NYC rail photo mobile shack

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Priority-One

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I monitor the subways and rails as a hobby and go down to Park Ave and 97th st to watch the rail traffic and listen to metro north, Amtrak and the NYC subway system. I usually set up a nice spot and get a coffee and relax. I use my Motorola APX 7000 VHF/UHF and a cannon T3i:
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BlackSheepDue

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I'm assuming railroad isn't p25 and I'm also assuming you're not transmitting so out of jealousy I ask why use such an expensive radio?


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Priority-One

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No tx and no p25. I had extra tax money left over and it's just one of those things I wanted. It's an amazing radio. I use it to monitor all NYC services.


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BlackSheepDue

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No tx and no p25. I had extra tax money left over and it's just one of those things I wanted. It's an amazing radio. I use it to monitor all NYC services.


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That's what I assumed. Props to you!

Someday...


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Priority-One

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Haha I had to go for the super overkill. I gotta say, the APX is amazing, I use it daily for nypd and fdny, ems, vhf and uhf. Great reception and durability.


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N9JIG

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I borrowed one of our VHF/800 APX7000's for a railfanning trip a few years back and programmed it up for the rail freqs. It worked awesomely. I set up a couple scan lists but also had the entire VHF rail freqs available in RX only.

It outperformed any scanner I had and even with the small battery it lasted all day long. With the small battery and a standard VHF rubber duck antenna (in place of the APX's tri-band antenna) it was not much larger than an HT1000.

While I doubt I would ever spend that kind of money myself absent winning the lottery if I could I would!
 

Priority-One

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Everything in the radio is RX only and I use a Motorola VHF/UHF gps stubby, it gets great reception. Usually on weekends I do rail photos, but when out on the road at work or at my desk I take the APX and the RSM and listen to nypd Or fdny and it's amazing. I have the RSSI indicator and ID display as well as the mdc mute. I have the Bluetooth set to transmit to my skull candy headphones to walk around midtown and get photos. Amazing radio


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radio3353

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Good to see you using a real radio instead of the junk from Uniden and Whistler. Many people don't realize the reception and audio quality one gets from these radios.

That chain link fence looks like a real impediment to photography. But, I understand the need to stay off private railroad property.
 

Priority-One

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I love using the APX rather than a scanner. The only downside is not being able to monitor any TRS, But luckily all the primary communications i listen to are UHF analog still here in nyc and VHF rail, Ham and P25.
The audio is amazing as well as the reception. I wish they packaged a scanner like they do APX radios. I am not sure why they haven't yet?
 

Priority-One

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I don't want my radio affiliating with the system and it getting bricked.


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W2PDX

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Great set-up! To say I'm jealous of that APX is an understatement. Here's another pic you might enjoy (it's older & before I had a DSLR).

 

gillham

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I can attest to the quality on the APX being superior to my Uniden.

Running my work APX7000 next to my Uniden 436HP, it's a night and day difference in audio quality and reception.
I'm lucky I'm friends with the radio guy, and he gave me a couple extra channels on Rx only to listen to.
I've heard good things about the Unication pagers - might have to get one for myself if I end up leaving and don't have an APX anymore.
 

IAmSixNine

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Everything in the radio is RX only and I use a Motorola VHF/UHF gps stubby, it gets great reception. Usually on weekends I do rail photos, but when out on the road at work or at my desk I take the APX and the RSM and listen to nypd Or fdny and it's amazing. I have the RSSI indicator and ID display as well as the mdc mute. I have the Bluetooth set to transmit to my skull candy headphones to walk around midtown and get photos. Amazing radio


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Interesting.
I have the UHF (430-470) version of your antenna. Originally came off one of my XPR6550 portables. It works great on that radio but when i put it on my APX7000 and try to monitor UHF PD and FD in my area (PD 460.xxxx and FD 453.xxxx) i get crappy reception.
I may have to go back and revisit that antenna and trouble shoot more.
 

Priority-One

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I get great reception with that antenna. It's 450-512mhz with GPS RX. I only get spotty coverage in my apartment as I'm on the 4th floor of a 8 floor building sandwiched in between 3 other buildings. But otherwise it works out good. I even get pretty vhf reception when monitoring the railroad and subways. I can't complain. I had a TRX-1 and the screen got so insanely scratched and the reception was just terrible, so I sold it. I'm not to far from a metro 25 site as well and even still I got terrible reception on the TRX-1.


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03msc

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Interesting.
I have the UHF (430-470) version of your antenna. Originally came off one of my XPR6550 portables. It works great on that radio but when i put it on my APX7000 and try to monitor UHF PD and FD in my area (PD 460.xxxx and FD 453.xxxx) i get crappy reception.
I may have to go back and revisit that antenna and trouble shoot more.

Could the connector be slightly different? I'm thinking maybe a pin length or thread length difference? Just thinking out loud...
 
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