Hi guys, sorry I just now got the notification that someone had replied to my post! Anyway, the antenna I purchased is a 2-meter 5/8 wave “rubber duck” type antenna. Here is a link:
I ordered mine with a BNC connector to fit my scanner and had it tuned to the 160 MHz frequency since that is the closest they offer to the AAR frequencies. I really liked my scanner before this antenna, I REALLY REALLY REALLY like it with the antenna. When trackside, I can hear trains calling signals way farther away (at least 2-3 signals, so maybe 4-6 miles?) than I could before. In fact, I have CSX and NS channnels stored on separate banks on my scanner. Before the antenna, I would just leave both on and I would only hear one or the otherdepending on which line I was fanning. Now, for example if I am on CSX I have to lock out the NS bank because I will pick those channels as well. A very solid investment for $20.00 + shipping. Jamie
I am surprised it hasn’t been mentioned…if it has, my apologies…
But I use a 2meter ham radio, a Vertex VX-150…it is built to Mil. Specs…it really is tough as nails, I don’t know how many times I have dropped it onto either concrete or asphalt…with barely a scratch on it…
It has wonderful reception…fairly easy to program, once you figure that portion out. No license required to own one.
You know, that issue did cross my mind, and thanks for raising it. How does one buy military surplus these days? During the 1980s and 1990s most of the Chicago-area military-surplus stores got chic and changed their name to “Trading Post” and the like. They tend to have no military surplus. The ones that kept their traditional names don’t have much in the way of surplus; usually they are into general sports stuff, outdoors stuff. A barg on a field radio is something I’d love to check out. - a.s.
I would caution you to ensure that you don’t program any transmit frequencies in it - the radio is, after all, a transceiver (two-way radio). Should a fanning trip go sour, authorities-wise, it wouldn’t bode well for you if your radio was capable of transmitting on the railroad frequencies…
Operating a transmitter without a license is a $10,000 fine…
With the Radio Shack PRO-82, what’s the best antenna to use with it-the Smiley antenna mentioned or the 2-meter 5/8 wave rubber duck antenna mentioned? Also, out of curiousity, what’s teh difference between trunking and non-trunking? Thanks.
If you’re going to be mobile, look into a decent mag-mount mobile antenna. Beats a rubber ducky all to whatever.
Trunked vs conventional (non-trunked). I’ll try to be brief.
Railroads use conventional analog communications. Their signal is identical to FM broadcast stations, but at less power and on different frequencies. In simplex operation (again, mostly used by the railroads) both the base and mobile transmit/receive on the same frequency.
Some conventional applications use repeaters, with the base and mobiles transmitting on different frequencies. Normally the mobile transmissions are repeated on the base radio, meaning that anyone who can talk to the base station can talk to anyone else on the system.
The problem with conventional systems is that you need a different frequency for each distinct user group. That’s why you’ll see multiple frequencies identified for a specific railroad, each with a specific function (Road, yard, MOW, police, etc). The same principle applies to other radio users such as public safety.
A trunked system uses a relatively small number of frequencies to serve a large number of functional users. This is based on the premise that any one transmission will only last 5-6 seconds on average. Thus you can have 10-12 distinct transmissions in any given minute. It is also based on the premise that not everyone is talking all of the time.
On a trunked system, users are assigned “talkgroups” that functionally are analagous to simplex frequencies. However when a user presses the “push to talk” (PTT) button, a brief negotiation takes place wherein the u
As far as I’m concerned, SENSITIVITY is the name of the game! Everything else is irrelevant. Unfortunately, the last time I checked, manufacturers had gotten away from informing prospective buyers about sensitivity. If they showed how junky their products were sensitivity-wise, nobody would buy them!
Is there a site that lists loads of requencies used by the railroads, maybe by area? I’ve found one, 160.800, used by the local coal trains. Out in cow-catcher country here, I’m unlikely to pick up a whole lot more than that and the B&P coal trains that go to Homer City. I tried looking at old links, but they’ve been turning up dead. Anything to work with? Thanks!
I’ve encountered a number of them, usually by searches. It’s just a matter of weeding out the chaff.
“Local” searches will often turn up what some local scanner enthusiast has compiled (ie, podunk scanner, or podunk frequencies). Since those are usually based on experience rather than some database, they will usually prove useful.
I had found local lists online but some weren’t accurate. My scanner holds 200 programmable frequencies which works out great because there are just under 200 total designated railroad frequencies. I programmed all of them in. Then I went to my local favorite spots and just left the radio set to scan all of the frequencies. It’ll go through 50 a second so it takes 2 seconds to hit all of them. Everytime it stopped at a frequency where there was action, I made a note of what that frequency was. I did this at a few different locations. I also took my lists from the internet that I had found and double checked them with what I’d learned. I quickly figured out which ones were current and which ones weren’t. This was a very quick and easy technique.
You have to be patient because there may be no radio traffic at all for a while. It doesn’t mean they aren’t there. There’s just no one talking. Sometimes I go down to the railyard and hear nothing for a half an hour. Other times I go down there and it’s solid. You never know.
The nice thing about having all frequencies programmed in is that when I travel, I can just leave it on scan and I’ll hear anything around me regardless of where I am. You can also lock out channels that you don’t want to scan so once you figure out what is in your area, you can either leave it on one channel, or if you have multiple channels you can pick up in your area, you can scan between only the the active ones. It works great.
I bought the $99 Radio Shack scanner and the antenna listed above from Smiley Antenna. I love it! Works great.
I use my Radio Shack hand held when I am trackside. If I plan to go out for a photo shoot along the tracks, I usually listen to the scanner on my nightstand, it’s gets better reception then the handheld, since it’s upstairs on the 2nd floor. Anyway, I will listen to that scanner to get an idea of what is going on, if anything, on the railroad I plan to visit. If there is chatter, and depending on how far I can hear (usually 25+ miles) it gives me enough time to get trackside and get set up. The handheld gets good reception when I am outside, and I can hear trains, given local conditions, up to 10 miles away. In addition, listening to the scanner gives me a good feel for “patterns” and I try to plan my trips when the given road is busy, or shaping up to get busy for a brief time.
In my opinion scanners are indespensible to me because now, there is no more “by guess and by gosh” when it comes to going to the tracks, and hoping to see something.
After looking over the wiki I about fell out of my chair…
Having a CTC board layout while railfanning is a fantasy come true. [:D] Now, to get started on prepping my laptop and scanner hardware for this. [dinner]
I hope that CN’s Flint Sub (MP 290) uses this CTC code RF technology, and that I can be successful in monitoring it. Not sure if I will be able to pick up any radio signals where I’m at - 15 miles to the south - but perhaps luck will find me when trackside.
It sure beats sitting there waiting not knowing if I’ll see anything.
Also note that several territory are also hosted on the internet (much like railroadradio.net does with radio) and you can view them via the internet without a scanner. Of course out in the field the scanner is the way to go but to use the scanner it has to tune the 890-940 Mhz range and most scanners these days don’t tune that band, plus it has to be modified so you can tap the discriminator output. This is an internal modification that requires some technical knowledge. If you need help feel free to ask. Ted Marshal has been very helpfull also.