Simulcasts?

[trentbob]

That doesn't surprise me at all. Common known fact. You could probably use a paperclip if you wanted depending on your location. A rooftop or efficient antenna should not cause any problem at all and things should be just as clear. Shouldn't be getting any distortion on the 200 but hey what works... works.

Again you might want to eventually listen to aircraft, Marine, 2 meter ham, out of town simulcast systems, Mercer County excetera excetera. I use a VHF hi, UHF, 800 megahertz ground plane and I am right in between the Falls tower, thiokol tower and Bensalem tower near Neshaminy State Park. I get an RSSI between 62 and 72. Wide invert is the same filter I use and I probably told you that.

A nice antenna to use if you're only going to use Bucks County is the comet CH - 32 miracle baby tri-band stubby. It's basically useless on anything but 7 - 800 megahertz and even on that it's not great but that's what makes it a good antenna for the Bucks County simulcast system.

 

[joeyperillo]

considered this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004EJWC3G/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AWHEELI3SYPUS&psc=1

 

[trentbob]

considered this: Robot Check

Yeah that's great. Considering how you're making a buck these days, I would probably just save your money for now.

If you decide to branch out and make favorites list with customized targets you're following and you need coverage from 25 megahertz to 1200 then just buy some kind of a rooftop ground plane and if you can't put it on the Roof then put it on a broom handle you can pick up for a few bucks at Home Depot and slap it onto a used floor lamp, hat rack or tripod with Gorilla Tape. Make sure you use some good low loss coax... People will say oh it doesn't matter at that short of a run but... put the credit card away for now on experimentation.

Decide what your Shack is going to end up looking like before you settle on what will end up being... Your big guns.

 

[joeyperillo]

You're the best, Bob. Thank you.

 

[joeyperillo]

Well Hello, Neighbor! I am once again unemployed and have more (much more) leisure time.....much of what you stated or predicted as proved true.....this SDS 200 does the job.....you may recall I returned a 536 and was not impressed with the simulcast distortion I still endured.....played with filters, staying on wide invert (per you) and the audio is only rarely a problem - yes, as you hinted, there are vagaries just as there are even today in cell phones......but - using a racing stubby antenna I get all of Bucks phase II....heeding your advice to not spend my fortune on every doo-dad that looks good and cheap. I did however succumb to buying a Hustler multi-band mag mount stick ($29 from $39) - it works great and as you said, now I get the local encrypted Jersey towns and the 151.22 fire rebroadcast and the Bucks Zones are all just fine....here's the deal- I only use it indoors - it's all use now....gonna put up an outdoor before the flakes fall....I'll be picking your brain on what to put atop the pole (won't be in a chimney) - thanks again for your encouragement and patient mentor-ship....guess I'll get back to listening to 72 cars investigating an injured skunk....(not quite as exciting up here as when I lived in South Philadelphia). Hope you are well and safe

 

[trentbob]

So Joey you are using a mobile magnet mount in the house? To provide a ground it would be good if you could attach that mag mount to a filing cabinet, a metal pie dish or cookie sheet will work. When you attach a mobile antenna to a car whether it be a MAG mount or you drill a hole you then use the body of the car as a ground and part of the antenna.

There's a lot of things to consider when putting up an outdoor antenna, in my view the most important things are weatherproofing your connections with something called coax – seal. You might remember it from the old days, kind of gooey so you always apply electrical tape first and then put the goo over it so when you want to get at the connection you just remove the tape. Also with an outdoor antenna your coax is very important, you can't use RG58 like your mobile antenna uses as you lose too much signal. You need good quality low loss coax like lmr400. Talk soon.

 

[joeyperillo]

Thanks, Bob - have the mag mount sitting on an old scanner as recycled ground plane! When I build the outdoor was gonna use RG8x but will use lmr400 because you say so! and will weatherproof as per your instructions. Stay safe!

 

[trentbob]

Yep it really depends on the length of run. People think I'm crazy when I replace RG58 from my Larson tri-band in my car with LMR 400. It's only about an 18 foot lead but I'm a little OCD so... I guess they're right as it really doesn't matter but...

I'm thinking if you're going to all that trouble, squeeze out every drop. Saturday night, busy... Talk soon.

 

[joeyperillo]

Thanks, Bob - Saturday night busy on the radio or for BOB? I hope the latter......never any urgency to get back to me....I have too much time on my hands!

 

[trentbob]

No it was busy for me LOL. I'm in zone 1 it's always busy on Zone 1. All kinds of stuff going on.

Luckily I'm busy today too but overall I have a lot of time on my hands but chores Etc keep me busy. A check RR everyday but it's been a little slow. Talk soon.

 

[joeyperillo]

Hope you're well and safe, Bob - just a note to say - as quiet as it is in Zone 5 I think I'm gonna use Zone 1 as my Trenton substitute! (How many "investigate report of a deer on the roadway" can you listen to in one night!) - When the plague lifts I say we meet for a java!

 

[trentbob]

Sorry Joey I just saw this now, I think that listening to Zone 5, Zone 3, Zone 2 and Zone 1 is a good bet, they all border each other. Learn all of the district numbers for each Police Department, for example, Bristol Township is the prefix 25, Bristol borough 24 and tullytown 71 and they all share Zone 1. It's all in the RRDB.

I was talking with Herb and maybe we can all get together in the Yardley Newtown area on a Saturday during the day. He's tied up the next few weeks but perhaps we can work something out before the holidays.

Glad the simulcast is working good for you now, all of the zones should come in equally as well.

The sds200 is an awesome radio once you get the hang of it and set it up the way you want.

 

[joeyperillo]

What a disaster! The Zones are now partially encrypted! NO! Now what, Bob?

 

[phillydjdan]

Walmart uses 154.600 *shrugs*

 

[trentbob]

Partially?, are you actually hearing any unencrypted transmissions on police?. There might be a few I'm not sure but pretty much we're done here. Just read all of the information that's available. I'm sure that you've seen it, hey, we also have private conversations going on and we have private conversations going on off of radio reference and in person. We are hoping this will not be permanent and there's always a chance as the Board of Supervisors backpedaled today. Typical politician's.

Don't know what to say but my post have been deleted tonight, usually the ones with likes so I'm just going to keep my mouth shut and say.... I'll be selling my sds200 and my apx 7000. I'm going to hang on to my 100 until Philly is gone.

The police Chiefs Association have made it clear exactly why this is happening but I don't want any more post deleted as it is so personally offencive to be censored as a patriotic American so I will just keep my mouth shut about that.

Imagine how I feel Joey, hey, I started listening to police broadcast on a tunable in 1965, I was 12 in Abington, I've been listening ever since and it led to a great career in journalism.

I am not an Insider but I've been fortunate enough to be in the loop through the generosity of those who know. I don't talk about it publicly and we always hope that good will win out.

Let's see what happens. Right now I can tell you that listening to syncopal episodes and overdoses along with careless cooking and water flow alarms is not going to do it for me. There are still parts of the country that are not encrypted even though it's spreading like the virus. I trust I will be able to sell my equipment which is in very excellent shape... easily.

There is a small group of people that hopefully are going to get together before the holidays and you're invited. I will let you know of any details. We're thinking it'll be in the Newtown area because that's kind of in the middle of where everybody is. Sorry I didn't bring this up when we were talking but... I knew it was coming. It came a lot quicker than people thought and it's not in line with negotiations that were underway. Hey maybe it's temporary and everything is okay and if so we kick the can down the road.

 

[joeyperillo]

Partially?, are you actually hearing any unencrypted transmissions on police?. There might be a few I'm not sure but pretty much we're done here. Just read all of the information that's available. I'm sure that you've seen it, hey, we also have private conversations going on and we have private conversations going on off of radio reference and in person. We are hoping this will not be permanent and there's always a chance as the Board of Supervisors backpedaled today. Typical politician's.

Don't know what to say but my post have been deleted tonight, usually the ones with likes so I'm just going to keep my mouth shut and say.... I'll be selling my sds200 and my apx 7000. I'm going to hang on to my 100 until Philly is gone.

The police Chiefs Association have made it clear exactly why this is happening but I don't want any more post deleted as it is so personally offencive to be censored as a patriotic American so I will just keep my mouth shut about that.

Imagine how I feel Joey, hey, I started listening to police broadcast on a tunable in 1965, I was 12 in Abington, I've been listening ever since and it led to a great career in journalism.

I am not an Insider but I've been fortunate enough to be in the loop through the generosity of those who know. I don't talk about it publicly and we always hope that good will win out.

Let's see what happens. Right now I can tell you that listening to syncopal episodes and overdoses along with careless cooking and water flow alarms is not going to do it for me. There are still parts of the country that are not encrypted even though it's spreading like the virus. I trust I will be able to sell my equipment which is in very excellent shape... easily.

There is a small group of people that hopefully are going to get together before the holidays and you're invited. I will let you know of any details. We're thinking it'll be in the Newtown area because that's kind of in the middle of where everybody is. Sorry I didn't bring this up when we were talking but... I knew it was coming. It came a lot quicker than people thought and it's not in line with negotiations that were underway. Hey maybe it's temporary and everything is okay and if so we kick the can down the road.

Yes, just today I started noticing clear cars and unintelligible dispatchers....also saw a lot of split second stops on a zone and then a quick move on - checked Radio Reference and suddenly see a Ee after the dispatch channel....I don't know how much we're allowed to say here but - I have no issue with SWATS, Narco, Detectives and personal data being encrypted but patrol? No. No point going on about it.....I too began wearing out a tune-able radio before getting Xtal sets and Pro series from Radio Shack......as you know only recently bought this machine which I'm getting to know.....but like you, I'm not interested in a CVA or careless cooking "make the company available." I was never a shoe-leather guy like you, though.....Yes, please let's meet and tell lies and some real stories......(I am however happy to report I can now listen to the maintenance men as they repair windows at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital - can't wait to tell you all about it!)

 

[trentbob]

Hahaha we actually listened to TPC when I was a reporter with The Trentonian. I started with them around 1985 and I retired on a pension from them. Oh good Heavens I can remember when there was a very bad fire at the psychiatric , we covered it well and late at night a very Rogue copy editor who was immediately fired wrote a headline... roasted nuts. OMG, I got called into the Publisher's office as I was always one of the first bosses to arrive around 8:30 in the morning and the publisher said did you see today's paper. I hadn't oh, I was about to read it in my office, he threw it at me and said what do you think about this and I said well this didn't hit the street right? and he said, all Editions LOL, we ended up doing a 10-day series called Beautiful Minds and donating tens of thousands of dollars to nami.

Anyway, I'll tell you the reason that encryption is spreading faster than the virus if we meet personally but it's not to be spoken about here. I can see by your experience and how far back you go you would get today's world of scanning. If it looks like this encryption is permanent in Bucks County I will be leaving the hobby, I certainly do enjoy listening to Marine broadcast, News helicopters, New Jersey forest fire fighters, news outlets and many many other things but without the core police broadcast from the screaming police car going down your street it doesn't make sense. Let's face it oh, it's not my first disappointment of 2020, the worst year of my life. We'll keep in touch and I'll let you know if we're able to get together. I'm a very nostalgic person and enjoy speaking with knowledgeable people and the folks that are in on this are just that.

 

[joeyperillo]

Hahaha we actually listened to TPC when I was a reporter with The Trentonian. I started with them around 1985 and I retired on a pension from them. Oh good Heavens I can remember when there was a very bad fire at the psychiatric , we covered it well and late at night a very Rogue copy editor who was immediately fired wrote a headline... roasted nuts. OMG, I got called into the Publisher's office as I was always one of the first bosses to arrive around 8:30 in the morning and the publisher said did you see today's paper. I hadn't oh, I was about to read it in my office, he threw it at me and said what do you think about this and I said well this didn't hit the street right? and he said, all Editions LOL, we ended up doing a 10-day series called Beautiful Minds and donating tens of thousands of dollars to nami.

Anyway, I'll tell you the reason that encryption is spreading faster than the virus if we meet personally but it's not to be spoken about here. I can see by your experience and how far back you go you would get today's world of scanning. If it looks like this encryption is permanent in Bucks County I will be leaving the hobby, I certainly do enjoy listening to Marine broadcast, News helicopters, New Jersey forest fire fighters, news outlets and many many other things but without the core police broadcast from the screaming police car going down your street it doesn't make sense. Let's face it oh, it's not my first disappointment of 2020, the worst year of my life. We'll keep in touch and I'll let you know if we're able to get together. I'm a very nostalgic person and enjoy speaking with knowledgeable people and the folks that are in on this are just that.

Great story! And I'm sure you have plenty of them - yes, please let's talk of many things - 2020 has been the worst year of everybody's life, methinks......"this" is almost par for the course.......if not here, find me on Goggle using my name. 73s......oh, hell...."see you later."