I haven't been able to get a RISCON East signal in a while. RISCON South is fine. Has there been a change ?
RISCON EAST not working?
- Thread starter thom
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Got it here in Taunton too. SDS-200 w/ broken external antenna.
I'm 20 miles west of Westerly in CT. I get RISCON South most of the time, today not so great. I have been getting RISCON East for a while but no signal strength at all for the past few days. I reloaded the system via Proscan but no change. Just to make sure, the control freq is still 860.3125 and no rebanding?
I'm using an SDS100 and 200 with a DPD OmniX the roof. All settings appear to be correct. The paradox is that I consistently get South good or marginal depending on the day. All of my other systems are working fine. I'll let it ride for a few days and maybe it will change
OK, I turned off the squelch and now I'm getting 3 to 4 bars signal but the RSSI is -115 to -117 dBm, which is why I'm not getting any stations. That's what happens when you are 20 plus miles plus a few hills away. I'm patient and will try more when the leaves come down.
You might get better range with yagi. I also have an omni X antenna but is totally sucks on RISCON. I dont know why, I live a bit east of middle of state in Cranston. The only way I can receive all RISCON zones is with an 8 element yagi pointing NORTHWEST! Yes, AWAY from all the sites! Yagi is up only about 16' off ground. I use my omni X with my BCT15x for all conventional stuff and its up pretty high and works well. I am amazed you can hear the EAST zone from where you are. Its not as strong as NORTH or SOUTH unless you live on the bay.
The strange thing is that I get 4 bars on the East Zone but no stations, I get 2 to3 bars on the South Zone and get stations most of the time. I also have an older DPD LP in the attic and that gets the South Zone most days if I point it north for some reason. I think signals bounce off things up in there. I know a yagi would do it but I'm limited as to antennas on the roof by my HOA . RIscon isn't a priority, I have plenty to keep me busy with not only the regular police and fire/ems in the area, but also VHF air, and UHF milcom, mostly F 15's and tankers.
Remember, the East Zone is designed to saturate THAT area with RF. not the whole of Southern New England. I, however, can hear all 4 RISCON zones with no issue from home in Warwick, RI. Thom, being 20 miles west of Westerly, I am amazed you can hear the East Zone at all. Bob, its a matter of surrounding terrain for you unfortunately.
And I hear it best with the DPD LP in my attic. Wish I could have it on the roof, best antenna I ever owned. I live right on the beach, I imagine that has something to do with it
Yeah it really sucks because Dean Estates is right in the way to my east. It's like a huge wall 2 or 3 miles long running north to south. I have been driving around with my BCD996P2 scanner and an 800 mhz mag mount. RISCON reception is pretty good in Warwick. I was at Oakland Beach yesterday and all zones came in very good. Driving to North Kingstown I couldnt hear North or Prov anymore. At home I have 2 yagis to use. One points east and the other northwest. The northwest yagi performs the best for some reason. Vertical antennas just dont perform well here. I tried my discone, then an omni X......maybe get one zone pretty good. But the yagi's definitely made an improvement. Now as far as conventional, I cvan regularly hear Boston Fire, and all the PD's and FD's in Bristol county Mass. using omni x. It is up pretty high too. Height didnt seem to matter much for RISCON. I got this 8 element yagi for about $35. And I have another 6 element too on another mast. The yagi's are up only about 16'. I raise them up to about 20' but no difference.
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