Tips for the Rookies, please

[rjvalenta]

hello all, i've been pouring over the various SLATER threads and have seen a few posts about garbled reception, and tried a few things this weekend:

first, i'm using a Pro-197
second, i'm using WIN500 and doing a web import
third, i started with a new template, imported all the SLATER sites and talkgroups

from here i would get intermittent clarity, i'd hear one thing clearly, then another, then garble, then clear, garble garble garble, clear, garble... all at random

more forum searches...

fourth, new template, one site (urban north), all talkgroups
garble, clear, garble, clear, clear, garble, garble, garble, clear...

fifth, new template, one site (urban south), all talkgroups
sixth, made a scan list of just Kirkwood First, Kirkwood PD, Kirkwood ALL
clear, garble, clear, garble, garble, garclear...

now - i do have an FM trap that i needed a year ago when the Ferguson issues arose and i wanted wider reception than my local kirkwood PD/FD... i'm willing to take that off.

but, i'd love any input, setting in WIN500, or... should I not use all sites, or... more than tightening my squelch... any ideas? is anyone having steady success?

 

[teufler]

Welcome to the club. I think it depends on who has transmitted. Some com,e on good some you guess at what was said. I'm using a 396xt, with a few settings that can be adjusted for clarity. 3 and 4 district st louis cty come in good, urban north comes in good most of the time. Afraid its the nature of the scanners we are using. An outside antenna works good, A dedicated 800 mhz antenna works best for me though I sacrifice some vhf and uhf signal strength. With the simulcast that st louis cty does, I get better results with a system that has the north only, then a system that has south only.I lives west in st charles cty so a beam won't help as beam width, I would still get multiple towers.