I have a new discone antenna using kmx400 coax with my new sds200 scanner, My antenna is about 50 ft off the ground. When I go through my analyze on near repeaters, I am getting nothing at all showing that it is picking anything up, I do have a cell tower 500 ft from my scanner. Anyway, to fix this issue? Thanks
SDS100/SDS200: sds200 reception problems
- Thread starter thomasbillman1
- Start date
Not a sarcastic answer MOVE.
The 50ft. coax is a resistance loss, to start out with, and chances are the discone might not be properly tuned for the frequencies you're monitoring. I'd go for a desktop mount (shorter distance, less resistance) and a telescoping antenna of no more than, say, 50 inches, maximum length. (Advantage of a telescoping antenna, you can adjust the length for maximum signal based on frequency.)
You still have a CELL TOWER 500 feet from the house.
Plus the Coax the OP has is 9913 equivalent better than RG6 TV Coax.
Plus the Coax the OP has is 9913 equivalent better than RG6 TV Coax.
if I could, I would, where I live is where I work at. I am a property manage for a storage company, so I live on the property.
Cell towers TV Stations Radio Stations Paging Sites National Weather Service Sites Kill Scanner reception.
Ubbe
Member
Program those nearby sites frequencies, control channels would be best, in the scanners quick select favorites as analog only and not digital and listen to them with squelch set to 0. Then enable the attenuator, or try IFX and try different filter settings to try and find a configuration that lets you hear the data transmission as clearly as possible, even trying going between NFM and FM, and then apply those settings to your real digital systems settings.
Discone antennas are the worst type to receive frequencies above 600MHz, if those sites are above that frequency, but in this case the sites are close so shouldn't matter but a discone have its best signal gain at 100Mhz, the FM broadcast band, so a trap filter for 88-108MHz could help.
/Ubbe
As far as the 9913 cable goes, make sure you seal up the end really well at the antenna. 9913 is a good low loss cable but it sokes up water like a sponge. Then it quits working until it dries out.
rf_patriot200
Active Member
Make sure your connectors on your cable are installed Correctly, as well as your Discone.
Start off by telling us what system(s) you are trying to monitor, what service types you have enabled and how well did the radio work just using it's included telescoping antenna.
Don
The big problem is the Cell Tower 500 feet from the outside Antenna.
How "near" are the repeaters you're trying to bring in? A cell tower that close is sure to be a hinderance. Ditch the discone & try an antenna indoors if said repeaters are "near"
I have 2 cell towers within 500 feet of me and 2 more up a 100 foot hill about 4 blocks from me. I have no reception problems on my SDS200.
You spent several hours with filters
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