New Scanner

I got soo sick of my old POS scanner (I could be two seats from the conductor, and it wouldn't find him.) and I got a new one from Radio Shack.

I'll test it tomorrow. It doesn't have the 160MHZ bands pre-installed but they can be. Should I buy the programming cable and do this or just pre-program the road frequences.

If you are just going to load the RR frequencies once and don't mind doing it from the keypad and then only add or change a few frequencies at a time in the future you probably don't need the cable.

If you are going to be reprogramming large numbers of channels fairly often, then the cable may be worthwhile.

Looks like this scanner is a POS to. I've set it to scan 159.000 to 162.000 and it finds nothing even with the conductor in the car.

What am I doing wrong Why is this so hard for me?

One word: radio.

I don't understand. It says Amtrak uses frequences in the 160.xxx mhz range and I set my Radio Shack Pro-258 to scan that bandwith, but even with the conductor having a chat with anouther train 2 seats up, the scanner just flies through the bands, finding nothing, with signal stalker on and off. I even program in the frequency manually, and it doesn't do anything.

This is really frustrating. Help!!

At the risk of stating the obvious, have you tried playing around with the "squelch" setting? If it's too far one way, it'll ignore everything, including legitimate communication (possibly your problem) and too far the other way and the scanner will decide that any noise on the frequency is signal. I suspect that would affect scanning through the band; not so much when you program the frequency manually, but I'm not sure.

have you tried various antennii?

I would agree with what pgengler said. Setting the squelch too tight will make the scanner skip right over signals.

The first step should be to program your railroad's specific frequency and select that channel in manual mode and see what happens. Search scan can take a long time to cycle through all the RR channels and you can miss things.

You mentioned not being able to pick up the conductor in the same car. You certainly should be able to hear him, even with no antenna connected, if you were on the proper channel in manual mode. If you were scanning, a very strong transmission will sometimes make the scanner "lock up" on the wrong frequency and you miss the message.

The "signal stalker" feature seems to be somewhat complicated to use so I don't know what to tell you about that other than read the manual carefully.

I have set the squelch very high and so low that hitting scan only moves it .05 of a single (like 160.920, 160.925...) and still nothing.

I need to go to Palmer and ask someone who's using a scanner to show me the ropes.

the reason y its a POs is the name radio shack for one. Second get a uniden, much better recieve. I live almost 40 miles away from the dewitt yards here in NY state and i can pick them up. A recommendation is the model Undien BCT-8. Its a base/mobile, nice and compact and it has preset railroad freqs in it. Go to www.scannerworld.com. I have never been impressed with RAT SHACK equipment. By all means buy a UNIDEN. Also try an outdoor antenna. Put it up high. My theory is higher the antenna the better. But also mind you FCC res and and your local govt rules on antennas. but seriously from experience in radio equipment get a Uniden!!!!! Also another good scanner and reliable is the Uniden BC350C Good luck. Also remember this most railroads run on VHF FM, VHF signals have a longer wave length, FM signal is Line of Sight (means straight line) if you have obstacles in the way you will not recieve well. Put your scanner next to a window. try that first then go with a better antenna like a discone Antenna

Some Railroad freqs are also scrambled so may not pick them up or you may here squarble

Which Amtrak train and which line are you riding on?

For example, many Amtrak trains operate on the host railroads frequencies, like the Amtrak Downeaster from Boston to Maine uses the frequencies of the MBCR and Pan Am(Guilford).

A few good tips have already been mentioned, allow me to fine-tune a few of them for you.

First off, unless the RS scanner you just bought was used RS radios are not automatically garbage just because they are from RS. I'm a scanner buff (as well as a licensed ham radio operator) and own (and owned) numerous RS scanners over the years. They are great radios and I've never had a problem with any of them. Uniden/Bearcat radios are just as good, I own/owned numerous Bearcats as well.

In regard to the squelch setting...the proper squelch setting is when you reduce the squelch back to the point that you hear static. Now advance the squelch forward just to the point where the static stops. Your radio should now be set for optimum reception.

Make sure your antenna is correctly connected to the radio. Most scanners today use a BNC connector. Line up both lugs on the radio's antenna connector with the notches in the antenna's connector, seat the antenna fully on the radio, and then rotate the antenna a quarter turn until it is fully seated on the connector. Your antenna should now be properly connected.

The railroad band is VHF-Hi and is in the FM mode. Most consumer-grade scanners automatically select the correct reception mode as the frequency is entered. VHF is line-of-sight but that shouldn't be that much of a factor unless you are trying to listen to something 50+ miles away. I live in a valley and my handhelds receive transmissions from 30-40 miles away just as well as my base radios do that are coupled to the roof-mount antenna on top of my house.

The best way I've found to test if a scanner is working correctly is to program in (or press the 'WX' button if so equipped) your local National Weather Service frequency in. NWS transmits in a continuous loop, 24/7. If you're not receiving NWS you're either to far out from an NWS station or you have a problem with your radio or your antenna.

Hope these tips help.....good luck!

is it possible the conductor ( or who ever) is not using railroad radio but possibly one of those wee UHF portables ( FRS, GMRS) ??

n3ddy wrote:is it possible the conductor ( or who ever) is not using railroad radio but possibly one of those wee UHF portables ( FRS, GMRS) ??

If he just happens to be working on one of the very few rail-related operations that is outside of the usual VHF band of AAR channels, then yes. But, it's pretty much a 99.5% sure thing that he's on the VHF band.