InterceptRadio.com Forums

I notice some quiet static and lots of pops when trunk tracking Seattle Police, etc. I use a 895xlt with an indoor. The signal seems to be fine. I can hear the conversation but those pops are annoying. They are not present all the time but on many of the communications I monitor, I can hear them. Are these pops and static a result of the Cellular Nextel Issue?

Also, what is the best indoor antenna for my scanner.

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I love shortwave and scanner monitoring. It is a hobby I have had since boyhood that I recently rediscovered with the purchase of a close out scanner. (BC895xlt) (Icom r-75)

It's most likely from the Simulcast System- that is, there are several sites TX'ing on the same frequency. They're all synced up using a GPS Oscillator to eliminate intermod.

In the main system coverage area it's not really a problem, but when you're towards the outer areas the problems start happening.

It happens to me on a daily basis- and I'm up on Queen Anne.

Just an idea.

-Mike

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flickr | mikegilbertphotography.com

Queen Anne is multipath hell, unfortunately. (Intermod is something else entirely, not likely to be applicable in this context.) You'd think the top of Queen Anne Hill would be scanning paradise, but there are many, many other spots in King County with better reception of the trunked-radio system.

There's nothing the transmitter sites can do about multipath, with or without GPS synchronization. Try to use a directional antenna of some type for your 800 MHz monitoring. It doesn't matter what its heading is, just that it's not omnidirectional. Worst-case would be a discone.

Kent Britain's PCB antennas (specifically the 900 MHz Yagi and 400-1000 MHz log periodics) are great, by the way: http://www.wa5vjb.com/ Again, it matters very little how they're aimed. You will be steering them for minimum multipath fading, not maximum signal strength.