Signal Stalker vs. Close Call

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jkm

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Hello to all,

I'm wondering what people's opinions/experiences are with using the Signal Stalker functionality of the Radio Shack scanners compared to the Close Call functionality of the Uniden scanners?
I have a Pro-97 with Signal Stalker and find that sometimes it works a little too well; it will stop on stronger signals (anything running 100W and above with an antenna in a decent location) at distances up to 5 miles. It'll even get the drive-through windows of most fast-food restaurants when I get within 100 feet of the transmitters. With the attenuator on, I need to be much closer to get any signals to capture.
I also have a BCD396T with Close Call and find that it is less sensitive than Signal Stalker with 20db of attenuation! It's near impossible to get any signals to capture aside from pager/TV/FM transmitters unless I'm within a 1/4 mile of the transmitter site. I've tried the drive-thru windows that I get with Signal Stalker and I cannot get them with Close Call. Some of the captures also appear off-frequency as well, a behavior I don't see with Signal Stalker.

Has anyone else had similar experiences with these or have any comments in general?

Thanks!

Justin/W1IX
 

hotdjdave

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Too Sensitive, Not "Works Too Well"

eyes00only said:
Comment in general / I would rather have one that 'works too well'. Jerry
"Works too well" is a misnomer. Too sensitive is a more suitable term. Too sensitive is not better or "too well" and may actually be undesirable.

Not sensitive enough is not good, either, which is not actually the case in either brand/model. However, in regards to Close Call and Signal Stalker (or the hidden feature of a real frequency counter on the Uniden BCD396T and other Uniden scanners), being too sensitive is not necessarily good, either. These features are meant to be "nearfield." In fact, professional versions of these features are called "nearfield" test receivers, such as the Optoelectronics Xplorer.

Anecdote: You don't want to use this feature to pick up the headset at the McDonald's drive-through a mile away when you are trying to pick up the mall security HT in the parking lot in which you are sitting. If the feature was too sensitive, you would be picking up more that what you intended and would be frustated at the fact you are getting too many radio transmissions.

Attenuation would help for oversensitivity, but the lack of being variable is not desirable, either. You would not be able to adjust the attenuation level. The preset attenuation is probably set to high for this feature to overcome the oversensitivity issue of the nearfield receiver feature.
 
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eyes00only

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hotdjdave said:
"Works too well" is a misnomer. Too sensitive is a more suitable term. Too sensitive is not better or "too well" and may actually be undesirable.

Not sensitive enough is not good, either, which is not actually the case in either brand/model. However, in regards to Close Call and Signal Stalker (or the hidden feature of a real frequency counter on the Uniden BCD396T and other Uniden scanners), being too sensitive is not necessarily good, either. These features are meant to be "nearfield." In fact, professional versions of these features are called "nearfield" test receivers, such as the Optoelectronics Xplorer.

Anecdote: You don't want to use this feature to pick up the headset at the McDonald's drive-through a mile away when you are trying to pick up the mall security HT in the parking lot in which you are sitting. If the feature was too sensitive, you would be picking up more that what you intended and would be frustated at the fact you are getting too many radio transmissions.

Attenuation would help for oversensitivity, but the lack of being variable is not desirable, either. You would not be able to adjust the attenuation level. The preset attenuation is probably set to high for this feature to overcome the oversensitivity issue of the nearfield receiver feature.

OK THEN; I would rather have one that's 'too sensitive'.

Jerry
 

hotdjdave

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eyes00only said:
OK THEN; I would rather have one that's 'too sensitive'. Jerry
I guess you don't agree with the rest of what I wrote, "too sensitive (oversensitive) is not good either"?

The BCD396T has the right amount of sensitivity for the purpose of the nearfield reception (Close Call / Signal Stalker) feature. The BCD396T is not "under sensitive," but as it seems (from what people are writing), the Pro-96 is "oversensitive." Again, you don't want a nearfield receiver to be oversensitive.

But, to each his own.



Too sensitive is not a desirable feature...there needs to be balance between oversensitive and under sensitive. This is why sensitivity is a feature advertised on communications and audio equipment - to show you that they got the sensitivity in check (not too much and not too little).

C'mon, you know this stuff! ;)
 
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eyes00only

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I remember about 20 years ago when I spent big bucks for professional 'frequency counter' how unhappy I was with the fact that you had to be so close to a HT to get a hit, that you were way too obvious. But, to each.........................

Jerry
 

hotdjdave

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Me Too

Yeah, I remember the first time I wanted to buy a nearfield receiver. It was from Optoelectronics. The specs stated something like 0 to 50 feet. I was like, "WHAT!" For $700.00 (or whatever the price was - too much for me), it better do further than that. Then shortly thereafter, they come out with a preamplifier for the nearfield receiver to make the distance up to a quarter of a mile, and its price was even more expensive (more that a grand).

Now I understand why "further distance" is not necessarily desirable.

Why can't these things be selectable by the user! :roll:
 
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eyes00only

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hotdjdave said:
Optoelectronics. The specs stated something like 0 to 50 feet. I was like, "WHAT!" For $700.00 (or whatever the price was - too much for me), it better do further than that.
[/B]

EXACTLY where I was coming from! Well, I have to work later today, so good night.

Jerry
 

bonus1331

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As you can see from my radios I'm generally partial to Uniden for a number of reasons; but from just the nearfield options I would prefer the Signal Stalker.
However, there are enough personal preferences for me to bypass RS scanners.
 

jkm

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bonus1331 said:
As you can see from my radios I'm generally partial to Uniden for a number of reasons; but from just the nearfield options I would prefer the Signal Stalker.
However, there are enough personal preferences for me to bypass RS scanners.

I would have to agree with this on the RS scanners. The Pro-97 was the first scanner I got, and I thought it was pretty sophisticated, because I didn't know what else was out there. It's a great scanner, for example, in rural western MA where I'm originally from because there's only one or two Motorola Type II systems that are hardly used. My friend back there just got one and it's more than enough scanner for the type of trunked traffic in the area.
However, here in Columbus, OH, where I live now, to listen to any kind of public service activity here in Franklin County you need to have a trunking scanner, and to get the best listening experience (meaning being able to have more than 10 trunking systems in the scanner at once, getting the ICalls, separating out services on a system into different groups, having lots of talkgroups available for a single system bank), nothing beats the BCD396T/BR330T. I'm very impressed with their features overall.
So I tell my friend back in western MA that the Pro-97 is a "communications tool" for the Signal Stalker feature, the ability to find Motorola system IDs (Unidens can do this too obviously) and LTR repeater IDs. He absolutely loves the Signal Stalker feature to find "secret" frequencies that aren't commonly circulated around. He's amazed at how many features you get for such a low price (he got it on sale for $50 off the normal price).
I think the Pro-97 is a great starter scanner and good if you have a limited number of trunked systems in your area. Once you get into a major metro area and want to really get the most out of the scanner for everyday listening of 10+ systems, the Unidens are the way to go.

Justin/W1IX
 

NeFire242

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Is there a way to take a freq from the SS and directly enter that into a bank channel? (other than manually programming the freq into that bank).
 

hotdjdave

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[E yes] Button

NeFire242 said:
Is there a way to take a freq from the SS and directly enter that into a bank channel? (other than manually programming the freq into that bank).
Not sure about SS, but CC (Uniden Close Call on the BCD396T)) you simply press the [E yes] button (I think once to accept or stop on the CC frequency found (or any key for this, actually) and once to store it into the Quick Save Group/System).
 
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Grog

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I think a combo of the func key does it on the 97. I have done it enough, so I should remember which one it is :lol:
 

DaveIN

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FYI: Close Call and Signal Stalker are the same and both by Uniden. "Signal Stalker II" is from GRE and found in the PRO-97/2055.

Close call/Signal Stalker will work with the scan mode, with a slight interuption to the scan when checking for a frequency. Signal Stalker II will only stalk or scan but not both.
 

UPMan

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And on the BCD996T and BCT15 the scanners will perform the close call check with no interruption to reception-in-progress (Close Call Do-Not-Disturb mode).
 

DaveIN

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Paul, you forgot to mention this new cool feature:
Close Call Temporary Store

When this option is turned on, when the scanner gets a Close Call “hit�?, it temporarily saves the hit and includes that frequency when scanning. The scanner keeps the last 10 hits (older hits are erased by newer ones). Hits are lost when power is cycled. You can store a hit into memory by pressing “E�? when on that frequency.
 

UPMan

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Yep. Means you can get a hit, then easily continue to scan the hit even when you are out of Close Call range.
 

hotdjdave

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CC-DND in the BCD396T?

UPMan said:
And on the BCD996T and BCT15 the scanners will perform the close call check with no interruption to reception-in-progress (Close Call Do-Not-Disturb mode).
I know it has been asked before, but I have not seen a definative answer: Will this feature make its way into the BCD396T via a firmware update or is that possible? This feature does belong in your premium (as of this date) hand held scanner, also.
 

epbernstein

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UPMan said:
And on the BCD996T and BCT15 the scanners will perform the close call check with no interruption to reception-in-progress (Close Call Do-Not-Disturb mode).

I've owned a bunch of Uniden scanners (since 1978), and I've always wondered: Is there a numbering convention that you use for model numbers?
 
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