XTS 5000 UHF R2 picket-fencing issue

[davidh22]

When driving around in my car using my XTS 5000 UHF R2 attached to an NMO mount on the roof, I get a lot of picket fencing issues. I am wondering if it is an issue due to the fact of my current setup which is my XTS 5000 having an SMA-BNC connector on it. Would the picket-fencing issues go away if I picked up an XTVA. A video of the picket fencing is attached that so it can further describe the sound of it and what I am experiencing.

XTS 5000 UHF R2 Picket-fencing.mov

drive.google.com

 

[MTS2000des]

What is the signal quality with a rubber duck? Sounds like it could also be analog simulcast, not knowing the infrastructure, it's hard to diagnose from a 10 second clip. Are you inside the primary coverage area or outside it?

Either way, an XTVA doesn't offer any more or less of an RF connection, if anything it's just as lossy as the RF has to pass thru the RF switch module to get RF thru the XTVA. I'd be willing to bet your adapter setup has less loss than an XTVA.

 

[davidh22]

What is the signal quality with a rubber duck? Sounds like it could also be analog simulcast, not knowing the infrastructure, it's hard to diagnose from a 10 second clip. Are you inside the primary coverage area or outside it?

Either way, an XTVA doesn't offer any more or less of an RF connection, if anything it's just as lossy as the RF has to pass thru the RF switch module to get RF thru the XTVA. I'd be willing to bet your adapter setup has less loss than an XTVA.

It would probably be worse with my rubber duck. Looking at the license (WIK335) it only broadcasts from one tower site. I am not in their coverage zone (aka the town), however, they do broadcast from Holt Hill which is 420ft in Andover, MA which covers the Northeastern part of the country pretty well. Would getting an XTL work better for me as it might reduce the picket fencing? Is there also a big RX sensitivity difference between an XTS5000 and an XTL5000?

 

[MTS2000des]

If your XTS is tuned and aligned, you shouldn't see any tremendous difference between the two going into the same antenna. I have zero familiarity with the terrain up there, but at the end of the day, if you're outside of the jurisdiction's intended coverage, you're getting about the best you're gonna get.

 

[davidh22]

If your XTS is tuned and aligned, you shouldn't see any tremendous difference between the two going into the same antenna. I have zero familiarity with the terrain up there, but at the end of the day, if you're outside of the jurisdiction's intended coverage, you're getting about the best you're gonna get.

Might not be a bad idea to get my radio aligned in the first place. It might also be worth to check out the SWR of my antenna. Do you have any good recommendations for an SWR that would work in the UHF Band that would work for the XTS 5K.

 

[MTS2000des]

The 5K being a portable is designed to work with a rubber duck, haven't swept the full length whip, but I'd be surprised if it's less than 2.0. Anything external is better than a duck. You might try a 5/8 over 5/8 antenna which may eliminate some nulls ASSUMING you're running a quarter wave or something lower profile. It's easy to swap NMO antennas after all.

I recommend you get your radio aligned, especially if it's a used/eBay or unknown origin. Any local MSS that services XTS radios should be able to throw it on an auto tuning service monitor and tune it up for no more than a half hour labor. Ask for a printout of the alignment results.