What is this?

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JamesBrox

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What is this piece of equipment used for? Thanks
 

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fxdscon

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It's a down converter for 810 to 912 MHz for older scanners that can't receive that high.
 

gmclam

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Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s I had a device which would convert VHF signals to AM broadcast radio. I don't recall now the frequency I set my AM radio to, but all you had to do was have the converter close to the AM radio for it to work. This looks like a similar device but designed to convert 800MHz. Not sure what the destination receiver/frequency is.

I found this thread on RR.
 

ecps92

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See the old thread on that unit

What is this piece of equipment used for? Thanks
 

mmckenna

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Thanks for the replies. Interesting insight.... so pretty much obsolete, huh? Spring cleaning, so believe I’m going to throw it out.

Obsolete in that most modern scanners will cover -most- of this frequency spread.
Obsolete in that some (not all) users of these frequencies are using digital modes, so you'd still need a digital capable scanner to cover the UHF output.

Valuable as in that it would allow someone to listen to the entire 810-910MHz spectrum without any blockages in the way, as required now.
Useless in that any cellular stuff used in that band is all digital that cannot be decoded by a consumer scanner.

Rather than throw it out, either sell it, or offer it to someone who collects stuff like this. I'm sure someone would gladly pay the shipping to keep it out of the trash.
 

N7OLQ

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When I went off to college in the 80's with my trusty BC100XLT, I found no traffic on the University frequencies listed in Police Call. After asking around, someone said they heard the university was on 800MHz. No way, I thought. NO ONE was up that high. After confirming it with FCC data, I found that they were early adopters of an 800MHz Moto trunked system. I had no idea what a trunked system was about, but I set out to find a way to listen. There was a Regency handheld and a bit later the 800XLT base scanner, but they were very expensive. I saw the GRE Super Converter advertised in Pop Comm, and ordered it. I think it was around $100. I programmed in all the freqs in UHF by subtracting 400MHz into my 100XLT, and it worked like a charm. I had to hit the scan button if the repeater dropped before the other person responded, but fortunately the system wasn't super busy. Good memories with that little box.
 

jgorman21

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Yes. I have one rattling around somewhere. I got it for my Dad years ago to make his old scanner get the 800 band.

I also remember having a setup when our local PD first moved up to 800 that went something like this. And old UHF TV converter (slightly modified) connected to a dual band (30-50mhz 144-174mhz) tunable receiver. Tune the radio to just about 30Mhz and fire up the converter. Worked great!
 
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