Scanning in Austin

[billyboblopez]

I have seen a few posts in the past, but nothing recent. I just got the BC296D scanner, and plugged in the frequencies, I live in cedar park, and the radio works great, i can pick up austin PD FD, very clear. I drive to work in austin close to 183 and mopac, and I hear a little voice, and the majority of it is pretty garbled, I have tried messing with the different control channels, but to no avail. Any one out there having similar issues? and any ideas why the apd comes in very clear in cedar park and not in austin.

 

[HabboX]

It sounds as if your radio is the subject of interference caused by cellular phone systems and 800 MHz SMR radio systems, especially NEXTEL. When in the more rural Cedar Park area your scanner is performing as it should. In the more urbanized Austin metroplex the radio simply can't overcome the strong signals creating interference to voice and control channels.

There are a few things you can do to improve reception.

Get a high quality outdoor antenna tuned to the 800 MHz band and hope that the trunked system you want to monitor is stronger than the nearby interference.

Use a poor quality antenna and hope that the radio will hear the desired trunked radio system and offending signals will be attenuated due to the lack of a good antenna.

Turn on the attenuator. This reduces nearby interference and has little affect on the tuned frequency (this is probably the best option).

Always use an external antenna when in the car.

800 MHz Stridsberg amplifier works great, but might make interference in your situation worse.

Interference is common to both commercial radios and radio scanners, but because of the wideband nature and lack of filtering, the scanner will often be more prone to interference. So it's not a problem with your radio.

 

[Free]

Austin freqs?

I love here in Pflugerville.

I just got my brand spanking new bcd996T and the arc996-pro software.

Does anyone have the freqs for centex and austin?

Any help?

FreeinTX

 

[W5TWX]

Free, sent you a email.

 

[rbarker]

Trying to monitor Ausitn Travis Co digital TRS

The BC296D did have a firmware upgrade, so be sure you are using the latest firmwear. The Simulcast 1 and Simulcast 2 site of the system are at a higher baud rate than the intellirepeats and are harder to monitor, but once the radio is set right, you should be able to hear it very well. I also recommend the Radio Shack 800 Mhz antenna (has orange 800 Mhz) on the side of it.