
I had the same problem with my 396.To start,the rubber duck isn't very good for Fleetnet,especially indoors.

Build the homemade dipole (cheap and easy) listed in the wiki here.It is well tuned for Fleetnet,and does a great job.It seems to be the best compared to all the other antennas i have tried.The most expensive part was the copper pipe.Cost me around $30 to build two of them.
 

cuzinit001

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Jun 22, 2004
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Grey/Bruce, Ontario, Canada
I went down to Dunnville on Aug. long weekend via QEW to Victoria Ave.( Jordan ) and was getting strong signals from Hamilton and Welland on the BC396. I almost turned the radio off going over the skyway do to steady chatter
 

jellotor

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Hamilton, ON
Well, where he is located on the south side of the highway he's obviously having reception problems. Again, as xml said, recieving the Welland site from the under side of the escarpment may cause problems.
 
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