Weird Reception Issue

[emsflyer84]

Hey all, I’ve got a BCD996p2 in my house that I run a broadcastify feed with. I have a Diamond X50C2 antenna on the roof, probably 30+ feet off the ground and my house is on a small hill. Works great, I can pull in stuff from all over my state of New Hampshire. Recently I’ve noticed a drop off in reception of two frequencies in particular, both digital vhf. Both far enough away that I wouldn’t be surprised about it IF I wasn’t picking those frequencies up in my car with a handheld and glass mount antenna on my window. With the car setup I can’t get the other far away stuff I can clearly get with the setup in my house. First I was thinking maybe I had antenna or connection issues at my house but I’m still getting other far away stuff I’m not getting with the mobile setup. I know it’s not a programming issue because I get these two frequencies a little. They tend to sound digital and broken up most of the time. Am I crazy? How could this be?

 

[tvengr]

Which frequencies are giving you trouble? It's impossible to help if we don't know what you are trying to monitor. Are there any new FM broadcast or TV stations in your area or have any recently changed frequencies? Is there a new NOAA weather transmitter in your area? Have you recently added any new appliances or electronic devices in your home? USB power supplies are notorious for causing wideband interference. Unplug anything new. Did the problem occur when Christmas decorations were installed? If so, unplug them. Look for anything recently changed in your area.

 

[Ubbe]

Program those two frequencies as analog and turn down squelch to 0 and listen to the signal how it sounds, if there's any interference like a hum or other sounds that shouldn't be there. Program more frequencies + and - to the ones with the smallest step possible and listen there as well to hear if there are any kind of interference on an unused frequency. If you find any strange sound then program a portable scanner with that frequency and walk around in the house near the antenna to try and find the source.

What could have happened, if the two frequencies are transmitted from the same location, are that a new building or structure are blocking the signal or are reflected and that can be in the opposite phase and cancelling out the signal. That can be extremely location sensitive in the same as a simulcast system could be when received with a non simulcast capable receiver. Also if the transmit site are the same it could also be an antenna change at that site to direct signal more in the opposite direction where it might do more good to the system users.

/Ubbe