remote control head scanner

[magic_lantern]

Does any manufacturer of scanners make a remote head for their product. Reason is I have a good high place to mount my discone but cable length would end up being about 150'.

I would like to mount the radio in a weather tight enclosure at base of mast with only 50' of cable. 225-380mhz loss would be too much with 150'

if anyone does make a radio with remote capabilities is their a limit on the control cable

Thanks

 

[KK4JUG]

deleted

 

[mmckenna]

Does any manufacturer of scanners make a remote head for their product. Reason is I have a good high place to mount my discone but cable length would end up being about 150'.

I would like to mount the radio in a weather tight enclosure at base of mast with only 50' of cable. 225-380mhz loss would be too much with 150'

if anyone does make a radio with remote capabilities is their a limit on the control cable

Thanks

There are some, but 100 feet of cable would probably be problematic.

An alternative solution would be to purchase one of the many SDR radios out there, mount it at the base of your tower, or at the antenna, and use a network connection to run it from your computer.

I've got an AOR AR-2300 at one of my high sites set up this way. It's connected to our data network and I can operate the radio from anywhere with a network connection.

Even one of the small/cheap SDR USB radios would do the trick if you had a small computer to run it.

 

[KK4JUG]

Does the AOR AR-2300 scan?

 

[fxdscon]

Does any manufacturer of scanners make a remote head for their product. Reason is I have a good high place to mount my discone but cable length would end up being about 150'.

I would like to mount the radio in a weather tight enclosure at base of mast with only 50' of cable. 225-380mhz loss would be too much with 150'

if anyone does make a radio with remote capabilities is their a limit on the control cable

Thanks

The Whistler TRX-2 has a remote head and has been tested successfully with 100' of cable.

.

 

[magic_lantern]

how is this TRX-2 on 225-380

thanks

 

[mmckenna]

Does the AOR AR-2300 scan?

Yes.

 

[Darmtn]

It can be done - these guys{http://www.rpc-electronics.com/rh96rmk.php} at one time made exactly what your looking for using the discontinued RH96 head for uniden scanners. They also have a Youtube video showing a 75ft run through the house. They don't appear to be active as the email bounces back - but you maybe able to get some ideas.

 

[buddrousa]

With the Whistler TRX-2 the USB programming port is on the scanner not the remote head.

 

[Ubbe]

In your case it is normal to use an amplifier at the antenna that will overcome even the 50' loss. It doesn't have to be more complicated than that.

Use an amplifier that can handle strong signals and there shouldn't be any problem at all. Always use a variable attenuator at the other end of the coax to balance the signal level to not overload any receivers front-end. You probably do not need all of the below. You can use a $1 RF choke coil into a spare port of a $5 CATV splitter instead of the bias-t and the FM filter might not be needed depending of your location and what frequencies you monitor.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/PGA-103-Lo...on-Gain-Stabilization-Gain-20-dB/283215702848
https://www.ebay.com/itm/FM-Notch-F...ication-Excellent-Rejection-75dB/282762944145
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Bias-Tee-O...tee-Bias-T-DC-HDR-12V-or-USB-pwr/282936075530
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Goobay-Adjustable-attenuator-0-20dB-F-male-to-F-male-67009/282941627117

/Ubbe

 

[Citywide173]

Does the TRX use a common CAT5 or CAT6 cable? If so, they are rated for 100 meter (328 feet) runs. That would be more than enough to cover what you're looking at.

 

[buddrousa]

A standard CAT5 cable and Don Starr tested one to 100 feet. It will be Monday night but I can test 300 feet then.

 

[mikey60]

Just keep in mind you would still need to run a speaker cable along with the Cat 5 cable. The Cat5 doesn't carry audio.

Mike

 

[buddrousa]

Needed to make this work.
#1 CAT5
#2 SPEAKER CABLE
#3 USB CABLE (NEVER WORK AT THAT LENGTH)
#4 POWER CABLE

 

[Ubbe]

If you forget about the costly and difficult to work remote head solution and instead use 150' of RG6 and the amplifier solution you then have gain enough to use a splitter and have several scanners connected and/or increase the sensitivity of your scanner by using a low noise amplifier.

You can also use any low cost scanner, or scanners set to scan individual parts of the mil air band, that you can connect to a low cost computer and remotly control from your own location, perhaps using ProScan.

/Ubbe

 

[oceans777]

USB Ethernet extenders work well - I've used them at 100-135 feet no problems at all and I think they are rated to 150 feet. I used them in CA for exactly this application. Mine were just generic from Amazon for CAT5.

Having done this I think I'd go with Ubbe's solution if I had to again but just passing along the info.

 

[iMONITOR]

Do you have room to surface-mount an entire Uniden HP-2 scanner on the dash/instrument panel? It's only 5.9" x 3.3".

 

[Citywide173]

I believe he's looking to mount the radio on a tower and remote the head to his shack to minimize cable loss on the antenna feed line.

Do you have room to surface-mount an entire Uniden HP-2 scanner on the dash/instrument panel? It's only 5.9" x 3.3".