Author Archives: Jonathan Higgins

About Jonathan Higgins

Jonathan joined Scanner Master in May 2008. Along with being a scanner expert Jonathan handles all of the digital content; websites, point of sale management, social media, blogs, e-newsletters, phone system, and photography. Before working at Scanner Master Jonathan was in Radio as an on air personality and producer, in both the Boston and Providence Markets. Jonathan has been interested in scanners and two-way radios for over 25 years When not at work Jonathan loves to spend time with his wife Jodie and daughter Kortnie and there dogs Abbie, Daisy and Watson. He loves to go bike riding and camping with his family. He has an interest in trains and railroad history, check out his personal blog "Train Aficionado" about everything that rides on rails!

Scanner 101 – Tips on picking and installing a Roof Top Antenna

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Have you been putting off installing a roof top antenna for your scanner? A roof top antenna is the best way to increase your scanner’s range.

What antenna should you pick?
When selecting you should keep the following in mind:
What type of communication systems are you monitor? VHF, UHF and 700/800/900MHz so on… If the area is using the same type of communication system you may want to consider a single band antenna. If there is a mix I would recommend “wide band” antenna.

Mounting your antenna
When selecting antenna you want to keep in mind; how and where you’re going to mount it. So many options available from non-penetrating, tripod, and wall mount. Keep way from power lines and telephone/cable wires. The higher the better, be sure you clearing anything that would block signals such as chimes.

Coax Cable
Your antenna performance depends on great coax cable! We carry LMR-400 Coax cable which is a high-end low signal loss coax. When planning out your coax routes, be sure you have a little extra, but not too much. Shorter runs are always best. Keep this in mind: the old carpenter rule of thumb, measure twice, cut once!

Will you have multiple listening locations?
Depending on how many listening locations you have in mind, you will need a 4 Port or 8 Port Multicoupler. This should be placed somewhere in a central location in your home or office. I would recommend running LMR-400 Coax cable (no more than 100 feet) from the antenna to the Multicoupler. From the Multicoupler to the scanners I would recommend LMR-400 or RG-6 Coax (no more than 50 feet). Both of the multicouplers have a built in pre-amp to cut down on signal loss going to the monitoring locations.

Installing the antenna
If your pretty handy this can be something you can do on your own, with help from a friend. Just following instructions provided with the antenna. If heights are not you thing I would recommend hiring help.

Scanner Master is your one stop shop for your entire base scanner antenna needs – from antennas to coax to mounting gear! Spring is here; don’t keep putting it off! Make 2012 the year to upgrade your scanner’s reception.

Quick Links:

Not sure?
Give us a call at Scanner Master 1-800-SCANNER we can help you!

Show Off Your Shack! – Bill Steffey (NY9H)

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Learn how to Show off your shack! – read more

Name: Bill Steffey (NY9H)
Location: Prosperity, PA

In the hobby since:
1959 (with a HALLICRAFTERS S-95 VHF)

Like to listen to:
Anything and everything… Broadcasting from AM to 2.4 gHz

Equipment:
ICOM PC-1000
Winradio
Kenwood r1
ICOM R 100
RF Space sdr-IQ
2 Uniden BC780XLT in shack
ICOM R7000 30-1.3 gHz
UnidenBC796D in car with remote head
Uniden BC396T with remote head
kenwood tf6a handheld
Uniden HomePatrol HP-1 with GPS… quite cool on trips

Bill’s Shack!
Main rig changed Jan07 requiring massive cooling effort for the cabinet, with a 4“ exhaust vent mounted in the wall at the rear of the ICOM, going to the basement where an acoustically decoupled fan pulls the air. K2 is sccond rig. And TT Titan replaced by ACOM (remote on right) Now up to 3 LCDs.

The spectrum analyzer for the K3 is on the small touchscreen (4th vga) up on the shelf center… the microphone is barely visible, as it covers the Acom controller (above the K3)


New house in 1979 and into the closet with the hobby and the Apple II Computer on the right

I started in the basement and worked my way upstairs. Here is WN9MOV in my first house in Deerfield about 1976. In the basement , note the furnace directly behind/under the ham desk. My first attempt with a tilted radio shelf.. FT-101 with G3lll RF Clipper . and an ALLIED AX-190 , KW Tuner and for VHF I was a leader in broadband…notice the GLB synthe on the Regency HR2A… Lafayette VHF tunable radio & Hallicarfters CRx-2

Learn how to Show off your Shack! – read more

Scanner Master Road TripLas Vegas Part 2

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Scanner Master Road Trip
By Jonathan Higgins

Part 2
Race Day at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Sunday, March 11, 2012

What to bring with you?
I would recommend packing all your scanner gear into a cinch bag, this light weight bag can be worn on your back. You can bring non open bottles of water into the track. Don’t forget the camera!

My Cinch bag had the following:

Getting the track!
This was my first time attending a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so it was quite the experience. If you’re staying on the strip I would recommend checking out the shuttles available. If you want to get there early like I do, I would recommend renting a car. If you don’t plan on having a car for the full vacation, I would recommend getting the rental car the night before. I would recommend reserving a rental car well before your trip, cars can be hard to get on Race weekend. For the best selection of rental cars and companies I would recommend renting from the McCarran Airport.

Our Hotel was the Luxor on the southern part of the strip, the track is north of the strip, approximately 30 minutes away without traffic. The Track is easy to get to, Simply get on to I-15 North to Exit 54 “Speedway Blvd” and follow the signs.

Tickets
Our seats were just before turn 4 on the top row in the “Blue seats”.

Neon Garage
We also purchased two “Neon Garage” passes. You can peer into your favorite driver garage stall as they are getting the car ready for the race. You will also have access to pit road before the race. There is live entertainment, and food available inside the Neon Garage area. This area can be access via a tunnel under the track near the start/finish line.

Listening at the track
You can get frequencies for the upcoming race from Racing Frequencies Online (from Scanner Master), you can also purchase a frequency list at the track for $5.00 at Racing Electronics Haulers.

Driver Channels
These channels change week to week. Most driver have about 4 channels but they only use two channels during the race.

Example
Carl Edwards #99
466.2750 – Primary
468.8250 – Alt. Channel

  • The Primary channel is used for driver communications between the spotter and crew chief.
  • Alt. Channel, is used as a back-up if the primary is having interference issues .
  • Some teams use NEXEDGE Digital for non driver communications, this type of communications cannot be monitored by a scanner at this time. For example Carl Edwards team uses the NEXEDGE channel for communications between the spotter and crew chief. The channel acts as a relay if the main channel is tied up.

Track Officials
461.2000 – Race Control 461.2000
464.6000 – Race Control / Back Up
451.2250 – Safety
451.5750 – Qualifying
MRN/PRN Radio Broadcast
454.0000

Track Operations
For track operation frequencies I would recommend checking RadioReference.com. Here is what I found for Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Putting the Uniden BC125AT to the test at the track
Great scanner for the race track! The large display made it simple to see who talking. I had to enter a few more frequencies at the track, it was super simple to field program without a PC. Audio and reception was great! If you’re looking to replace or buy a scanner for the race track, I would consider the Uniden BC125AT Scanner for sure!

Make sure you check out Part 1
Visiting and listening to Las Vegas!

Scanner Master Road Trip Las Vegas Part 1

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Scanner Master Road Trip
By Jonathan Higgins

Part 1
Preparing for the trip
Monitoring on The Las Vegas Strip

Destination: Las Vegas, NV and Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Last weekend my wife and I took a weekend vacation to Las Vegas to see the NASCAR Cup Race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Before we the trip we pack our gear for the race which includes:

We spend our long weekend checking out the sites, Las Vegas Strip, Hover Dam and Grand Canyon West Rim. Our accommodations were at the Luxor Hotel on the Southern Part of the strip. I brought the BC346XT for the race and to monitor the public safety in Las Vegas area.

Programming in the BC346XT

My Favorite Drivers
(Systems 1-10)

Las Vegas Metro Police
-All channels (System 11)

Clark County – South Nevada Area Communications Council (SNACC)
Motorola Type II SmartZone (System 12)
– Las Vegas Fire Talk groups
– North Las Vegas Fire Talk groups
– North Las Vegas Police Talk groups

Nevada Shared Radio System
EDACS Networked Standard Analog (System 13)
– Nevada Highway Patrol Talkgroups

Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
LTR Trunking System (System 14)
– All talkgroups

Excalibur Hotel and Casino
Motorola Trunking System (System 15)
– All talkgroups

Monitoring Notes

The Uniden BC346XT was a great unit for the Las Vegas area. All of the systems in Las Vegas is using analog conventional and analog trucking.

Las Vegas Metro Police
Most of channels on Metro Police System are using the (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department) – OpenSky Trunking system, but they are simulcasting on the old VHF System. The short time monitoring the simulcasted channels, it seem like the OpenSky System is plagued with problems. Multiple times I hear the dispatch “could you please repeat that”. At one point I hear the system get stuck, the officer audio was studding. Very much like the audio I heard from the story out of West Palm Beach FL reported on back in May 2011.

Clark County Trunking System & Nevada Shared Radio System
Pretty descent coverage, lots of towers to choose from we were in range of a few towers from our Hotel. You can hear the NV Highway Patrol on this system.

Monitoring the Hotels
I would say the Security talkgroups were the most interesting to monitor. I wasn’t able to monitor the Trunking system in the Luxor because it’s a Nexedge Standard Trunking system.

Make sure you check out Part 2
Race Day at Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Sunday, March 11, 2012

Show Off Your Shack!

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We would love to see photos of your shack at your home, office or vehicle, or even your antenna set-up. A few times a month the Scanner Master Blog will feature a customer shack, maybe yours! Some of you may be asking what is a “Shack”? It’s your monitoring post where you spend your time listening to your scanners. If you think you have a cool set-up we would love to see it. Check out the shacks so far! Your Shack could be here, Next!

Simply follow the steps below to show off your shack! Step 1 Take photos of your shack, up to 4 jpg photos. —

Step 2
Description of your shack:
  • What your station consist of … scanners, two way radios, and so on.A little about yourself:
  • Your Name
  • Your City and State
  • Ham Call Sign (if you have one)
  • How long you been in the hobby?
    What you like to listen to? —

Step 3
E-mail us your write up and attach your photos and keep eye on the Scanner Master Blog!

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Scanner Master reserves the right to edit text, and photos. We may not be able to feature all “Show Off Your Shack” entries.

National Police Scanner Museum Update March 2012

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New in the National Police Scanner Museum
“The Scanner Master Data Center”!


Computers play a big roll in our hobby from programming to enhancing it! You can see this technology in action, in our National Police Scanner Museum right now.

Now on display:

BuTel Programming Software
Right now you can check out the latest BuTel ARC Software, ARCXT, ARC310, ARC500 and ARC-Patrol.


AirNavRadarBox 3D
AirNav RadarBox 3D is the closest you can be to real world aviation without leaving your chair thanks to next generation Radar decoding.

ScannerStation
In today’s world, just gathering information is not enough. Newspaper, TV and radio stations, traffic reporting services, restoration companies, corporate security, and any business that generates revenue by being the first to know what’s happening locally will benefit from ScannerStation Lead Generation and News Gathering Systems. With the power to easily receive, record, and review useful public safety communications at a time and in a place of your convenience, ScannerStation brings the leads and information you need to be one step ahead of the competition.

RangeCast
Rangecast receives, stores and sends audio over the internet. It blends concepts and sources from podcasting, two-way radio, streaming audio, RSS aggregation and instant messaging. The result is a live library of audio content for both real-time monitoring and time-shifted replay or review.

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National Police Scanner Museum
260 Hopping Brook Road
Holliston, MA 01746

Hours
Monday – Thursday
10AM – 4PM
Friday
10AM – 2PM

New Product – Remote HomeTown Programming

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New Product/Service:
Remote HomeTown Programming

Cost:
$60.00 for the first 1/2 hour
(then $35 for each additional 1/2 Hour)

In an effort to better serve our customers, Scanner Master is now providing a remote programming service to solve your scanner programming and operational issues. This service allows you to have your scanner problems solved quickly and without having to send the scanner to Scanner Master.

How remote programming works:

Step 1
Getting your computer ready for remote programming:
You need the proper BuTel ARC Software installed on your computer
You need to have communication set up between your PC & scanner via USB or serial cable. You must have a Radio Reference Paid Subscription

Step 2
Making Appointment:
To schedule appointment for remote programming call 1-800-SCANNER and speak to a programming representative.

Step 3
During your session:
Please shut down all programs and have a “clean desktop”
Using Internet Explore Log on to join.me (or just click the link)
Once logged on click the share button and await further instructions.
Cost of the service
The charge for this service will be $60 for the first 1/2 hour and $35 for each additional 1/2 hour spent with the customer.

We recommend…
The service will be provided for initial programming of scanners and for troubleshooting of scanner problems. This service is geared toward users that are intermediate to expert PC users. If you are a beginner PC user mailing the scanner in is preferred.

Do you have the right scanner for your area???
If you have a new scanner or if your local public safety agencies have switched their radio systems to a trunking or digital type, or they have “rebanded”, please check policescanners.net first or call us 1-800-SCANNER or e-mail us at and let us know the exact model scanner that you have along with your city, county and state. It’s important that you have confirmed that we can update and program your scanner for the police and fire radio systems in your area.

Scanner 101 – Programming the Uniden Bearcat BC125AT Scanner

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Product: Uniden Bearcat BC125AT Scanner

Scanner 101 Topic: Manually programming the BC125AT Scanner without software.

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Here are the steps to programming a conventional frequency into BC125AT

Step 1
Press Hold Button and Press the channel number you want to program then hit hold again.

Step 2
Press “Func” (Orange Button) then hit “Pgm E” button.

Step 3
“Enter Frequency” will be highlighted press “Pgm E” button.

Step 4
Press in the frequency you would like to program, then hit “Pgm E” button when you done.

Step 5
Select “Edit Tag” by scrolling the knob at the top of the scanner one click clockwise, then press “Pgm E” button.

Step 6
Using the knob at the top of the scanner scroll thru the letters and stop on the one you want then hit the “6 >” button to add the next letter. (repeat this step on until complete) Once your done with your Text Tag then hit the “Pgm E” button

Step 6
Select “Set CTCSS/DCS ” by scrolling the knob at the top of the scanner one click clockwise, then press “Pgm E” button.

Step 7
You can select from the following CTCSS/DCS options

  • Off
  • CTCSS
  • DCS
  • CTCSS/DCS Search

If the frequency has a CTCSS or DCS you can program it here or you can Search for it.

Step 8
The other options in the menu you wouldn’t need to worry about when programming. You can now hit scan to start scanning. To add more frequencies repeat Steps 1 – 7.
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Programming Software
Programming software is available from Uniden and from BuTel software. Uniden Software will be very basic vs. the BuTel Software will more advanced. With the BuTel Software you will have capability to import frequencies from RadioReference.com with a paid Membership.

Product Test – Uniden Bearcat BC125AT

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By Jonathan Higgins – The Scanner Expert

Product Tested: Uniden Bearcat BC125AT
Cost of product: $139.95

Out of the box
I’m very impressed with the Uniden Bearcat BC125AT, everything I could ask for in a basic analog conventional scanner. Alpha Tagging, PL Tone, NOAA Weather Alerts, and much, much more!

Once programmed, I had great reception inside of our Holliston office. The speaker audio quality was clear and crisp. Unit is pretty light weight even with the batteries installed.

This scanner will be ideal for someone that in area using analog conventional communications . Also great for auto racing, railroad buff or aviation hobbyist.

What makes this scanner different from BC72XLT and BC95XT?
Uniden added a lot of features, that are available in the XT models.

  • ALPHA Tagging – you can program a frequency and assign a name to the channel such as:
  • Private Line Tone (PL Tone) along with programming the frequency you can program CTCSS or DCS. If you’re not sure what the PL Tone is you can do a CTCSS/DCS Search. This is very helpful with blocking interference.
  • Bigger Memory – 500 channels, 10 banks, 50 channels per bank.
  • NOAA Weather Alert Mode
  • Narrowband Compatibles
  • Includes Military Air Band
  • Priority Scan with “do-not-disturb”
  • Close Call RF Capture with Do-Not-Disturb

    Design
    BC125AT is very handsome in it black and gray case, with its easy to press black and white buttons. Very compact and can fit in a shirt pocket without a problem. The display is much larger then BC346XT/BCD396XT, and super easy to read. Across the top of the scanner you have; multifunction knob at the top right, head set jack in the middle and BNC antenna connection on the left. Charging/ remote programming port on the right side. The back of the scanner you have the fixed belt clip and AA Alkaline/rechargeable battery compartment.

    Memory System
    Bank structured memory system with 500 channels, 10 banks with 50 channels per bank. The layout is very simple to understand for someone trying to field program the scanner.

    Band Coverage
    25-54 MHz
    108-174 MHz
    225-380 MHz
    400-512 MHz

    Service Searches
    Very simple to turn off and on Press “Func” then “Srch”. The services are broken down into banks and you can turn them on and off by press it number. Let’s say you want to turn off “CB Radio” press the “8” button to turn it off and to turn it back on just press the “8” again. To return to normal scanning press the “Scan” button.

    1. Police
    2. Fire/Emergency
    3. Ham Radio
    4. Marine
    5. Railroad
    6. Civil Air
    7. Military Air
    8. CB Radio
    9. FRS/GMRS/MURS
    0. Racing

    Custom Band Search
    Band Searches, press “Srch” button, you can set up to 10 custom search band limits. While in this mode press “Func” then “Pgm” then Select “Program Limits”. You will have a list of 10 custom search bank.

    Powering the Scanner
    Very much like IPhone/IPod, the BC125AT comes with a multipurpose USB cable. This cable can connect to the PC for programming and firmware updates. This cable powers the scanner via a USB AC or USB DC adapter (Sold Separately). Rechargeable batteries can be charged inside the unit.

    Programming Software
    Programming software will be available from Uniden and from BuTel software shortly. Uniden Software will be very basic vs. the BuTel Software will more advanced. With the BuTel Software you will have capability to import frequencies from RadioReference.com with a paid Membership.

    Weather “WX”
    This compact unit is great for monitoring NOAA Weather radio. You can also receive NOAA Weather Alerts while the scanner is scanning. Or you can run the scanner in Weather Alerts Standby mode. In this mode the BC125AT will act as weather station, audio will kick-in with weather alerts. To see all weather options on the scanner press “Func” then the “3 WX” button.


    In the Box

  • BC125AT
  • Rubber Duck Antenna
  • Multipurpose USB Cable

    Owners Manual
    (available online PDF)


    Recommend Optional Accessories
    Scanner Master is currently developing multiple carrying cases and we will keep you posted on that. We carry both optional AC USB and DC USB adapters, along with backup rechargeable batteries. We also have full line of portable antennas with BNC connections. If you plan on using the BC125AT in the home make sure you check out “Spectrum Force Desk Mount for One Portable Scanner“.