Scanning VA State Police from Blacksburg - which STARS sits?

[Zizan]

Hello!

I recently moved to Blacksburg from Fairfax. I'm up on Brush Mountain just North of town. I have a Uniden Home Patrol v1 that I used to monitor the VA State Police in Fairfax via STARS.

I've tried setting up a new Favorites list for Blacksburg, and am able to pick up Blacksburg PD and Virginia Tech PD just fine, but am not hearing any Virginia State Police traffic.

The STARS sites the HomePatrol has picked based on my location are Dismal Mountain, Ft. Lewis Mountain, and Potts Mountain.

Any thoughts on what I should look at to pick up traffic on STARS? I figure it would be best to limit the scanner on one site, but I'm not sure which would have the best signal for my location.

Thanks!

 

[Dafe1er]

Hello!

I recently moved to Blacksburg from Fairfax. I'm up on Brush Mountain just North of town. I have a Uniden Home Patrol v1 that I used to monitor the VA State Police in Fairfax via STARS.

I've tried setting up a new Favorites list for Blacksburg, and am able to pick up Blacksburg PD and Virginia Tech PD just fine, but am not hearing any Virginia State Police traffic.

The STARS sites the HomePatrol has picked based on my location are Dismal Mountain, Ft. Lewis Mountain, and Potts Mountain.

Any thoughts on what I should look at to pick up traffic on STARS? I figure it would be best to limit the scanner on one site, but I'm not sure which would have the best signal for my location.

Thanks!

I just redid my stars list a little while ago and when doing so I went into the stars system in rr and click on each site that was close to me. When that screen came up it showed a red area "coverage" on the map for that site. Do this for those that are around or close to you and add only those you find in your new list and then see what ya get

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[Zizan]

Thanks. Looks like Dismal and Ft. Lewis mountains are the best. Dismal is a bit closer, but Ft. Lewis looks to have better line of sight. Still no joy on picking up any traffic yet though.

 

[Dafe1er]

The area might not be all that busy. I get that with Culpeper at night. Give it a little time. If nothing then you might need to go through your settings again.

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[Zizan]

Fair point - I'm used to the pretty heavy traffic from a metro area. Will give it a go for awhile.

 

[Zizan]

Looks like I need to invest in an external antenna

So my issue wasn't with the scanner, but rather with my reception. I was in my walkout basement (close to the "walkout" side) when I was having reception problems. When I went upstairs to the main floor I have great reception. I didn't expect it to make that much of a difference since I am sitting 600 ft elevation above Blacksburg, but it does. Perhaps it is the construction materials.

Regardless - I'd like to get an external antenna to resolve the issue. Any suggestions on antenna types and/or best places to research for this? I want to stay on the cheap side, something unobtrusive that I could mount on the side of the house would be ideal. This is just a fun hobby, nothing too serious.

Appreciate any help! Thanks.