WS1080 no reception in mfg building

[krazzedkanuk]

I now work in a large mfg plant in southern Ontario. I have tried to bring in my ws1080 at night to help kill some time. It works well at home but in the plant it receives nothing, not even in plant radio. Is there a filter I can get to cut out the excess noise? I am using the stock antenna. I am trying to receive Fleetnet, Windsor Fire, Detroit Fire & EMS. I also have access to a bcd436 but because I got the ws1080 cheap I prefer to bring that in.

Bell FleetNet Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1 Trunking System, Southwest Zone, Ontario

Bell FleetNet Ontario Provincial Government Zone 1 Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

Windsor Trunking System, Windsor, Ontario

Windsor Trunking System Profile

www.radioreference.com

https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?sid=100

 

[MDScanFan]

What is the building made out of? If its metal or concrete/rebar then it works as a good faraday cage that does not let signals in. That, plus noise generated in the building make for nearly impossible reception. Are you near any windows? Is mounting an external antenna out of the question?

It was in a similar situation to you a while back and they ONLY thing I could receive was a faint signal from a very strong FM station. Moving to a spot near a window helped considerably. I never tried filtering in my situation.

 

[bob550]

The first thing I'd do is to try your 436 inside the plant. If that doesn't work, you know the WS1080 is not the fault. Secondly, try monitoring the in-plant radio system, along with the others, from outside the plant where the noise levels may be reduced. If it works, noise may be the culprit. With any portable using the supplied antenna, the elimination of interference can be challenging. If you were only trying to monitor one system within a narrowly-defined frequency band, an antenna designed for that frequency range would be preferred. But as you are attempting to monitor both VHF and 800MHz, that's not an option.

 

[pb_lonny]

Is this in one specific area or the whole building / plant?

 

[krazzedkanuk]

The 436 works well inside the plant. It picks up the in plant radio as well as outside radio. It will not pickup the Bell FleetNet group, but I am trying a different antenna tonight. Just wish the 1080 worked similar. The 1080 works well outside the plant for everything.

 

[bob550]

You don't happen to have the attenuator activated on the 1080, do you? Other than that, your 436 just may be more sensitive than your 1080. My RS PRO-651 is deaf to our local 800 MHz system while inside my aluminum-sided house, while my G5 receives the same system without trouble. Different receivers can have different sensitivity levels. Where one can receive a weak signal, another one won't.