Hello all,
I’m just getting into the whole radio thing, upgrading to a Kenwood TK-760G from a Radioshack Pro-2054, as well as a Motorola GP68 for when I’m away from my car. Right now, I have a Railcom antenna (I already know about the whole “waste of money” philosophy about it, so no need to bash me for that), although I’m considering switching to a 1/4 wave antenna since they seem to get better reception while on the move (I want to say due to the fact that the whip of the Railcom antenna moves around so much while my vehicle is in motion). Any thoughts for this, or what a good way would be to go for a mobile antenna? One thing though – it has to be magnet mount (I’ll leave it at this – I’m just a teenager, and my father would most likely do to me as I do to my car if I consider the more “professional” approach…).
Also, as long as I’m at it…I want to do a base station for railroad frequencies, specifically CSX’s mainline channel 160.800. I live about 12-15 miles from the tracks at their closest point (milepost 386 we’ll say), and generally can hear the dispatcher and nearby trains (from mileposts 373 to 402 or so), along with defect detectors at mileposts 377, 386, and 407, though granted, most of this is during cloudy conditions (I can still hear the dispatcher just fine during clearer days). Repeaters for the line are located about 20-25 miles away from my house (one in Rochester around milepost 370, another in Batavia around milepost 404).
Anyhow, I’m just looking to listen in with something that could cover a decent chunk of this, but still within reason in terms of money. I don’t need to hear Buffalo or Syracuse or anything, but the Batavia to Rochester stretch (406 to 367, roughly) would be nice. From the research I’ve done on my own, it seems like a home-built J-pole antenna could potentially work pretty well, though those Traintennas also look pretty nice. In terms of a radio, I’m thinking about a Kenwood TK-780, although I’ve heard that Icoms have better reception (but apparently lesser audio quality, not that audio quality matters much to me – it’s radio chatter, not an MP3 player after all!). And, just to throw in a slight curve ball…once again, my father comes into play – nothing is to be attatched to the outside of the house (roof, walls, etc). An internal install doesn’t seem like it would be very effective, though I could potentially attatch it to an old wooden fence along the side of our yard, or worse yet, from within a tree…I’ve heard of some methods merely using a wire in one’s attic to get good reception, which sounds very feasible for my situation. Any info on this?
Anyways, sorry about the lengthy post, just trying to gather some insight so I can make a better decision instead of one I will later regret! Thanks in advance for any help!
I’m just getting into the whole radio thing, upgrading to a Kenwood TK-760G from a Radioshack Pro-2054, as well as a Motorola GP68 for when I’m away from my car. Right now, I have a Railcom antenna (I already know about the whole “waste of money” philosophy about it, so no need to bash me for that), although I’m considering switching to a 1/4 wave antenna since they seem to get better reception while on the move (I want to say due to the fact that the whip of the Railcom antenna moves around so much while my vehicle is in motion). Any thoughts for this, or what a good way would be to go for a mobile antenna? One thing though – it has to be magnet mount (I’ll leave it at this – I’m just a teenager, and my father would most likely do to me as I do to my car if I consider the more “professional” approach…).
Also, as long as I’m at it…I want to do a base station for railroad frequencies, specifically CSX’s mainline channel 160.800. I live about 12-15 miles from the tracks at their closest point (milepost 386 we’ll say), and generally can hear the dispatcher and nearby trains (from mileposts 373 to 402 or so), along with defect detectors at mileposts 377, 386, and 407, though granted, most of this is during cloudy conditions (I can still hear the dispatcher just fine during clearer days). Repeaters for the line are located about 20-25 miles away from my house (one in Rochester around milepost 370, another in Batavia around milepost 404).
Anyhow, I’m just looking to listen in with something that could cover a decent chunk of this, but still within reason in terms of money. I don’t need to hear Buffalo or Syracuse or anything, but the Batavia to Rochester stretch (406 to 367, roughly) would be nice. From the research I’ve done on my own, it seems like a home-built J-pole antenna could potentially work pretty well, though those Traintennas also look pretty nice. In terms of a radio, I’m thinking about a Kenwood TK-780, although I’ve heard that Icoms have better reception (but apparently lesser audio quality, not that audio quality matters much to me – it’s radio chatter, not an MP3 player after all!). And, just to throw in a slight curve ball…once again, my father comes into play – nothing is to be attatched to the outside of the house (roof, walls, etc). An internal install doesn’t seem like it would be very effective, though I could potentially attatch it to an old wooden fence along the side of our yard, or worse yet, from within a tree…I’ve heard of some methods merely using a wire in one’s attic to get good reception, which sounds very feasible for my situation. Any info on this?
Anyways, sorry about the lengthy post, just trying to gather some insight so I can make a better decision instead of one I will later regret! Thanks in advance for any help!
