n4knw
Member
Can anyone suggest scanners for Loudoun County (VA)? Prefer portable. Thanks.
Be warned that even with the PSR-800 you won't be able to hear, or rather understand, a fair amount of radio traffic.
Listen to the LCSO feed - Loudoun County Sheriff's Dispatch Live Scanner Audio Feed (at least until they get it fixed) to hear what it could sound like.
That being said there are things you can do to improve the quality, but so far that has been location dependent. Browse around the forums for information from other folks who face the same issues, or ask questions here and see if the brain trust can help you out.
jeff
sdg
Sounds like multipath, remember analog tv with shadows and ghosts? Same thing but it distorts digital signals to the point of degraded decoding, there can only be a certain error rate before it gives up.
At 800 MHz and above, changing polarization can make a big difference, maybe as much as 20 db. Since the base station antenna is vertical, by tilting the antenna you reduce the signal, and also the level of the reflections. Most cellular and PCS directional antennas now use a cross polarized 45 degree tilt antenna to compromise between vertical and horizontal signals coming from those little tiny transmitters known as phones. Public safety users are generally vertical and omnidirectional.
Thanks for all of the advice. I do have a couple of questions.
(1) Where are towers located for the county system (I'm fairly close to the interchange of Cascades Pkwy/Route 7)? Am I near anything?
(2) I listen to the LCFR feed here, it appears its getting a lot of the traffic (if not all), is that correct?
(3) Assume most of the comments are valid for listening mobile as well (already have an antenna mount on the car for this)?
Thanks again for the comments.
Sounds like multipath, remember analog tv with shadows and ghosts? Same thing but it distorts digital signals to the point of degraded decoding, there can only be a certain error rate before it gives up.
At 800 MHz and above, changing polarization can make a big difference, maybe as much as 20 db. Since the base station antenna is vertical, by tilting the antenna you reduce the signal, and also the level of the reflections. Most cellular and PCS directional antennas now use a cross polarized 45 degree tilt antenna to compromise between vertical and horizontal signals coming from those little tiny transmitters known as phones. Public safety users are generally vertical and omnidirectional.
I had to send my 800 to GRE because the USB port is not working so I really appreciate that the LCSO site is up and running (that was the one thing that I did not like about the 800, the fact that you program and power through the same port). That said I never thought that I was getting all of the traffic either. Right now I am using the 996XT in conjunction with the live feeds. On most days I can usually pick up Fire 6A and 6D and the Dulles LCSO dispatch on the XT. I am out in the woods and reception is always an issue with me. I am ready to try one of the Diamond Antennas but have not got around to ordering one yet.
I haven't been able to pick up any of the FDMA transmissions on my Uniden's since I upgraded from the T to the XT models.
I am hearing 46.38 on my desk top scanner in Strasburg U might try to see if any other freq are in use there on low-band for the fire dept to supplement ur PSR800 scanner