UP detector suddenly much harder to receive.

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JoshuaHufford

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Actually, the way that antenna is configured it’s still going to be pretty omnidirectional except on the bungalow side. The mast and bungalow will serve as a reflector, so if you’re on the backside of the bungalow reception range will be reduced. To make it mostly directional along the tracks there would have to be two elements, on either side of the mast facing up and down the line and one about two feet above the other.

Great antennas, I’ve used them on repeaters. The spec sheet is here:
http://www.repeater-builder.com/antenna/db/pdfs/db-224-data-sheet-(andrew).pdf

Danny‘s videos are great. I’ve binged on them several times.

W
In my listening experience anyway, with CSX putting those Sinclair folded dipoles on the detectors it's actually boosted their range. Many of the ex-Conrail detector boxes simply had a 1/4 wave whip on an NMO mount in an awkward spot for it to work well. Not many of the CSX detectors in Ohio seemed to use the fiberglass 5/8 wave shown in the video, but many in the south did.

Side note: Does anyone know what make-model those 5/8 fiberglass antennas were? I think Laird?

Well that is all good news.

And yes Danny's videos are great, I think he makes the best Railfan videos on YouTube.
 
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icom1020

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Had several days to look over all this Joshua, did you try listening with a different radio?

The video was interesting but his description about the fluted dome on top is an ambient temperature sensor as trains are subject speed restrictions due to excessive heat.

Even a 1/4 wave spike should be able to broadcast a 2-5 watt signal several miles. Up here in the northwest, I can usually hear them 10-15 miles out with a commercial radio and body mount antennas. Try a different radio and see what happens
 

JoshuaHufford

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Had several days to look over all this Joshua, did you try listening with a different radio?

The video was interesting but his description about the fluted dome on top is an ambient temperature sensor as trains are subject speed restrictions due to excessive heat.

Even a 1/4 wave spike should be able to broadcast a 2-5 watt signal several miles. Up here in the northwest, I can usually hear them 10-15 miles out with a commercial radio and body mount antennas. Try a different radio and see what happens

Well it went from picking it up 100% at my receive site with a base antenna on the roof and commercial radio to never getting it. And also went from picking it up from several miles away on a regular basis to not being able to pick it up about a mile away. I have 2 different scanners and they both receive very well, same thing on both.
 

empireco

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The road channel from Blanchet to Tateville, KY is 160.575, not 160.515.
Well I live in Central Kentucky and two NS lines run through my area here through Harrodsburg, Danville, and Burgin and the road channel has been channel 5 160.950 since I was 12 years old I’m now 45 and the road channel has indeed been changed to 160.515 the detectors are there now too as well as the Famous Danville Yard Tower.
I have no idea where those two cites are you mentioned, never heard of them before.
I don’t know why a different city would have a different road channel than the new standard one they switched to.
 

jbhunt04

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I’ve heard that those loop antennas that CSX installed were supposed to make the signals go up and down the tracks better instead of being omni-directional. Maybe that’s why it’s harder to receive?
 

cbehr91

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Well I live in Central Kentucky and two NS lines run through my area here through Harrodsburg, Danville, and Burgin and the road channel has been channel 5 160.950 since I was 12 years old I’m now 45 and the road channel has indeed been changed to 160.515 the detectors are there now too as well as the Famous Danville Yard Tower.
I have no idea where those two cites are you mentioned, never heard of them before.
I don’t know why a different city would have a different road channel than the new standard one they switched to.
OK, I misread your post and thought you were in a different part of the state. The Louisville District frequencies changed too, however. Have you tried listening to 161.295 and 160.365?
 

empireco

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OK, I misread your post and thought you were in a different part of the state. The Louisville District frequencies changed too, however. Have you tried listening to 161.295 and 160.365?
No sir, I only put in what the close call hit on and have been waiting for the NS frequency updates to be posted.
 

wa8pyr

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No sir, I only put in what the close call hit on and have been waiting for the NS frequency updates to be posted.

Normally we ask that they be submitted by the individual who finds/confirms them, but I went ahead and added the new Louisville District frequencies to the Kentucky Railroads page.
 

INDY72

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In all the years I have lived in Indy, I have never heard an DD for CSX, or any of the other railroads. So either they are a very long ways out from any of the downtown areas, or super low power. I used to hear them all over MS for KCS, and CN/IC. And from a FB group I belong too, you can still hear them on CN/IC mainline from videos that a couple guys post that always include the audio from the radios.
 

wa8pyr

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In all the years I have lived in Indy, I have never heard an DD for CSX, or any of the other railroads. So either they are a very long ways out from any of the downtown areas, or super low power. I used to hear them all over MS for KCS, and CN/IC. And from a FB group I belong too, you can still hear them on CN/IC mainline from videos that a couple guys post that always include the audio from the radios.

Watch Danny Harmon's (Distant Signal) very excellent videos on YouTube; he often puts DD audio in them. He has a Motorola CDM mobile in the vehicle, and hooks a Zoom H4 recorder up to the line-level audio pins on the accessory connector. Excellent radio audio. Thought about doing something similar myself; I have both Zoom H2n and H4n recorders, nice gadgets.

CSX does seem to use lower power on their detectors, though. I can usually hear NS detectors much better than CSX around home, even though they're in approximately the same places.
 

RadioDitch

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CSX does seem to use lower power on their detectors, though. I can usually hear NS detectors much better than CSX around home, even though they're in approximately the same places.

This might be outdated, but last I was aware CSX's standard was 2w, terrain dependent. There are detectors in the Baltimore Division on the western end of the Cumberland Subdivision and along the Mountain Subdivision with transmit power set at 10w due the mountains and tight hollers. Orleans Road in Great Cacapon, WV is an example, and at one point was transmitting 15w, but is now set for 10w. If you look at a USGS Topo you'll understand why.

NS, at least in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland has (or at least had) all the detectors transmitting 5w, with the exception of on the grade between Altoona and Gallitzin on the Pittsburgh Line which are/were transmitting 10w.

Up here all the detectors are set to 25w using old school Moto Maxtrac 300's as transceivers, but it's not a busy railway, with minimal radio traffic otherwise. Plus 3/4 of the line runs up a steep winding river valley with steep mountains above that more qualifies the valley as a canyon. And with one-man crews it's a little more critical for them to be heard.
 
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cbehr91

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This might be outdated, but last I was aware CSX's standard was 2w, terrain dependent. There are detectors in the Baltimore Division on the western end of the Cumberland Subdivision and along the Mountain Subdivision with transmit power set at 10w due the mountains and tight hollers. Orleans Road in Great Cacapon, WV is an example, and at one point was transmitting 15w, but is now set for 10w. If you look at a USGS Topo you'll understand why.
I can believe in the terrain dependent part. While chasing the Clinchfield Santa Train I noticed one of the DDs north of Kingsport, TN had a fiberglass antenna on a wooden pole at a height similar to a dispatcher base. The detector was in a valley and the whole line is up, down and around.
 
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