Railfan scanning

I just obtained a Bearcat handheld scanner. Since scanners are something new for me, I wonder if some of you might be able to supply me with any hints or tips which may help me enjoy it more.I am in Thunder Bay, ON and close to both CN and CP.Thanks.
Arrow201

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

RE: Railfan scanning, railfan4ever, Jun-13-04, 10:52 AM, (1) RE: Railfan scanning, Curt, Jun-13-04, 11:17 AM, (2) RE: Railfan scanning, SVTS, Jun-13-04, 11:23 AM, (4) RE: Railfan scanning, heffed, Jun-13-04, 11:22 AM, (3) RE: Railfan scanning, SVTS, Jun-13-04, 11:24 AM, (5) RE: Railfan scanning, heffed, Jun-13-04, 09:25 PM, (12) RE: Railfan scanning, arrow201, Jun-13-04, 08:48 PM, (10) RE: Railfan scanning, highball5, Jun-13-04, 02:09 PM, (6) RE: Railfan scanning, BLW_1946, Jun-13-04, 02:59 PM, (7) RE: Railfan scanning, BlakeTyner, Jun-13-04, 06:36 PM, (8) RE: Railfan scanning, Andy J, Jun-13-04, 06:49 PM, (9) RE: Railfan scanning, arrow201, Jun-13-04, 08:50 PM, (11) RE: Railfan scanning, heffed, Jun-13-04, 09:39 PM, (13)

Conferences | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

Get one of those books with all the raiload frequencies. It would probably be a major help to you. How much did your scanner cost and where did you get it?

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

You can pick up a Timetable (as referred to above) for your area. Go to www.altamontpress.com to order a great one online for about $19. They will give you frequencies, maps, details of the different sub's in your area. Either that, or do some research online. However, I've found the Altamont Press timetable to be a valuable railfanning tool. Either way, once you've got the frequencies, follow the instructions for programming the frequencies into your scanner. Another suggestion, is to consider getting a good antenna, assuming your scanner came with the short, rubber kind. I got a pretty decent one from www.rfparts.com/diamond for around $35. A good antenna, depending on where you are, can make all the difference. I railfan a lot in the mountaneous Tehachapi Pass area, and it really helps.

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

OR...you can hang out with Curt, drink beers at the loop and grill up some food and he'll give you one! Couldn't resist there Curt......Anyway, I have to agree with Curt, getting a timetable from Altamount is the way to go. The one Curt gave me for the California Region is a valuble tool for railfanning. Probally the best $19 you'll spend on the hobby, other than the scanner.Chris Bogley
Syracuse New York
www.msnusers.com/AshleyPhotography
www.msnusers.com/cnytrainsWholesale Route Sales / Production, Krispy Kreme, Syracuse NYAmtrak "American Eagle" Activity Pack, Summer 2004

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

No need to purchase a book. The list of AAR frequencies are all over the internet.-Jeff

Union Pacific fan.

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Much, much more than just frequencies in the book Heff. Maps, track profiles, route info, and so on.Chris Bogley
Syracuse New York
www.msnusers.com/AshleyPhotography
www.msnusers.com/cnytrainsWholesale Route Sales / Production, Krispy Kreme, Syracuse NYAmtrak "American Eagle" Activity Pack, Summer 2004

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

>Much, much more than just frequencies in the book Heff.
>Maps, track profiles, route info, and so on. Oh, gotcha. -Jeff

Union Pacific fan.

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Thanks railfan4ever. I do have a book ("Canadian Trackside Guide"} showing all the frequencies for Canadian railroads and hope to get out tomorrow and try out my new scanner. A thunder storm is just getting strted here so hope it is gone by morning. I bought the scanner for about $150 CDN at a local radio communications store.Arrow201

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

You might consider getting a replacement antenna that's tuned to the railroad range of frequencies. I replaced the stock 'rubber ducky' antenna on my scanner with one specifically for the 150-170 mhz band. With the original I was able to hear the dispatchers ok, but could only hear train crews if they were within a mile or so.
With the replacement antenna I'm able to hear both sides of the conversations with trains as far away as 20 miles.

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

if you're going mobile, there are some 5/8 wave antennas (either magnetic mount or permanent mount) made for the amateur 2 meter band that can give amazing performance on the railroad band, particularly if they're retuned to work at the slightly higher RR frequencies. a few higher end Uniden scanners have a RR search capability which can come in handy when you're in an unfamiliar area. Others have the capability to set upper and lower search limits. If you set the lower to 159.810 and the upper to 161.565, you'll get all 97 channels...resist the temptation to load up all your memories with every active frequency, unless you're able to subdivide them into banks which can be shut off and turned on as needed. the more channels you scan, the more likely you are to be on the wrong one when something of interest occurs...If the scanner has a priority function, you can use that to ascertain that you won't miss a call on your priority channel, though you will experience some annoying hiccupping on other channels when the receiver does a split second check of the main channel...Tim Baldwin
Buffalo NYMilepost 5 on the Buffalo Belt Line
CSX - NS - CP - CN

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

LAST EDITED ON Jun-13-04 AT 06:36 PM (EDT)

The best advice I ever got about scanning was to program the freqs into the same memory slots as their "real life" counterparts. In other words, program AAR Channel 20 into Channel 20 of your scanner. That way, if you're looking at a timetable that gives a subdivision's freqs, you won't have to figure out which one of your stored channels corresponds with it.I personally have all 97 of 'em in my scanner (in the aforementioned manner) with the priority channel set to my "favorite" local road. Most new scanners (mine's a low end Radio Shack model) support banking, so it's easy to disable anything you don't want. However, sometimes if you let all channels scan you get some interesting stuff. NO railroad around here lists channel 60 on their timetable, but I get quite a bit of RR traffic on it. Same with a few others.And yes, the stock antennas are usually okay...but one tuned specifically to the RR freq range helps a LOT. Defect detectors for miles!Blake Harris
Manager/Engineer, Jefferson and Cypress Bayou Railway
http://www.jeffersonrailway.com

Vice Dean, Limbaugh Institute for Advanced Conservative Studies

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Don’t forget to add the “Local authorities” to the list, it can be helpful to KNOW where the cops and the “bulls” are! In this day and age, with the police getting more and more surly to railfans, you can be long gone before he gets there,and avoid contact with "the authorities" alltogether.Also keep in mind, it may be Illegal to have a scanner in your car in some states or provinces--------------------------------
R.I.P Norfolk and Western,at least I got to know ya
you MAY find me hanging out on the Pocahontas and Radford Div of NSAndy J

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Thanks to all for your advice. I have added an antenna to my list of things to look for in the near future. Father's Day maybe!Thanks again
Arrow201

Alert | IP

Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

>resist the temptation to load up all your memories with
>every active frequency, unless you're able to subdivide them
>into banks which can be shut off and turned on as needed.
>the more channels you scan, the more likely you are to be on
>the wrong one when something of interest occurs... HeHe... I have six scanners running at all times for this reason. Plus 4 or 5 more I can put into service if needed. Something else to remember, if you are hearing one sided conversations of either dispatch or loco, remember that in many areas, rx/tx are on different channels. So plan banks accordingly. On the subject of antennas, a surprisingly useful alternative to a specific wavelength antenna is one of the $9 telescoping antennas from Radio Shack. (You've got questions, We've go batteries. ) The nice thing about this antenna, is that by partially extending it, you can maximize it's performance for a given wavelength. I would steer clear of the "rubber duckies", as they are fairly low performance for just about everything.-Jeff

Union Pacific fan.

Alert | IP

[ Home | MSTS Forum | MSTS FAQ | File Library ] Copyright © 2004 by Nels Anderson. All Rights Reserved.