Poplar Bluff PD/FD New System

[crippledchicken]

I'm using RG6 Quad coax. I know LMR-400 is suppose to be really good but, I doubt that would clear up my present problem. Not to mention that stuff is too expensive to buy on a maybe, it would cure the problem. I doubt I could find a reverse polarity adapter for my coax setup. I'm using one of these type adapters at this time. https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Conn...ocphy=9023125&hvtargid=pla-2281435176378&th=1 I doubt they even make reverse polarity adpters to fit between F female and F male connectors. I appreaciate all the help!

 

[RF23]

I agree, better cable will not help as your run is not that long and you have a very good antenna.

I visited the site you purchased your beams from and typed into the search box “Reverse Polarization Adapter” and got 30 hits. All of them had RP in thier names, so they are Reverse Polarization adapters. Use only ONE if you use two RP adapters it will change the polarization back to what you had to begin with. Non-RP adapters will keep the polarization the same so, you can use as many as you need.

From the site you got your beams from; I think this should work for you and you will not need any other adapters. It is a BNC female (goes on your cable with the F connector to BNC male adaptor) and the other end is a RP BNC Male to go on your radio.

I sure hope this RP adapter works as good for you as it did for me. I guess we will soon know.

Below is the URL link.



Coaxial Adapter, BNC Female / RP-BNC Male

 

[crippledchicken]

Looking at that adapter, shouldn't there be a male pin sticking out? Or am I missing something? Not quite sure how I would connect my current connectors to that. With what I'm looking at, seems there should be a male pin sticking out to go in scanner and then my bnc connector would go on the other end of the adapter? And then maybe I'm just confused.

 

[crippledchicken]

I went there and saw 2 of those type adapters. Don't I need the one on the right? Looks like that will go on my scanner, and then my male bnc will fit the back sid correct? I just want to make sure before I order.

 

[RF23]

I think your cable from the Yagi trmintates with a male F connector. To get it to attach to your scanner you used an adapter with a F female connector at one end to fit on the cable and a BNC Male connector at the other end to go to your radio.

You leave all your present adapters on the cable and the RP adapter should fit between your cable and radio.

The RP adapter has a BNC female (goes on your cable with the F connector to BNC male adaptor still in place) and the other end is a RP BNC Male to go to your Female BNC jack on your radio.

Keep looking at the pictures of the adapters they are very helpful to see if they will work for your purposes.

The F connector with the pin sticking out of it will be in the adapter you are already using and needs to stay in the adapter for this to work.

 

[crippledchicken]

Looking at these, I think I need the one on the right make sense? The one on the left doesn't have the pin to go into the scanner Wow, I can't believe they want $10.00 for shipping!

https://www.l-com.com/search?keywords=%E2%80%9CReverse+Polarization+Adapter&Category=Coaxial+Adapters&Rfinad99con1series=BNC&initial_sort=Sortsku:ASC&res_per_page=48&view_type=undefined

 

[RF23]

I agree the one on the right with the pin would go to the scanner & the other end to the cable from the beam.

The picutes are indeed helpful.

More and more companies are hiding how much they really want for a product to appear competive and often hide it in shipping.

Do you remember the VCR wars of the 1980s? They would want over $100 to ship a VCR to you

 

[crippledchicken]

As a test before buying, I've cut my coax and spliced it back in reverse polarity. Of course, The PBPD haven't said anything yet lol! And yeah, I remember those VCR days

 

[RF23]

Good idea!

You should already see a much better RSSI reading, plus soild 5 bars just from the control channel activity. My cell antenna was a very poor performer until I used the RP adapter. The more elements the beam has the more important it is to point it using an RSSI readout. Your antenna actually has 2 more elements than mine and just 3 or 4 inches left or right can make 6 to 9 dbi difference in signal strength.

I hate to say this but I did not think of reversing the polarity with my box of jumper wires. Each was about a foot long with an Alligator clip at each end. I thought of it about a day after the RP adapter arrived in the mail.

 

[crippledchicken]

Sorry took so long to get back. I tried the polarity reversal with no change. Probably just my location. I took the scanner to town again and it worked great there. I've purchased a Uniden BCD536HP. I doubt it will do any better but, I'll have a scanner in my bedroom now though.

 

[RF23]

Sure, sorry to hear the RP adjustment did not help. However, you did save money by your experimental results showing the RP adapter would not help and you now know due to your actions that your radio is NOT the problem.



You still may get more signal from your Yagi by pointing it with the help of a second person looking at the RSSI readout from the control channel. Did you use your cell phone signal bars to point that Yagi?



Does the 536 radio now come with DMR & NXDN or do you have to buy the keys from Uniden to get them?

I think both the SDS100 & 200 still will not receive Crawford Weather base for more than 4 or 5 seconds before just dropping out. It receives the mobiles just fine and they are on the same frequency and often as strong. You were the first person to confirm to me that you too had this problem with your SDS200 too.



I sent the necessary information to Upman hoping he could address this problem but he was getting sick about that time so I let it go. However, I found a work-around just using my BCD436HP during tornadoes weather. It has a stronger receiver at that frequency and does not use batteries as fast.

This sure has been some adventure.

 

[buddrousa]

The only Uniden that comes with DMR and NXDN out of the box are the BCD160DN and the BCD260DN all others 996P2 325P2 436 536 SDS100 SDS200 all have to buy the DMR and NXDN Keys.

 

[crippledchicken]

Yeah I'll have to purchase the DMR and NXDN keys. I'm going to get the NXDN for now and get the DMR later on. I'm going to have to get another external speaker for the 536 now. I always like the sound better on an external speaker. I use to bypass the internal resistor they used to put in handheld units. That gave more output to them. The SDS is running great on everything else. I just think my location isn't great for 800mhz.