Good afternoon, I live in Wilmette a mile form the UP Knenosha-sub and can hear the train radio but not the dispatcher why is this? Please let me know thank you.
One possibility is the dispatcher is broadcasting from a tower that’s not close enough to your scanner to receive, or it’s blocked by terrain from your scanner. The locomotive radio is MUCH more powerful than hobby scanners and can detect and amplify a much weaker signal than your scanner. A second possibility is that dispatcher-to-train transmissions are on a different frequency than train-to-train or train-to-dispatcher, and you don’t have it dialed in on your scanner.
RWM
Distance, obstructions and atmospheric conditions can cause problems like this. It could also be the dishbashers radio is on a directional antenna and you are outside of the main lobe and thus not getting much signal.
When you hear the train transmission, you might shut off the squelch so that if/when the dispatcher responds your receiver will play the audio. Of course during that time your radio will be sounding off with lots of static, but when the dispatcher transmits you might be able to hear it over/in the static. At least then you’d know that they definitely are on the same frequency (but it doesn’t prove they are on different frequencies/channels).
Based on info on radioreference.com, the UP Kenosha sub is using simplex comms (both base and mobile on the same frequency - 161.040Mhz).
That leaves the other possibility SV points out - that the railroad base stations are using directional antennas, or as RM points out, the base station is just too far from you.
If you’re relying on the rubber duck on your pocket scanner, or the attached antenna on a base scanner, it’s probably time to upgrade your antenna.
The ideal answer is a tuned antenna mounted as high as you can - like up in the air above your house. If that’s not an option (ie, apartment), you can still improve your reception by using a decent antenna.
I’ve been impressed by the “j-pole” antenna - you can build one for about $20 if you have any basic plumbing skills.
It appears that most of your fire departments are in the same band as the railroads (VHF-high), but your police are UHF, so if you want to listen to everyone, a multi-band antenna is going to be your choice.
I have the opposite problem: I can hear the dispatchers easily but not the trains. Maybe it’s because I live only about 1/2 mile from the relay tower on the UP Milwaukee sub near Bain.
wilmette2210 (2-22):
What Railway Man brought up – two different frequencies – is possible, but UP doesn’t normally do that.
Thus, it sounds like the classic situation that a piece of junk was purchased. Sorry to be so blunt, but, your described experience is the opposite of what it should be.
Anything with a “sensitivity” rating of 0.4 or higher number will have your described problem. (The higher the number, the less sensitive the unit is.) Most contemporary models have 0.4 or more. I’ve seen sensitivity ratings of 1.5 or more before, which is real bad. If a scanner with a sensitivity of 0.3 (the lower the number the better) is next to yours, it will in all likelihood have all type of chatter, both DS, trains, and ground trainmen; but yours will be absolutely silent except for real close transmissions.
If you just purchased your radio scanner, you might try to return it. If you can’t, well, accept it that you got screwed. (I once got screwed, so don’t feel all that bad.) I’ve been away from the scanner purchase market for years, so I don’t know what is currently being offered. The industry was getting away from the sensitivity issue years ago, so the fact that your problem is kind of a mystery here at the forum tells me the industry is real hush-hush about that matter now.
I’ll bet my boots that SENSITIVITY is your problem. (I don’t have any boots, so I guess I’m safe.)
Best wishes,
K.P.
[Technical corrections made this date]
Scanner World lists the sensitivity with ONLY two of their many scanner models, and the sensitivity for railroad frequencies on those models happen to be good too!
The BCD996XT with 0.2 …
http://www.scannerworld.com/content/product/model/BCD996XT
… and the BCT15X with 0.3 …
The first scenario posed by RWM is very likely what the O.P. was dealing with. I encounter it from time to time; here’s a recent example, and explanation:
From my home in Post Falls, ID, I could clearly hear a UP train reading back his track warrant at Cheney, WA, which is more than 20 miles away. Several good-sized hills and one minor mountain stand in the direct path, but I was able to pick him up. However, I could not hear the UP Ayer Sub dispatcher because he was transmitting on a tower located far south of Cheney, way beyond the train from my perspective.
The UP train at Cheney was at a high elevation, and in essence located between me and the dispatcher’s antenna. Hence, the train could be heard by me to the east and by the DS to the west, but I could not hear the DS. Quite often, you’ll hear a weak or even inaudible DS transmission suddenly come in loud and clear after they switch towers. Such a move is often followed by the DS asking the train crew or other employee, “Can you hear me now?,” or “How’s this tower?”
Now, had the Ayer Sub dispatcher been talking on a tower closer to Cheney or Spokane, it might have improved his reception with the train crew, and would have allowed me to hear the DS side of their conversation. But as it was, the DS was already on a tower that was sufficient for communication with the crew, even if it left me in the dark.
It could also be that the train or the dispatcher are hitting different repeater series or towers. The dispatcher could be, say west of the train but you are east of the train. Or any gien combinatin of all the above!
KP - I’d put my money on the antenna as the problem.
Had a visitor to the area recently. He’s a fire type, here to teach a class. He brought along his scanner and I gave him our local frequencies so he could listen in here.
After he made a trip to the electronics store to buy a slightly better antenna, his reception improved substantially. That antenna is nothing more than a piece of coax stripped back about 18 inches on one end with a connector on the other.
As I suggested earlier, an outside antenna will make all the difference in the world, and the higher the better. If that’s not possible, an inside antenna (other than the rubber duck), mounted as high as possible, will make a world of difference.