Sailor

My Feedback: (1)

Hi All,

My club (approx. 75 members) is looking for a frequency scanner that we can use during contests, etc. Should be something easy to use, yet provide as much information as possible on the RF spectrum that we use in relation to RC Aircraft.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

MO_Radio_Tech

A scanner is a good idea but, ...
I reccomend looking into finding a used Spectrum Analyzer. They are much better than most scanners I have seen. They show a display of what is going on in the RF world close to you. Scanners let you know of other signals on your band (as it scans through), but do not do that good of a job showing bad ground clutter.

Spectrum Analyzrs do a great job showing ground clutter and mysterious interfernce in detail.

I have used some SA's made by IFR, but there are others. You dont need a new fancy one, 10-15 years old would do fine. I have seen them for sale used for under $700 on ebay.

A Spectrum Analyzer is cumbersome, and needs 120 or adaption. May be too much trouble and too much cost. Just thought to give some info.

This may be more than you want, and that is OK. Some scanners will let you connect up a scope for a "poor man's" SA.

This is a great place to find out more about this. You are wise to get advice. I hope some of the sharp folks will contibute tothis thread.

N55340

My Feedback: (2)

I have an ICOM IC-R2 scanner. Works great and is small. I leave it in my flightbox. Unless you buy the software and cable, it would be a nightmare to setup. With the software it is a breeze. Some good info about this unit at http://www.charlesriverrc.org/articl...r_icomicr2.htm

Forgues Research

My Feedback: (7)

You might want to look at this one:
Scanner

Ladyflyer

My Feedback: (2)

Take a good look at the Yaesu VX-7R . It ia a very compact wide band scanner that covers most any thing from .540 MHz(AM broadcast) to 999 MHz (except cell phones) . It is a tri band ham transmitter as well but the transmit fuction can be disabled.
The radio is next to a miracle in compact design. It has a very effective spectrum analyzer function I love to use.
I will come back later and post a link to a site with the VX-7.
I will also post some pics of the spectrum display on my VX-7 at the flying site .

Previously I used a Radio Shack Pro 2006 with a panoramic sweep adapter coupled to the 10.7 MHz IF . this is an easy hook up if you are familiar with radio concepts. The Pro 2006 is also a great stand alone scanner and will run on 12 VDC .
I have a Pro 2006 with an Optoscan 456 linked to an old computer . It is running at home and records any transmissions on the monitored frequencies. Date , time and strength are recorded.

You can do a search on Yaesu . The Pro 2006 is no longer in production . It is somewhat a classic now and they turn up on Ebay all the time . Just search "Pro 2006"

sfaust

My Feedback: (11)

I;ve used this scanner that Roger recommends, and really like it. I typically let the CD's at any contest I attend use it if they don't have something similar of their own. Last season, I had a couple CD's from the impound tell me that with the scanner they caught a few issues with people turning on without the pin, and some pilots that thought they were on another channel. Probably didn't save any planes, but it could have easily.

The only thing I don't like about it is that I much switch from group to group. It would be so much more convenient if it displayed all the channels at the same time, and in my opinion, I would have gladly paid quite a bit more for it. But, it works well, and I always have it with me.

Forgues Research

My Feedback: (7)

I agree with you Steve with having it scan all the frequencies at the same time. I have talked to my manufacturer in France about this, and they said that to do this, the unit would be physically bigger, so no more shirt pocket, and be more expensive. I personnally would pay more, but the mojority of the customers would not, and this is why it was left the way it is.

Because of its low price, it is being sold as a personal item to check one's own frequency. This way it doesn't interfere with the switch mode.

Ladyflyer

My Feedback: (2)

The Yaesu will scan up to 60 channels wide and you program the channel width . It will also allow checking other parts of the spectrum outside RC freqs for other possible sources of images on RC freqs. A nice added feature is weather band monitoring and the unit has dual receive capability allowing monitoring of two frequencies at the same time. The S meter function allows for field strength comparisons of questionable transmitters and you can listen to the received audio. It is reasonably priced for all the features it affords.
A very versatile receiver/scanner.

sfaust

My Feedback: (11)

They should offer two units. One for personal use, and the other for clubs, etc. I would bet many clubs would purchase one at twice the price. However, I understand there could be many issues with stocking and building multiple units for a company of any size. If the numbers don't work, its not worth the effort no matter what the market size is.

Forgues Research

My Feedback: (7)

The best would be a Spectrum Analizer, that fits in your shirt pocket, for $100.00.

sfaust

My Feedback: (11)

Even better

rajul

My Feedback: (58)

Is there any Tx in the market that incorporates a simple freq scanner ? That would be great, and hopefully doesn't add too much weight.

EgonT

Both the MPX 4000 and the new Royal Evo can be equipped with a scanner module.

The 4000 is available now and the scanner module for the Royal Evo should be available in march.

Forgues Research

My Feedback: (7)

Yes that would be ideal, but they are not availlable in the 72mgz in North America.

dant-RCU

My Feedback: (3)

Our club purchased a Yaesu VX-7R last Spring. I'm with Ladyflyer - this is one very nice and very easy to setup and program unit. I think we paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $300.00 (US). Ours came with NiMH batteries. We use at our field and also take it when we travel to other contests.

Dan

Ladyflyer

My Feedback: (2)

I sure like it ,especially the SPECTRUM ANALYZER mode !
It take the place of three pieces of equipment and does all I need. The out of band coverage is very helpful . You can even listen to the official weather reports too ! All in a package the size of a cigarette pack .

Sailor

My Feedback: (1)

Hey Ladyflyer,

In a previous post you stated that you would take a couple of pics in both standard and "SpecAn" mode. Can you still do this? I would appreciate it almost as much as high-resolution pics of yourself!

Being a Sailor and all, I can't resist a beautiful woman!

To everyone: Thanks for all of the input. I will present these choices and their pros and cons (meaning pricing) to our club at the next meeting.

Thanks,

Dave

Ladyflyer

My Feedback: (2)

Just posted a couple views. They should be ready to view .

You can locate the Yaesu at :
http://www.yaesu.com/amateur/vx-7r.html






the pics:
http://community.webshots.com/album/57852559iUeRDB

KatManDEW

My Feedback: (6)

Ladyflyer;

The link to the spectrum analyzer page doesn't work.

Can the VX-7R be programmed with a PC interface like some others I've seen?

KatManDEW

My Feedback: (6)

Can the VX-7R scan all 50 RC frequencies and display alpha-numeric tags for each frequency?

Ladyflyer

My Feedback: (2)

YES

KatManDEW

My Feedback: (6)

Thanks LadyFlyer. How does is work at the flying field? Do you set it up to scan all the RC channels, and it then displays the alphanumeric "channel" tag for each channel which has a signal?

My club wants to puschase one and I've been given the assignment of selecting one and purchasing it.

hatman

I have a tracker II radio that has a built in scanner that works on
our freq. It displays the freq and the numerical channel The radio
comes with a trns.rec.batt packs and 1 servo at a cost of 285 shipped It also checks 3m interference as well as pagers.
Polks hobby's invented this radio Check them out


Hatman

sfaust

My Feedback: (11)

For personal use and monitoring a single channel or two, I like the small ICOM or Yaseu receivers with scanning and alpha tags. But for club or event use, they are frustrating to use since the user will be forced to press the scan button thousands of times a day if they want to monitor the bands since the radio will stop on any active frequency, and require the user to press scan again to check for the next channel in use.

For event use, I have the Model Scan SL72. It runs a constant display of the channels, with no need to keep pressing a scan button. It works great in the frequency/radio impound. Roger posted a link to in an earlier reply.

My recommendation is that if you want to monitor a channel or two, the ICOM or Yaseu are perfect, plus you can use it for monitoring other bands as well. If you want to monitor the entire RC band, the Model Scan is the way to go.

(BTW. I don't make a nickel on the sale of either one :-)

strato911

Roger and Rajul,

Back in January you mentioned that you would be interested in a radio which has a scanner integrated into it, but that the MPX was not available on 72Mhz.

Although not quite as powerfull as the MPX, the Tracker II from Polk's Hobbies has finally made it into my waiting hands. It not only has an integrated scanner, it is also a fully synthesized system (Tx and Rx). When the Tx is turned on, it scans the last used channel for interference before it enables the RF circuit. If it detects interference, it does not allow you to use that channel. Changing the channel is an entirely electronic process (no dials to wear out), and the Rx doesn't even need to be removed from the aircraft. It can also be set to scan the ENTIRE band to see which channels have interference, or who forgot to turn off their radio.

Although the programming is slightly cryptic, I had no problem programming it without the manual, and this is my first computer radio.

This radio is currently being discussed at length by it's new owners in this thread: http://www.rcuniverse.com/showthread...hreadid=671178]