by CPSK
Hi;
I have been listening to railroad radio on a variety of scanners and amateur equipment for a long time, and one thing still stands out: Reception of transmissions from the locomotives is not very reliable. Even when the signal is strong, I often have trouble understanding what was being said due to low or distorted audio. There is one CSX loco that has such a bad radio that even the dispatchers can't read it much of the time; yet no repairs/replacement was made for months, and I think I still hear that bad radio once in a while.
The situation is worse on some of my radios than on others. For example, after modding my Yaesu VX-150 2m HT, I get much stronger and clearer audio. The mod involved replacing a couple resistors and capacitors in the audio circuit.
On my (unmodified) Yaesu FT-60R, the audio isn't as clear. IMO, the audio response rolls off at too low a frequency, producing a muddy audio. It's fine for signals with strong audio, such as Amateur stations and repeaters, but on the RR band I find it a bit difficult to understand some transmissions; especially when the signal itself is weak.
The dispatchers even complain about not being able to hear some of the locomotives, but I think their problem is mostly weak signal reception. I believe they are all wearing headphones, which I have also found is a dramatic improvement. But I don't always want to listen using headphones.
I suppose that some scanners and amateur equipment are better than others for RR scanning. I would like to mod my FT-60 the same way I did the VX-150, but so far I haven't found a good enough schematic that will allow me to perform that mod. Besides that, I nearly ruined the VX-150 doing the mod, as I didn't really have the right soldering equipment. If I were going to mod the FT-60, I would purchase the correct soldering/desoldering equipment first.
Am I the only one with this problem, or are there others?
CP
I have been listening to railroad radio on a variety of scanners and amateur equipment for a long time, and one thing still stands out: Reception of transmissions from the locomotives is not very reliable. Even when the signal is strong, I often have trouble understanding what was being said due to low or distorted audio. There is one CSX loco that has such a bad radio that even the dispatchers can't read it much of the time; yet no repairs/replacement was made for months, and I think I still hear that bad radio once in a while.
The situation is worse on some of my radios than on others. For example, after modding my Yaesu VX-150 2m HT, I get much stronger and clearer audio. The mod involved replacing a couple resistors and capacitors in the audio circuit.
On my (unmodified) Yaesu FT-60R, the audio isn't as clear. IMO, the audio response rolls off at too low a frequency, producing a muddy audio. It's fine for signals with strong audio, such as Amateur stations and repeaters, but on the RR band I find it a bit difficult to understand some transmissions; especially when the signal itself is weak.
The dispatchers even complain about not being able to hear some of the locomotives, but I think their problem is mostly weak signal reception. I believe they are all wearing headphones, which I have also found is a dramatic improvement. But I don't always want to listen using headphones.
I suppose that some scanners and amateur equipment are better than others for RR scanning. I would like to mod my FT-60 the same way I did the VX-150, but so far I haven't found a good enough schematic that will allow me to perform that mod. Besides that, I nearly ruined the VX-150 doing the mod, as I didn't really have the right soldering equipment. If I were going to mod the FT-60, I would purchase the correct soldering/desoldering equipment first.
Am I the only one with this problem, or are there others?
CP