Pro96 low sensitivity

[wa4hrk]

I just purchased a use Pro96 mainly for the digital 800mhz coverage and that works fine! I have updated the firmware to 1.4.

My question is what is the be "all around" antenna for handheld and in-car use. I forked out 20 bucks for the 800 mhz rubber duck at RS and it is absolutely USELESS!!! The stock antenna seems to do pretty well on most freqs, but I am very disappointed at the reception on 450mhz and 150mhz compared to othe "cheap" scanners I own.

So, any suggestions for a good wide-band antenna for handheld use is appreciated ;-)

Incidentally, I've put my old scanner online for now at
mms://streamwebtown.com/easleyscscanner tuned to several upstate SC freqs - mainly Pickens County if you're interested. This is using an outdoor antenna mostly on UHF stuff.

 

[N4JNW]

That's odd your RadioShack 800 was a flop..

I've owned many and had great success with all of them. You are correct however, performance is degraded on VHF and UHF. But, what do you expect? It's an 800 mhz antenna. Not a VHF,UHF, and 800 mhz antenna..

Anyway, on with it.. If you want good wideband performance, it's going to be tough to come by. You need to decide what you listen to most often, and how far away those things are you need to hear.

If you need to hear 800 mhz, and VHF/UHF, I would reccomend the Diamond RH77CA. It's a longer antenna, about 15", but for VHF and UHF, it rules all. It will recieve some 800 as well also. If the 800 mhz stuff you want to hear is a county away, or in the same county, go with the RH77CA. It will still recieve the 800 mhz because it's so close to it.

If 800 mhz is more important to you, or if you're on the fringe of 800 mhz recpetion, then all I can tell you to do is to either deal with the static, or deal with the RS 800 duckie. The RS 800 can pull in 800 mhz for me for over 30 miles away as the crow flies. The same systems that are almost non-existant with the stock duckie.


I have been searching for awhile, and found NO handheld antenna that will improve recpetion on ALL bands. To get good VHF/UHF performance, the antenna needs to be longer. To get better 800 mhz performance, it needs to be super small. An antenna cannot be long and short at the same time.

 

[unitcharlie]

In addition to Josh's recommendation about antennae (I love my 77CA, it rocks and works well for the 800 meg systems I monitor, too) you might fiddle around with your firmware... I updated to 1.3 and then 1.4 but reverted to 1.2 because it gave me the best performance on a 400 meg P-25 conventional system and cleaned up an 800 meg system I monitor as well... here is a thread that discussed the issue earlier this year.... revert and listen for a day or two and see what happens before you trash the radio, but if you don't hear much of anything with the RS 800 you should take it back and get another--they should take it and replace it no charge if you have had it less than a month and have your receipt... if you get a hassle then post here and some of the folks with Rat Shack will assist you. If your primary interest isn't an 800 system then just take it back and get your money back and put it on a 77CA...

 

[hypersight]

Do you have your ATT function on by chance?

 

[N4JNW]

Do you have your ATT function on by chance?

That might be worth checking... I got a little scare out of my Pro-97 when I first bought it because of this. I had accidentally hit my ATT button, and only really strong things cound be heard.

Live and learn.. :lol:

 

[wa4hrk]

Thanks to all for your insights... Sorry I've not been checking here like I should.

I did NOT have my ATT on, but I HAVE done similar things

I purchased a Comet CA2x4SR mobile antenna for 144/440mhz ham use, and it seems to work pretty well on all bands (including 800mhz) hooked to the scanner, too. Obviously, it's "external" but I do have a 77CA on order for handheld use.

I will try reverting to Ver 1.2 of the software, too. It's just strange that with the original antenna, the 460mhz reception is VERY noisy in the PRO96 and the same freq in my Alinco 2m HT with its stock antenna is full-quieting - may be the tradeoff I have to make to get 800mhz digital and 460mhz FM reception in the same unit.

I have tried the RS800 duckie on a couple of other scanners that cover those freqs and am still VERY disappointed. I may have gotten a bad one?? Reception is kinda like I'm just sticking a paper clip in there.

Thanks, again...

 

[n2mdk]

As a general purpose antenna the Diamond RH77CA really can't be beat, doesn't work all that well up at 800 except on my BC246T for some reason.

 

[n0lqt]

The firmware upgrade only affects the APCO 25 operation of the scanner. It doesn't have anything to do with reception of analog signals so upgrading to newer or reverting to older firmware won't change the sensitivity or selectivity of the scanner.

When you say used, how "used" are we talking about? 1 year, 2 years, 4 years? (check the date code inside the battery compartment, ie 01A06 means manufacture date of Jan 2006) could be the receiver circuitry is just out of alignment and needs to be re-peaked. That is a frequent problem with handhelds over time as they get "bumped around" alot.....