Is it possible to receive the Philly Police from about 30 miles away using an outdoor discone antena??
Philadelphia Police
- Thread starter shirsch101
- Start date
If you're monitoring from West Chester, uh-uh. I've rarely been able to pick them up from any further west than oh say Conshohocken. Every so often I'll hit a "sweet spot" a bit further out if I'm in direct line of site to a repeater but I live in Audubon and no matter how high I have my verticals, zilch on Philly. 800mhz doesn't propagate as far out like VHF/UHF does
I’m in south jersey and I can pick them up
policefreak
Member
I was gonna say, 30 miles which direction? 30 miles to the west and you have no shot. 30 miles to the east and it's a real long shot but maybe a slight chance if you're in a very open area (no trees or obstructions for about 300 yards), not near any cell towers that can interfere with 800mhz signals...and btw what scanner or device are you trying this with?
I am using a BCD536HP
policefreak
Member
Yeah I doubt that would work. The 536 is really not a sensitive scanner at all.
Not on 800 at least
I am about 20 miles from the nearest tower and on high ground and still can't get them.
Not going to happen on a Discone, I live near 202 and the DE/PA line and have elevation on my side (430ft) and barely get them with a 13dB Yagi. About a 18 mile shot to the TX site.
Where is the TX site located at?
FCC Callsign WPUI511 (PHILADELPHIA, CITY OF)
FCC Callsign WPUI511 (PHILADELPHIA, CITY OF)
Am I reading that correctly...only 4 antennas in Philly's system? That does not sound right to me.FCC Callsign WPUI511 (PHILADELPHIA, CITY OF)
FCC Callsign WPUI511 (PHILADELPHIA, CITY OF)www.radioreference.com
Thanks. That's better and more in line with what I was thinking. I thought they have antennas in Center City and the Far Northeast, as well as the TV station antenna farm.
100% no. Although I have received intermittent transmissions, on a G5 with outside mobile antenna, at the intersection of RTE 1 & 322.
Saturday morning I took an early morning ride to Philadelphia with my G5 attached to this Larsen 806MHZ-866HHZ. Previously with my 1/4 wave I was able to start hearing the Philly system at RTE 1&322. Now reception began on 202 at the location marked in red. This leads me to believe that with a dedicated high gain beam antenna, mounted sufficiently high and running low loss cable, it would be possible to receive the Philly system from the West Chester area.
Attachments
So I am about 4 miles further than screen shot shows. Maybe in the spring I will get a frequency specific antenna and giver a try
Thanks
Thanks
I'm just over the PA/De line about a mile off 202 with 430' of elevation on my side. I pick up Philly on a 13dB yagi in my attic (Outside was no better) on a SDS200 pretty reliably. 6 years of trying and that's where I ended up.
Dave, what brand yagi do you use. I have been considering going that route to see if i can’t pick up Philly from my perch in central Bucks County. The discone did not work. Thanks