response 36 of 123:

Aug 12 02:50 UTC 1998

Turn off your stuff and turn on a radio that receives in the same band,
and scan. There may be a number of interfering signals. I just turned
on my counter and in the 10-1250 MHz range it likes signals fluctuating
around 838-842 MHz. Cellular? In the 10-500 MHz range, it likes 226-228 MHz.
Oh wait! If I hold the antenna closer to this computer it likes ca. 146 MHz.
Below 10 MHz, it finds 13KHz - near the monitor. This is all pretty
meaningless.

response 38 of 123:

Aug 13 12:25 UTC 1998

Has anyone listened to 1630am? We listened from A2 to the zoo a few
mondays ago. Eastbound M14 just past Domino's we started to pick up the
signal from M14 and I275. North I 275 it started to fade and was replaced
by I-275 and I-696. East I-696 was replaced by I-696 and Telegraph, which
started to break up and fade badly in the concrete ditch. Just started to
get I-696 and I-75 as we got to the zoo. This is the traffic advisory
system, tho there were no warnings, just locations being broadcast.
'Finding" stuff like this still thrills me, even after years of listening.

response 40 of 123:

Aug 15 05:08 UTC 1998

  You might want to invest in an Icom R-1. It's handheld and recieves from
.5 to 1.5Ghz. I think they're around $300. 
Or you can borrow my 2m handheld which recieves from 138-174Mhz. 

response 42 of 123:

Aug 18 11:02 UTC 1998

Wow, that's the most useful suggestion yet.  The RS line seems to cover all
the areas I care about, and with tuning to an appropriate number of decimals.
And since I don't need to transmit...

response 44 of 123:

Aug 19 10:52 UTC 1998

The Radio Shack disc-cone is a nice all-band antenna.  Hook it up with
decent coax if the coax is going to be longer that about 10 ft.  9913
is good stuff with low losses at the higher frequencies.  Get that at
Purchase Radio since I doubt that Radio Shack sells it.

response 46 of 123:

Aug 19 21:41 UTC 1998

Why don't you give Ken a call at Communications Electronics?  I'm sure 
he's got what you need.

response 48 of 123:

Aug 20 02:33 UTC 1998

Okay, thanks.   I haven't covered antennas in my Tech study guide..yet.

response 50 of 123:

Aug 20 10:28 UTC 1998

Disc-cones are omnidirectional.  They have relativity low gain but make
up for that by having a wide bandwidth.  Their gain is far better than
that of the rubber duckie that comes with the scanner.  As with antennas
in general, operating frequency has all to do with length.  The longer
you make the elements the lower in frequency it will go.  HF disc-cones
are not uncommon, just large.  The Radio Shack disc-cone is good for
100 MHz to 1.5 GHz or so.  They are simple to build and any good antenna
book will show you how.  Once you see one you will also understand where
the name comes from.  As with all antennas, the higher you get it the
better it will work.

response 52 of 123:

Aug 26 10:46 UTC 1998

The one Radio Shack sells will also work on 2M through 70cm and beyond.
It is also nice since it is all stainless steel.  A friend mounted one of
the RS disc-cones on the mast of his sailboat for 2M / 70cm and it worked
very well.  W8BY made a disc-cone out of coat hanger wire that also worked
very well and was cheap to boot.  Once again, antenna height is very
important.  The higher the better in most cases.

response 54 of 123:

Oct 8 21:52 UTC 1998

Status report:

I bought a Bearcat trunking scanner.  It covers 450-470 and 900MHz bands, both
of which are what I'm working in.  It works great in the 450-470MHz range
(older UHF based systems) and OK for 902-928MHz spread spectrum systems
(spread is hard to get a handle on anyway).  So I've got what I need, a way
to see what else is out there at frequencies I'm trying to use.

Thanks to all, esp. to Klaus for suggesting the scanner.  :)

response 56 of 123:

Oct 26 13:47 UTC 1998

Hello Everybody,I am merely a SWL and operate with a domestic type
sangean, telescopic antenna.I wonder if there are any like me here. As
far as I can see, this appears to be only for HAMs. Although it is
interesting to read,it would be nice to exchange SWL/DX news once in a
while.

response 58 of 123:

Oct 29 14:05 UTC 1998

Thanx OMni,
I am definitely interested in a HAM license.unfortunately when I had
time for all that during my college days, I never got around to it.
Nowadays I am just too packed to devote time. In India as far as I am
aware we still have to work our way up to a codeless license.(as i
understand it, codeless means no morse code). That means I have to pass
atleast two exams with a mandatory period between successive stages.
Perhaps I will eventually get my license when I retire in about 30 years
time.hopefully Radio will still be around then. But if there are any
HAMS from India on this conf, I will be glad to know the exact
procedure, in case my understanding of the process mentioned here is
incorrect harish

response 60 of 123:

Jan 1 03:46 UTC 1999

Just call me Bob Here is some background I was a CB'er way befor the term
Good Buddy Joined the Army in 1970 went to Radio school at Fort Jackson SC
came out with a MOS of 05E20 Noncode Radio Operator Went to Vietnam were I
was a RTO for the 14th Engr Bn 59th Land Clearing Co (Rome Plows) and 84th
Engr Bn C Co after the Army I Took Electronics at DeVry Atlanta in 1974 after
school went to work with RCA at AUTEC in the Bahamas then went to Harris Corp
in 1977 R&D Labs Melbourne Fl was Downsized out in 1994 Took two years
vacation and now working at Relm Wireless Corp as a Bench Tech in Customer
Service Repairing All of Relms OEM Hand helds MPV MPU PT and WHS These 
Transcevers work well in the HAM Bands by the way I'm not a ham can't
Hack the Code Makes me crazy.