InterceptRadio.com Forums

Oh my gosh where to start. I thought this would be simple BOY was I WRONG! I have been reading Info for a couple of weeks now thinking I would start to understand but No such luck. I was hoping I could get some help from a good forum and after browsing alot of different ones you guys seem to be knowledgable and willing to help. Plus Im in the northwest and alot of you seem to be as well. So A few questions. I live in Lacey area. What are the odds of picking up valley comm?

Unless you are on a very high hill in Lacy I would say no. Put your scanner in the car on the control channel for V. Comm and drive around and see if you can hear it at all. Got to hear that for the scanner to be able to get the trunked system.

-m

If you're going to listen from your house, then a directional antenna and a 20-ft mast could *possibly* get the control channel of Valleycom.

i.e. how much $$ are you willing to spend? :)

Well, currently I do not have a scanner. I am trying to do research before I go out and buy one. As for how much to spend, I would drop a considerable amount to be able to pick up that far. My heart is set on Valley comm. I tried the good ol' fashion going to radio shack for help.. NO GOOD! I think I knew more then the person helping me (trust me thats not saying much) Okay so to *possibly* be able to achieve this what would a set up like that run? And where do you guys recommend shopping for your equitment?

BTW thanks for the help.

I looked at the topographical profile between Lacey and some of the KC/VC sites. The good news is that the path to Squak mtn and Rattlesnake mtn is generally unobstructed. The bad news is that its about a 50 mile path. So the question is how clear is your view to the northeast ? Provided you have a clear view you will probably need the things mentioned above (be on top of a hill, use an outdoor antenna, and the antenna should be the directional type).

And if you get something like a PSR-300/Pro-163 from Radio Shack I can put together a list of frequencies, etc. that I have programmed (or just send you my Win97 file). It's biased towards King county but I do have Pierce and Thurston counties in there, and with a little adjustment you could get that plus the stuff in King you're interested in.

HEH!

It's hit or miss in Olympia. I receive 2-3 CC at home in Tumwater using a modified panel antenna for cellular which is one of the better antennas I've found, cheap too. Sadly radio shack stopped carrying it a few years back. I would start out with the RS 800 bnc antenna and go from there. Contact me offline and I can drive out to your area to see what works.

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"I was installing un-programmed radios"

Isn't there a simulcast site over on the peninsula? I seem to remember driving a city vehicle down through Olympia and it picked up the KC/VC system all the way down to Lacey before it started to fade. ...but that was also a Spectra, not a scanner.

_________________
I taste copper.
Comments, views, opinions - and trails of destruction - are my own.

If I recall, 851.8125 is the control channel I receive the strongest. I only hear what's affiliated with that site which seems to include SPD SFD KCSO LINK, the suburban cities, a couple of others come in ok.

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"I was installing un-programmed radios"

If that's true then it's not a simulcast site but an inteli-repeater. Which are frustrating to monitor.

_________________
I taste copper.
Comments, views, opinions - and trails of destruction - are my own.

Unfortunately, it's mostly online these days.

This place: http://www.scannermaster.com/ will give you a good idea of prices. Look for the antennas under "pro base" which are the directional antennas. If you have a clear path, then it shouldn't be too hard to get Valleycom. If your path is obstructed, then you may have problems.

Also check out - http://www.hamradio.com is HRO (Ham Radio Outlet) - they're located all over the country but have a shop in Portland. Ordering from there may be slightly more expensive but free shipping (via UPS is essentially overnight shipping.)

You basically have 2 brands nowadays - Uniden and GRE. Something like the PSR-400 or BCT-15x would make a nice base radio. These are programmed via computer. Most folks on this site can easily get you copies of their setups - so you can get up and running right away.

Port Orchard. Probably not a good path to Lacey compared to Squak/Rattlesnake.

We have an article that shows maps and photos of the various sites of the KC trunked system:

http://www.interceptradio.com/wiki/inde ... ked_System

Okay so went and got my mothers scanner (she got it about 1.5 year ago) that she no longer uses. Now I am trying to program it, I would like to start by just getting some of the local fire/police. Do any of you have a list of Thurston/Pierce county freq. that you may share with me?