Over the last 5 decades I have owned dozens of different scanners from at least a dozen brands. I usually have had multiple radios at any given time as evidenced from the various shack photos I have posted over the years. It is not just scanners however, when you have scanners, you usually have some sort of accessories to go with them.
I have discussed at length some of my accessories already like audio mixers and the NCS3230 as well as PL decoders but have glossed over a couple of of my other favorites. I intend to right that wrong here.
Multicouplers:
Let’s start with multicouplers. I am heavily invested with these fascinating devices. I have several, active and passive, all from Stridsberg Engineering. These days I am only using a single 8-port active unit, but back when I had 24 scanners in a large rack cabinet I had 3 of them to feed these scanners.
Multicouplers perform a couple functions. Firs they split the signal to feed multiple radios from a single antenna. Next, they are designed to provide isolation between the radios so that a radio does not cause interference with other radios connected to that multicoupler thru the antenna feed-lines and jumpers.
“Active” multicouplers have an amplifier in them in order to overcome the insertion loss caused by the connectors and splitters internal to the multicoupler. This amp is set up to provide only enough amplification to overcome this loss, it really is not intended to increase the signal strength to the radios. “Passive” multicouplers do not have that amplifier, they merely split the signal and isolate the radios connected to it from each other. Each has their place. Usually I recommend active multicouplers unless you either are in an area where the signals are particularly strong or will provide a separate amplifier in the system.
One thing I have done fairly successfully is to feed two or more multicouplers from a single one. If I have more than 8 radios I want to feed from a single antenna I can connect the antenna to a passive multicoupler then connect two or more active ones to the outputs of the passive one. This works pretty well. While there is some signal loss it is usually not enough to cause issues. I have done it the other way, feeding passive multicouplers from an active one with less success.
So how about feeding active multicouplers from another active one? Well, it seems to have worked pretty well but I have increased RF noise and possible intermod issues. A couple people tell me this can cause increased signal compression.
One of the things I want to try is the Stridsberg 16-port active multicoupler. I have made inquiries in both the RR forums and to Stridsberg themselves to see if this is merely a 1-to-2 splitter feeding 2 8-port multicouplers (which I can replicate myself with my current gear) or if there is a single amplifier present before the signal is split. No one has been able to answer that question one way or the other and at $750 it would be an expensive experiment.
Other antenna accessories:
I have a few other accessories on my antennas. On both of the scanners in my car as well as on the multicoupler in the shack I have Stridsberg RF limiters. These protect the radios and multicouplers from being damaged by strong RF from transmitters, such as my ham and GMRS radios. I have had several multicouplers and scanners go deaf in this way, these devices protect the gear from such damage. So far I have not had any of my protected radios or gear damaged since I bough these.
On all of my outside antennas I have lightning protection. These are pass-thru devices mounted at the antenna itself and have a ground wire to siphon off indirect lightning strikes. The insertion loss is minimal on both the RF limiters and lightning devices and a little signal loss is preferable to having a radio toasted by lightning.
My other main accessory is my antenna patch panel. This is a large wall plate I had made for me with double-female SO239 and N connectors. The coax comes from my outside and attic antennas to this panel mounted on the wall as the coax comes down inside the wall. I can then connect my radios to whatever antenna I want by swapping the jumper cable.
I used to have the coaxes go directly to the radios but that often resulted in improper connectors requiring adapters or coax length issues. Since I change my shack often the patch panel gives me the flexibility to change things around easily.
For my HF antennas I use a coax switch. I have 4 wire HF antennas, a 10-Meter and a 20-Meter dipole in the attic, a 20-Meter dipole on the roof crown outside and a 20-Meter end-fed on the roof. These all go to a 4-position antenna switch so I can set the HF radio to whichever antenna I want.
USB and Serial Stuff:
These days computers are as big a part of radio listening as the radio itself. Since I use a multitude of radios I have a need to connect them to a computer for programming or control. To do this I have used various USB hubs over the years. Currently I use a Sabrent 16-port USB 3.0 hub. This powered hub allows me to connect all my radios to my computer with a single USB cable and keeps the wiring nonsense to a minimum. I place the hub in the cabinet behind the radios so all the cables are neatly hidden away. My PC does have 12 USB-A ports on the back so I could get away with not needing a hub but I keep the PC on the back desk and would need to then run a long USB cable to each radio from the computer. The hub eliminates all that extra wiring. I also installed a USB port on the front of my radio cabinet to make it easy to pop a cable in without having to fish a wire around to the back of the cabinet.
Back in the DOS and early Windows days, before scanners came with USB cables serial ports ruled the day. Most computers back then had at least one and sometimes 2 serial ports, and if you needed more you could add in an ISA card to your desktop or a PC-Card to your laptop for additional ports.
Serial ports were a messy business. The cables were thick, had huge connectors (at least compared to today’s USB ones) and required proper configuration. They could cause issues if your computer was set up for a serial mouse, the cursor could jump around wildly if not properly set up. Then, if you had too many devices you might need to use a serial port switch to select the device to connect to the computer. USB is SO much easier!
Clocks and maps:
Any good shack requires a good clock. I have had several large LED clocks over the years. I started out with a big LCD one and later replaced it with an 8-inch red LED one, I could see that from all over the room. Then I replaced that with a similar one with blue LED’s that also had the day, date and room temperature. My wife found a rally nice looking digital clock on Amazon with an even bigger white LED display for the time and different colors for the day, date and temperature. She hijacked that for the living room, but I might get another for my office. It really looks nice!
Another toy the wife thought looked cool and bought for me is a GeoChron. Years ago I pined over one of the mechanical GeoChrons after visiting a federal command center for work. These things are more a piece of art than a tool but do provide great info for hams that use grey-line propagation models.
A few years back GeoChron came out with a digital version of their clocks, the GeoChron 4K. This is actually a tiny computer built into a housing a few inches long by an inch wide and about a half inch thick. It plugs into the HDMI port of a 4KTV and replicates the display seen on the old mechanical units. While the mechanical devices can run upwards of $10,000 the digital unit is less than $500. Connect it to your home Wi-Fi and a TV and off you go!
You can get a much cheaper alternative. HamClock is a free software package for the Raspberry Pi platform that provides a less sexier display. With Pi’s running about $50 this a really cheap way to get that functionality. There are even companies that will build out a complete HamClock computer for under $100.
There are hundreds of other accessories for the scanner shack out there. What ones do you have?
I have discussed at length some of my accessories already like audio mixers and the NCS3230 as well as PL decoders but have glossed over a couple of of my other favorites. I intend to right that wrong here.
Multicouplers:
Let’s start with multicouplers. I am heavily invested with these fascinating devices. I have several, active and passive, all from Stridsberg Engineering. These days I am only using a single 8-port active unit, but back when I had 24 scanners in a large rack cabinet I had 3 of them to feed these scanners.
Multicouplers perform a couple functions. Firs they split the signal to feed multiple radios from a single antenna. Next, they are designed to provide isolation between the radios so that a radio does not cause interference with other radios connected to that multicoupler thru the antenna feed-lines and jumpers.
“Active” multicouplers have an amplifier in them in order to overcome the insertion loss caused by the connectors and splitters internal to the multicoupler. This amp is set up to provide only enough amplification to overcome this loss, it really is not intended to increase the signal strength to the radios. “Passive” multicouplers do not have that amplifier, they merely split the signal and isolate the radios connected to it from each other. Each has their place. Usually I recommend active multicouplers unless you either are in an area where the signals are particularly strong or will provide a separate amplifier in the system.
One thing I have done fairly successfully is to feed two or more multicouplers from a single one. If I have more than 8 radios I want to feed from a single antenna I can connect the antenna to a passive multicoupler then connect two or more active ones to the outputs of the passive one. This works pretty well. While there is some signal loss it is usually not enough to cause issues. I have done it the other way, feeding passive multicouplers from an active one with less success.
So how about feeding active multicouplers from another active one? Well, it seems to have worked pretty well but I have increased RF noise and possible intermod issues. A couple people tell me this can cause increased signal compression.
One of the things I want to try is the Stridsberg 16-port active multicoupler. I have made inquiries in both the RR forums and to Stridsberg themselves to see if this is merely a 1-to-2 splitter feeding 2 8-port multicouplers (which I can replicate myself with my current gear) or if there is a single amplifier present before the signal is split. No one has been able to answer that question one way or the other and at $750 it would be an expensive experiment.
Other antenna accessories:
I have a few other accessories on my antennas. On both of the scanners in my car as well as on the multicoupler in the shack I have Stridsberg RF limiters. These protect the radios and multicouplers from being damaged by strong RF from transmitters, such as my ham and GMRS radios. I have had several multicouplers and scanners go deaf in this way, these devices protect the gear from such damage. So far I have not had any of my protected radios or gear damaged since I bough these.
On all of my outside antennas I have lightning protection. These are pass-thru devices mounted at the antenna itself and have a ground wire to siphon off indirect lightning strikes. The insertion loss is minimal on both the RF limiters and lightning devices and a little signal loss is preferable to having a radio toasted by lightning.
My other main accessory is my antenna patch panel. This is a large wall plate I had made for me with double-female SO239 and N connectors. The coax comes from my outside and attic antennas to this panel mounted on the wall as the coax comes down inside the wall. I can then connect my radios to whatever antenna I want by swapping the jumper cable.
I used to have the coaxes go directly to the radios but that often resulted in improper connectors requiring adapters or coax length issues. Since I change my shack often the patch panel gives me the flexibility to change things around easily.
For my HF antennas I use a coax switch. I have 4 wire HF antennas, a 10-Meter and a 20-Meter dipole in the attic, a 20-Meter dipole on the roof crown outside and a 20-Meter end-fed on the roof. These all go to a 4-position antenna switch so I can set the HF radio to whichever antenna I want.
USB and Serial Stuff:
These days computers are as big a part of radio listening as the radio itself. Since I use a multitude of radios I have a need to connect them to a computer for programming or control. To do this I have used various USB hubs over the years. Currently I use a Sabrent 16-port USB 3.0 hub. This powered hub allows me to connect all my radios to my computer with a single USB cable and keeps the wiring nonsense to a minimum. I place the hub in the cabinet behind the radios so all the cables are neatly hidden away. My PC does have 12 USB-A ports on the back so I could get away with not needing a hub but I keep the PC on the back desk and would need to then run a long USB cable to each radio from the computer. The hub eliminates all that extra wiring. I also installed a USB port on the front of my radio cabinet to make it easy to pop a cable in without having to fish a wire around to the back of the cabinet.
Back in the DOS and early Windows days, before scanners came with USB cables serial ports ruled the day. Most computers back then had at least one and sometimes 2 serial ports, and if you needed more you could add in an ISA card to your desktop or a PC-Card to your laptop for additional ports.
Serial ports were a messy business. The cables were thick, had huge connectors (at least compared to today’s USB ones) and required proper configuration. They could cause issues if your computer was set up for a serial mouse, the cursor could jump around wildly if not properly set up. Then, if you had too many devices you might need to use a serial port switch to select the device to connect to the computer. USB is SO much easier!
Clocks and maps:
Any good shack requires a good clock. I have had several large LED clocks over the years. I started out with a big LCD one and later replaced it with an 8-inch red LED one, I could see that from all over the room. Then I replaced that with a similar one with blue LED’s that also had the day, date and room temperature. My wife found a rally nice looking digital clock on Amazon with an even bigger white LED display for the time and different colors for the day, date and temperature. She hijacked that for the living room, but I might get another for my office. It really looks nice!
Another toy the wife thought looked cool and bought for me is a GeoChron. Years ago I pined over one of the mechanical GeoChrons after visiting a federal command center for work. These things are more a piece of art than a tool but do provide great info for hams that use grey-line propagation models.
A few years back GeoChron came out with a digital version of their clocks, the GeoChron 4K. This is actually a tiny computer built into a housing a few inches long by an inch wide and about a half inch thick. It plugs into the HDMI port of a 4KTV and replicates the display seen on the old mechanical units. While the mechanical devices can run upwards of $10,000 the digital unit is less than $500. Connect it to your home Wi-Fi and a TV and off you go!
You can get a much cheaper alternative. HamClock is a free software package for the Raspberry Pi platform that provides a less sexier display. With Pi’s running about $50 this a really cheap way to get that functionality. There are even companies that will build out a complete HamClock computer for under $100.
There are hundreds of other accessories for the scanner shack out there. What ones do you have?
