CSX Detectors in Upstate NY Without CR Voice

CSX-Dan5377 wrote:

FarmallBob wrote: Dan – I'm certain range is a factor. However my usual listening spot (family room at home) is less than a mile as the crow flies from the Coldwater detector. So the distance to Coldwater is PROBABLY not an issue when I'm home. (Incidentally from home my cheapie handheld occasionally picks up the Batavia detector - about 22 miles distant...)

OTOH while sitting at CP382 with my handheld Coldwater’s signal is often not received as clearly as is Churchville - sometimes it is not received at all.
...FB

Oh Ok then didn't know you were so close to Coldwater Bob, my bad sorry. About the Batavia thing that happens often to me to from Attridge and Savage I can get that detector crystal clear, and once and in a blue moon all the way to CP 423 and still Coldwater doesn't come in nearly as clear as that!

Dan

Keep in mind that there's lots of buildings and whatnot between you and Coldwater, in addition to it being a weaker detector, whereas stuff to the West is primarily wide-open farmland. Heck, I can generally hear CP-359 from CP-382 better than I can CP-362 or CP-367, because it's both higher and there's less obstructions in the way.

The funny thing is, Coldwater tends to come in better in further locations...IE I'll be able to hear it from Macedon quite well, or even Corfu, yet I'll have trouble picking it up from Churchville or Bergen...go figure.

Made my first trip over the B&A in two months tonight and noticed that alot of the Con-Rail voiced detectors had the "Con-Rail" deleted. Canaan,NY & Ashland,Ma still say "Con-Rail".

The CSX intro is so short, it sounds like "sex" or "X". I know that the loss of Conrail on the detectors was saddening for some. But it was going to happen since June, '99. In fact the improper radio transmission naming "Conrail" was listed in the FRA's inspection failures last year.

Conrail4evr wrote: The funny thing is, Coldwater tends to come in better in further locations...IE I'll be able to hear it from Macedon quite well, or even Corfu, yet I'll have trouble picking it up from Churchville or Bergen...go figure.

Nick - I've noticed that sometimes myself.

I've been enjoying a beer at MacGregor's with the scanner in my pocket and had the Coldwater detector come in weak/scratchy. And I was sitting not 100' feet from transmitter.

Go figure indeed! ...FB

I've had the same thing happen over the years while out along the former Conrail (now NS) west of Toledo. What I "think" was done was that Conrail used directional antennas for the transmitter. Think of a radio signal from a non-directional antenna having a circular coverage area with the center of the circle being the antenna itself. Conversely a directional signal coverage area would look more like an oval or a football (same transmitted signal strength - but focused instead of going out equally in all directions) with the antenna being the center point. What Conrail did however was to place the "long" side of the directional signal perpendicular to the track instead of paralell to it. This would be done so the signal strength for the detectors (and the trains having to hear & respond to them) would "fall off" rather quickly, and would lessen the occurances of the transmissions from the detectors stepping on each other. It's the best way I can explain how I could hear the Wauseon Ohio detector (MP320) very clearly while going through Napoleon Ohio (10 miles due south and at a lower elevation) using a railcom roof mount antenna - yet could barely get the signal if I was near Delta yard (7 miles due east and at a lower elevation). Same thing would happen for the Delta Dragger (MP311) & the HBD/DED at Holland (MP300). I have no physical proof to say directional antennas installed perpendicular to the track are used, but would explain things.

FarmallBob wrote:

Conrail4evr wrote: The funny thing is, Coldwater tends to come in better in further locations...IE I'll be able to hear it from Macedon quite well, or even Corfu, yet I'll have trouble picking it up from Churchville or Bergen...go figure.

Nick - I've noticed that sometimes myself.

I've been enjoying a beer at MacGregor's with the scanner in my pocket and had the Coldwater detector come in weak/scratchy. And I was sitting not 100' feet from transmitter.

Go figure indeed! ...FB

[/u]

The Grafton MA, Detector Says The Town Name, The State, The Defects, Track Number, And Train Speed.

Here Is a Video I Took From Grafton, And You Can Hear The Detector.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yWZ5TLgDFJA