Ummm, maybe i wont buy a 396..

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MetalCarnage

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So i went to durham radio today and picked up a Maldol EX-104B 144/430mhz Dual Band Mobile Antenna and have it temporarily on the main floor of my house mouned on a workman mag mount i picked up as well (also have a larsen trunk lip mount which is where it will resiide) anyways, i had always had probs with the 250D doing P25 (was always garbled and underwater sounding) but i have it running right now and i tested 10 minutes first with my Watson Telegainer and now have te Maldol running and i havent heard a single garbled digital transmission yet! The only reason i was going to get the 396 truly was because of its much smaller size and because of its better capability to do digital audio, but now i think i will be able to hold off if the transmissions are going to be this good...also got a 800Mhz antenna and now TPS comes in full bars from ajax, no fluctuations, which is a huge increase from before...
 

UPMan

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Yep, it is amazing what actual reception will do for digital audio quality :lol:.

But what will you listen to when you get out of the car :confused:
 

MetalCarnage

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UPMan said:
Yep, it is amazing what actual reception will do for digital audio quality :lol:.

But what will you listen to when you get out of the car :confused:

I have a 796D in the house as a base scanner and with the Watson Tele-Gainer on the back of it it performs quite well, being high in the house helps out alot, but ya, have the 796D in the house which already does impecable digital, so now the 250D shall stay in the car permanently as my mobile setup....it tucks nicely away in the console, so all that u see is a little ft section of coax and the antenna on the car, its good stuff

EDIT: i like the trunk lip mount i got, extremly firm, not moving anywhere so no scrathes on the car, yay!
 

Chrome69

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Maybe you need to tweek the 796 for digital? I have dropped a small fortune on Antennas, and seem to allways end up back to the first one i bought.
 

MetalCarnage

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Chrome69 said:
Maybe you need to tweek the 796 for digital? I have dropped a small fortune on Antennas, and seem to allways end up back to the first one i bought.
why would i want to tweak my 796???
 

Chrome69

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in your first post you said you where having problems with getting digital on it . I have had a 796 and currently have a 396 and i would never part with the 396. As for Antennas, what works for me may not work for you. I have a horrible time here at home getting the 800 MHz band for Peel but OPP @ 144 MHz comes in perfect. Somebody put some antennas up on the high tention hydro lines that are behind my house and i am guessing thats my 800 MHz issue. You wont be disappointed with a purchase of a 396.
 

MetalCarnage

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Chrome69 said:
in your first post you said you where having problems with getting digital on it . I have had a 796 and currently have a 396 and i would never part with the 396. As for Antennas, what works for me may not work for you. I have a horrible time here at home getting the 800 MHz band for Peel but OPP @ 144 MHz comes in perfect. Somebody put some antennas up on the high tention hydro lines that are behind my house and i am guessing thats my 800 MHz issue. You wont be disappointed with a purchase of a 396.

LOL, if you read a little closer you would see that i was referring to my 250D, my 796D works perfectly with digital, couldnt be happier with it...however, as stated my 250D does not do digital well, so it would be the 250D that needs tweaking, BUT its already been tweaked with no relief
 

Chrome69

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What range are you looking to grab 144MHz range? for OPP? Are you going to use it in the car I have found a really god one for OPP and its a NMO type antenna made by Comet B-10 antenna I bought it at Radio world for i think $60 and produces well for OPP despite its size. Here is a link on it since Radio Worlds site is a hit or miss since they have changed it.
For 800MHz band i am using a Antenex little stubby and works excellent. One thing i will suggest make sure their is a good rubber between your antenna and mount or you will have added problems mostly grounding issues. Also I fould larson has a very very good Whip antennas for 800MHz range.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantm/3918.html
 

MetalCarnage

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Chrome69 said:
What range are you looking to grab 144MHz range? for OPP? Are you going to use it in the car I have found a really god one for OPP and its a NMO type antenna made by Comet B-10 antenna I bought it at Radio world for i think $60 and produces well for OPP despite its size. Here is a link on it since Radio Worlds site is a hit or miss since they have changed it.
For 800MHz band i am using a Antenex little stubby and works excellent. One thing i will suggest make sure their is a good rubber between your antenna and mount or you will have added problems mostly grounding issues. Also I fould larson has a very very good Whip antennas for 800MHz range.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamantm/3918.html

Ya, i wont be buying any antenna's anytime soon now that i dropped that much money on them, the two i bought, one for 144/400 and the other for 800 works great, with the 800mhz antenna i was picking up the Durham Fire Trunking System from my work at 404/407 at about 3-4 bars. Comparing to before when i just used the Tele-Gainer on the scanner, i couldnt even get the System at all, in fact i would have to head back towards home for a good ten minutes before it would pick it up again, and even then the signal was ****ty......and now i pick up the Whitby Fleetnet tower at about 4 bars from work as well, WAY better then before, overall i am super impressed by my two purchases, and also extremely happy wth my new larsen trunk lip mount, works perfectly and has no chance at putting a mark on the new car. I cant wait till i head down to Buffalo in a week or two, then i will be able to try it out for a bunch of towers
 

MetalCarnage

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U know, maybe i will take back my comment about not buying one, if the Canadian Dollar gets any better i might just give in. If it gets into the $1.07 range or better i am just going to go for it, its too cheap not too, i would save a ton of cash, got a quote today from scannerworld.com and i could own one for 549.99 (that includes shipping and handling) at the current exchange rate that would work out to about $605 CDN, even after any border charges that would still be way less then the $799 (918.85 after tax) that i would pay here....
 
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