Using cheap HT's for Broadcastify (SR) feeds

[Brandon_K]

I'm going to setup 4 Scanner Radio feeds of some things in our area that aren't already being broadcast. Initially, I was going to look for some ebay scanners, BCT8's and the like. I'm just picking up 470-471, nothing special. I had also thought about using some PM400's I have laying around, but unfortunately they are all R split and I need S splits for these frequencies. Then it dawned on me, why not use some inexpensive Baofeng HT's? I have a dozen BF-888's that have worked like a champ for me. They don't replace the HT1250's that I use for "primary" members of the organization, but if we need a warm body, I can give them a 888S and not care as much if it doesn't make it back to me.

While the BF-888S's won't work for me (they won't go above 470, even in CHIRP), the UV-5R's will. They may take up a little more room than a stack of desktop scanners, but I'm fine with that.

Are there any flaws to my plan? I realize I won't be able to do tagging, but for myself and the few of us that will likely ever listen to these channels, that isn't a concern of ours.

 

[DC31]

I'm going to setup 4 Scanner Radio feeds of some things in our area that aren't already being broadcast. Initially, I was going to look for some ebay scanners, BCT8's and the like. I'm just picking up 470-471, nothing special. I had also thought about using some PM400's I have laying around, but unfortunately they are all R split and I need S splits for these frequencies. Then it dawned on me, why not use some inexpensive Baofeng HT's? I have a dozen BF-888's that have worked like a champ for me. They don't replace the HT1250's that I use for "primary" members of the organization, but if we need a warm body, I can give them a 888S and not care as much if it doesn't make it back to me.

While the BF-888S's won't work for me (they won't go above 470, even in CHIRP), the UV-5R's will. They may take up a little more room than a stack of desktop scanners, but I'm fine with that.

Are there any flaws to my plan? I realize I won't be able to do tagging, but for myself and the few of us that will likely ever listen to these channels, that isn't a concern of ours.

I use the UV-5R for a couple feeds. With the proper adjustment of the computer volume etc. the best audio I have ever achieved. The audio output from them is a little hot so start with the volume very low. the output is also the 2.5mm jack so you will likely need a 2.5-3.5 adapter.

I am only monitoring a single channel on each. Although they have scan capability, it isn't the best.

 

[SCPD]

Sounds like a plan to me. I used a BTX127 I picked up on closeout from Radio Shack for $7 that I used and it worked fine.

 

[IAmSixNine]

Why didnt i think of that.
Seriously, thank you for bringing this up.
I have 4 feeds and a couple of them are using Visars. Ive been wanting to replace them and never thought about using those radios.

Looks like i got some experimenting to do.

 

[Brandon_K]

Thanks for the replies. I've been looking around for cheap used mobiles when it dawned on me that I can get even cheaper new HT's.

My Baofeng 997-S just showed up from Amazon a few minutes ago. I bought it to test out while on vacation with the family at Disney, as well as possibly use for a SR feed.

And as a bonus, built in battery backups!

I'm going to start by experimenting with an RPi2 and 2 radios. From what I've read, it looks like the original RPi can do at least 4 streams successfully, so I'm hoping that I can do even more with the RPi2. Between the radio's doing Rx only and the RPi2, it should be a very low power setup.

Now on to start messing with the RPi2. Hopefully once Win10 Developer is released for the RPi2, we can get a GUI made up to run on it so we don't have to dick around with linux CLI's.

 

[DC31]

My experience with the UV-5R's has been that it still takes some experimentation. I know of another user who just couldn't get the audio to be even remotely acceptable. Whether the problem was the receiver or if it was cabling, sound card, computer or whatever, we didn't get it sorted out. I have found that the set ups can be subject to interference from other electronics and whatever. Whether it is the radio, the cable or the sound card, I don't really know. My advice is to set your RPi up to stream locally and experiment with radio location, cables, etc. to get it fine tuned. The radio location on my desk made a big difference and whether i was touching the cable connectors affected it also.

There is a good tutorial at

https://sites.google.com/site/glyman3home/raspi-streaming-to-broadcastify

and instructions on setting up an icecast server for local streaming at:

http://www.t3node.com/blog/live-streaming-mp3-audio-with-darkice-and-icecast2-on-raspberry-pi/

Lots of people want to blame the cheap $3 usb sound cards but my experience has been that they are never the problem. Try using your iPhone or Droid as the sound source and stream Pandora or something similar. That rules out the sound card.

As a further note, my units also run TwoToneDetect. That requires the use of PulseAudio. I have found the PulseAudio GUI volume control (pavucontrol) to be very helpful in adjusting and routing the audio.

 

[Brandon_K]

I played with the 997-S a bit tonight (supposedly based off the UV-5R, not sure which revision). Immediately I noticed that when it's in the charging cradle, the audio goes from great and clear to absolute garbage. I'm not sure of the issue and it's noticeably worse on UHF than on VHF.

In the meantime, I emailed a guy I bought some PM400's from last year. He still has some, in the band split I'm looking for (the ones I bought previously are low UHF). I should be able to get them for $50/ea shipped. Which at that point, they're a little more expensive than Baofengs, but should be more reliable. Plus I can grab the discriminator output, which I think would sound better.

Thank you for the other RPi info.

 

[SCPD]

Immediately I noticed that when it's in the charging cradle, the audio goes from great and clear to absolute garbage. I'm not sure of the issue and it's noticeably worse on UHF than on VHF.

Maybe RF hash from the switching PS in the charging cradle

 

[Brandon_K]

That's my first guess, though I know very little on the subject. I know I helped a friend who had radio issues clear his issues up by switching to a linear vs the cheap switching he got on Amazon to run his radio. Unfortunately, I don't see that as an option on these due to the LiIon batteries. I suppose I could see if there are battery eliminators for these available. The UV-5R's certainly have them. Then I could just run them off one of the old 3A RadioShack lilnears I have laying around.

 

[DC31]

I played with the 997-S a bit tonight (supposedly based off the UV-5R, not sure which revision). Immediately I noticed that when it's in the charging cradle, the audio goes from great and clear to absolute garbage. I'm not sure of the issue and it's noticeably worse on UHF than on VHF.

In the meantime, I emailed a guy I bought some PM400's from last year. He still has some, in the band split I'm looking for (the ones I bought previously are low UHF). I should be able to get them for $50/ea shipped. Which at that point, they're a little more expensive than Baofengs, but should be more reliable. Plus I can grab the discriminator output, which I think would sound better.

Thank you for the other RPi info.

My UV-5R sits in the charging cradle 24/7 and gives me very clear audio. I have found that noise elimination is a LOT of trial and error.

 

[Brandon_K]

My UV-5R sits in the charging cradle 24/7 and gives me very clear audio. I have found that noise elimination is a LOT of trial and error.

I'm not terribly sure what I can do to eliminate the noise as it appears to be directly related to the charging cradle (I'm assuming the charging circuitry is built into the cradle and not the radio).

My buddy has a UV-5R, I'll have him test it and see if it's something isolated to my radio, the model of my radio, or just something completely random.

That said, if I can get the PM400's for cheap, I'm certainly going to go that route. As a bonus I can turn them into lunch box repeaters later down the line if I decide to

 

[Bote]

I was all set to use a Baofeng UV-5RA as a railroad scanner feed, but the AGC block in my audio chain boosted the nasty processor noise in the radio to an unacceptable level. I really want that AGC action since some guys mutter and other guys shout, so that's a no-go.

The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes.

 

[ScannerDude244]

Is their anyway to hook up an external antenna to those radios?