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Kc9pqf

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View attachment 103514

So here is your system, it looks like you're going in a good direction, the SDS handles nx48 very well... JMC is on the right track. I have a question about your antenna. We've established that it's outside and it's high, is it a tri-band or dual band antenna? Just want to make sure it's not a 2 meter only ham antenna and what kind of coax are you using?

If you're that close, probably shouldn't make a difference. You should be able to just program this in your radio, as is, to its own favorites list and have no problem picking the system up if you say you're close.

There's a lot of talk groups as most casinos have but they probably only use a handful. Three out of the four security talk groups are encrypted and it looks like the main operations talk group is encrypted which makes sense in a casino... see doc's post for the list.

You should be getting five bars and a RSSI of -80 or better... you mentioned a noise level of 100 to 2500?

Always a chance of some kind of local interference due to your RF environment.
 

Kc9pqf

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It is 2m I’m trying the stock antenna still nothing noise level is the same
 

trentbob

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It is 2m I’m trying the stock antenna still nothing noise level is the same
I kind of had a feeling, strange, that it was a 2 meter single band antenna. The back of the set antenna is not so hot but if you have any portable dual band ham antennas and and a right angle BNC adapter, since you're listening only, an antenna that covers 440 Meg's will work fine on this system.
 

trentbob

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If you're up for it I could walk you through the CORRECT application of filters that will lower that noise level if you're interested in trying. There is a possibility if you end up getting the system what you want to hear will all be encrypted anyway and maybe you'll only get housekeeping or something but if you're interested I'll do it with you but we need to do an inventory first and make sure we're on the same page so there would be some questions we would have to clarify before we started. We can go with 2-meter antenna on the roof as long as you don't have a real lossy coax like RG58. Let me know and we'll go through some steps to make sure it's worth it.
 

Kc9pqf

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I kind of had a feeling, strange, that it was a 2 meter single band antenna. The back of the set antenna is not so hot but if you have any portable dual band ham antennas and and a right angle BNC adapter, since you're listening only, an antenna that covers 440 Meg's will work fine on this system.
I’m going to try a dual band mfj off one of my hand held
trying marquette university they are nex4 and close
 

trentbob

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Yes I saw that system. Yes the dual-band ham portable antenna will be perfect. The fact that you had the nex48 icon blinking on the casino meant that the 2-meter antenna was trying to grab the 460 megahertz control Channel.
 

Kc9pqf

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Yes I saw that system. Yes the dual-band ham portable antenna will be perfect. The fact that you had the nex48 icon blinking on the casino meant that the 2-meter antenna was trying to grab the 460 megahertz control Channel.
That 2m antenna gets very good marine band actually across to Michigan and uhf ab 15/20 mile
same frequencies such as 463... same as casino and other nex4 just can’t get the nex4
 

trentbob

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Understood, as long as you have decent low lost coax the 2 meter antenna will do a decent job up through UHF 1 and 2...

FWIW, I have an nx48 460 megahertz 2 site system about 6 miles from me and it needs a very strong signal on both sites to decode properly. That is just the nature of the radio.
 

Kc9pqf

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That 2m antenna gets very good marine band actually across to Michigan and uhf ab 15/20 mile
same frequencies such as 463... same as casino and other nex4 just can’t get the nex4
I have about 150 feet lmr400 ultra flex going to my radio room
the for now 50ft rg8x to this room
 

Kc9pqf

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When I test the system status I have almost full bar on signal slightly more on quality just barely activity
 

trentbob

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Yep the coaxial sounds good. 150 ft run is long but lmr-400 has been my go to for a long time.

If you're talking about low activity at the school, that will definitely pick up during the day ;) .
 

Kc9pqf

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Yep the coaxial sounds good. 150 ft run is long but lmr-400 has been my go to for a long time.

If you're talking about low activity at the school, that will definitely pick up during the day ;) .
Ok thanks much I’m on the right track now just have to wait and see
thanks
 

InspireWaukesha87

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My previous experiences listening to the NXDN Potawatomi casino system on an SDS100 is that I had to be very close to the casino to hear it and I had to use one of the filters and play with it in order for the scanner to work, I was getting high noise and it seemed like interference was an issue not sure if it was a nearby system or what but I know Marquette University uses a NXDN trunked system which is entirely encrypted unfortunately and as for Potawatomi all the security (except for one channel is clear) surveillance, investigations are Encrypted, I miss the the old LTR system they used to have and having worked at the casino from 2008-2010 the LTR system worked okay but it had lots of dead spots and it was only a matter of time when the system had to be upgraded and certain operations had to be encrypted for safety and security reasons
 
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