what do i need to get more stuff on my bc80xlt?

[lousy flagpins]

ive got a bc80xlt with several bands (ham, t band, etc.) that i get
nothing on. im in an urban area so it seems like there ought to be a
lotta stuff around.

right now all i have is a 6 inch flexible antenna like you see on
handheld police radios. do i need another completely differnt antenna
or maybe just a longer version of what ive got.

[Ruben F.]

You first have to program frequencies for what you want to listen to.
Exactly what "urban area" are you talking about.

-RF
http://www.Police-Scanner.info

"lousy flagpins" <peench...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a6c97ede.03072...@posting.google.com...

[Frank]

Ruben F. <IweUa.119622$Io.10...@newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...

^ Exactly what "urban area" are you talking about.

El Paso, Texas, US.

Frank

[Ruben F.]

All of El Paso's Public Safety is on a Moneyrola Type II Smartnet Trunk
Radio System. You will need a trunking-capable scanner to monitor police and
fire communications.

More info on trunk scanning can be found here:

http://www.police-scanner.info/scanning/scantrunk.htm

After you get a trunking scanner, you can find the frequencies for the El
Paso system on the trunkradio.net website. Membership is required but it is
free and well worth it.

Good luck,

-RF
===============================
Forget Milk, Got Scanner?
http://www.Police-Scanner.info
===============================

"Frank" <ntqmh...@ojidduqsrhwjfttv.com> wrote in message
news:01c352e9$0965a5e0$0125250a@ojidduqsrhwjfttv...

[Den6N]

Make sure the little pin in the tip of the antenna hasn't broken off - common
on BC handhelds...

den6n
====================================================

"lousy flagpins" <peench...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a6c97ede.03072...@posting.google.com...

[Ken Roberts]

"Frank" <ntqmh...@ojidduqsrhwjfttv.com> wrote in message
news:01c352e9$0965a5e0$0125250a@ojidduqsrhwjfttv...

The BC80 won't do the trunking required to listen to El Paso, that's why you
aren't hearing anything. You need a scanner capable of trunk tracking.

Ken

[Ben Thomas]

peench...@yahoo.com (lousy flagpins) wrote in message news:<a6c97ede.03072...@posting.google.com>...

Interesting. That's the very same model I've used for
about 9 years now, and it puts the new (castrated)
units to shame. I use it every day.

With your setting, your radio should be squawking like
a talkbox in the 400 and 800 bands with any antenna
affixed to it, but it never hurts to improve one.

Try a "Seeker 800" or a "Condor". They're spendy, but
you'll NEVER regret it.

[Beloved Leader]

"Ruben F." <u...@ftc.gov> wrote in message news:<pEiUa.21806$Mc.16...@newsread1.prod.itd.earthlink.net>...

> All of El Paso's Public Safety is on a Moneyrola Type II Smartnet Trunk
> Radio System. You will need a trunking-capable scanner to monitor police and
> fire communications.

I must disagree. One does not "need a trunking-capable scanner to
monitor police and fire communications." I listen to my local Motorola
type TRSes with such conventional scanners as a PRO-67, Uniden
BC278CLT, Uniden SC180B. If a BC80XLT covers 800 MHz range, it should
be adequate to hear El Paso public service. I don't know what
frequencies the BC80XLT covers.

As another lister observed, he could have a bad antenna plug, or maybe
he needs to be certain that he has entered to correct frequencies. El
Paso's frequencies might be at http://www.trunkedradio.net/ .

[Ruben F.]

"Beloved Leader" <Kim_J...@volcanomail.com> wrote in message
news:26a0f230.0307...@posting.google.com...

While I agree one "can" monitor a trunk system with a conventional scanner
on a TRS with only a few users, this concept will not work in a large city.
For example, on San Bernardino Counties, West Valley system, there are just
*too* many users to follow any conversation using a conventional scanner.
Looking at the list of talgroups and associated users on the El Paso system,
I'd say you would indeed need a trunking capable scanner to follow
conversations on this system.

-RF
http://www.Police-Scanner.info

[Steve]

I have had excellent results using a right angle antenna. drop the rubber ducky :) I do not recommend the following: open her up and use ether (very cold) and a torch on the black tar to get access to the fm discriminator. I tapped the discriminator and pulled it through a plated through whole. I used a small ferite bead with 2 turns and the scanner is now bad ass. I use it for band searching. This is probably my second favorite scanner. I get some television stations! and and plenty of hams.

The problem as I see it is that the discriminator is encased in plastic making it difficult to ground out noise. the ferrite bead helps tremendously; not sure how but is does. standard amidon #43 material. No need to mess with the IC itself, there is an empty pad and there are several through wholes so you don't need to drill. If you're really interested check discriminator.nl or I'll take some pictures. What a junkie I am...

I use a preamp from tony van roon's website: http://www.tonyvanroon.com/oldwebsite/circ/AA7/activant2.html .
I used a Siemens dual gate mosfet (check the data sheets for bf998 SOT143B! not SOT143R!) instead of MFE201. It has dual diode protection and such; it is claimed to work up into 1 gigahertz. Tony had an excellent website. check the active antennas.

Simple answer would be, get a better antenna... any info you get on this scanner that you would like to share would be appreciated....

[Killa “zzDJChris” McKillington]

Your particular scanner is locked to conventional frequencies I believe, but if you have 118 - 138 Mhz coverage, you could start with air traffic.

Best to do a discovery search through the 400mhz band, skipping all the "chirpies". That will give you some joy.