Author Topic: Setup?  (Read 177767 times)

Offline n57flyguy

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« Reply #25 on: March 06, 2006, 06:46:37 AM »
That scanner looks pretty much what I want, and isnt a burn and crash, then get shot on your wallet deal. I dont know much about handhelds, I think Ill just get the Bearcat.

Offline Lezam

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« Reply #26 on: March 06, 2006, 07:12:59 AM »
I hear bearcats are good also. I found out about all this scanner stuff by going to radioreference forums...  :lol:

Offline n57flyguy

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« Reply #27 on: March 06, 2006, 10:00:16 AM »
cool, Ill check it out.  

Getting my drill ready!!!! Actually there must be a way to get around drilling a hole in the wall, I'll figure something out.

Offline Kalpazan

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« Reply #28 on: March 06, 2006, 12:05:12 PM »
You will never become master-blaster feeder unless you drill hole in your wall  :D  :wink:

Offline Fryy/Avocadoflight

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« Reply #29 on: March 06, 2006, 04:58:27 PM »
Just a suggestion, check out ebay for scanners, they have alot. I got a Bearcat BC235XLT for 70 bucks, normally it goes for around 200.

Offline n57flyguy

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« Reply #30 on: March 06, 2006, 09:09:57 PM »
Yeah, ebay is great, thats where Im going to pick mine up.

Offline Lezam

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« Reply #31 on: March 07, 2006, 06:55:05 PM »
Got mine from Ebay too. BTW I am not sure you can get around drilling a hole in the wall. If you figure a way, let me in on it :)

Offline n57flyguy

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« Reply #32 on: March 07, 2006, 09:16:27 PM »
Will do my freind, I come up with some creative stuff so far :D

Offline KevinK

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« Reply #33 on: March 08, 2006, 03:36:57 AM »
Thanks guys, this helps alot! Still confused though, if i use my sporties radio instead of a scanner, how will or how much will the quality differ?

Offline Biff

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« Reply #34 on: March 08, 2006, 12:41:52 PM »
Quote from: Lezam
BTW I am not sure you can get around drilling a hole in the wall. If you figure a way, let me in on it :)


Do what I did: drill a hole in the ceiling.  ;)

Offline n57flyguy

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« Reply #35 on: March 08, 2006, 04:39:44 PM »
no drilling!!! well, I cant drill a hole so I have to figure something out.

Offline Lezam

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« Reply #36 on: March 08, 2006, 06:47:20 PM »
You put your antenna on the roof, but I am not going on top of my roof hehe :):) Scared lol

Offline n57flyguy

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« Reply #37 on: March 09, 2006, 10:08:41 AM »
It should get great reception if I put it on my roof. Why would you be to scared at most it should take 20 min to set up. Get a friend to help you out.

Offline FlyCMI

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« Reply #38 on: March 09, 2006, 09:25:21 PM »
Now my antenna was scary to put up, I never want to have to do that again.

Offline Lezam

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« Reply #39 on: March 11, 2006, 11:31:35 PM »
I am planning on putting my antenna on the side of my chimney, as high up as my 10 foot ladder can go :) So figure 10 ft + 6 ft, so about 16 feet in the air. I dont want to get on my roof, its scary up there, especially with all the wind around my house :)

Offline Jason

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« Reply #40 on: March 13, 2006, 12:55:35 PM »
Quote from: n57flyguy
It should get great reception if I put it on my roof. Why would you be to scared at most it should take 20 min to set up. Get a friend to help you out.


Good suggestions, Paul.  I'm sure there are plenty of friends and others in the area that would be happy to help you setup the antenna, Lezam.  Do as much as you can before actually getting up to install it.  You can get many things ready in advance.

Even putting the antenna a few feet inward on a side of a roof instead of high up in the middle will boost reception in most cases.  The more height, the better, but try not to get caught in a situation you don't want to be in.  

Also--try and stay away from putting the copper J-pole next to a copper roof at all costs.  I lost my N90 reception by doing that, so I have to revert to the discone antenna in the attic for those frequencies.

Offline Lezam

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« Reply #41 on: March 13, 2006, 01:40:02 PM »
I am not sure if I can actually do that though. My house is pretty old, and I am not sure if it can take my weight on it. I might be having my roofing done in the summer, so if I do I will move the antenna upward. For now, I am going to be putting my antenna as high up as I can go. Except for a tree, there is nothing visually stopping my view from jfk. So I think I will be allright with the antenna situated there, facing jfk.

Offline KevinK

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« Reply #42 on: March 13, 2006, 02:43:54 PM »
Question, someone was telling me that you have to get permission from the airport to monitor the freqs....that true? Also, can someone still answer my question, how well with a 2 m jpole will a sporties handheld radio put out, and how will the quality be

Offline Lezam

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« Reply #43 on: March 13, 2006, 02:56:48 PM »
Only in the UK you need permission, as to what I heard...


I have a Jpole, with a sportie, and it works great for me :)
Depends how far away you are, because they are low power..

Offline Jason

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« Reply #44 on: March 13, 2006, 03:10:37 PM »
Quote from: KevinK
Question, someone was telling me that you have to get permission from the airport to monitor the freqs....that true?


I believe that someone was referring to UK regulations as Lezam stated.

Quote from: KevinK
Also, can someone still answer my question, how well with a 2 m jpole will a sporties handheld radio put out, and how will the quality be


Are you referring to a 2 meter copper J-pole?  ...or a simple roll-up J-pole?

I don't see the purpose of using a copper J-pole with a handheld unless you use that handheld like a base station.  I can't imagine a person sitting at the airport with a sporty's handheld leaning on his ~70cm long copper J-pole (roughly 2.25 feet) antenna, but I'm not saying you can't (although I'd like to see the picture :lol:)

It is very dependant on the transmitters, their power output, surrounding terrain, and distance from the transmitter.  VHF is line-of-sight, so pilots (being in the sky; above you) shouldn't be hard to receive in most cases, but ATC facility's low-power transmitters that are either obscured by terrain or are low-power transmitters will make it difficult to receive the controller side of the converstation.

Please clarify on which J-pole you're referring to and possibly including the purpose/use that you're trying to achieve (ie: Listening from home, at the airport, etc, etc) so we can answer your question(s) further. :D

Jason

Offline KevinK

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« Reply #45 on: March 13, 2006, 03:20:28 PM »
I want to be able to feed it from home. Im on a hill, about 5 nm from the airport. Or maybe a bit less, someone suggested this: http://www.kb9vbr.com/jpole.htm

Its cheap and DISCRETE so thats why i wanted to buy it. If you have any other ideas for the antenna, im all ears!

Offline Lezam

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« Reply #46 on: March 13, 2006, 03:26:22 PM »
Quote from: KevinK
I want to be able to feed it from home. Im on a hill, about 5 nm from the airport. Or maybe a bit less, someone suggested this: http://www.kb9vbr.com/jpole.htm

Its cheap and DISCRETE so thats why i wanted to buy it. If you have any other ideas for the antenna, im all ears!


Thats my idea :) I just bought one, and so far, for the price... Its doin pretty good! You can paint that to be any color you want too...

Offline KevinK

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« Reply #47 on: March 13, 2006, 06:12:16 PM »
How did you mount it?

Offline Lezam

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« Reply #48 on: March 14, 2006, 01:06:31 AM »
I didnt mount it yet :) I drilled the hole through the wall, and I have to go to home depot to get some lag shields and bolts :)

Offline KevinK

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« Reply #49 on: March 14, 2006, 03:04:46 AM »
Hmm, what are you using for your reciever?