Train Scanner

[wrawroacx]

Sooner or later I will be getting a train scanner so I know the trains and symbol of them. I have plans of maybe getting a PRO-135 200 Channel Hand-Held Scanner from Radio Shack. If anybody has this scanner or any other scanner please tell how good or great it is and how many miles the radius of the scanner can reach out to? Can this scanner pickup frequencies out of Cleveland Ohio or Berea Ohio? Here are those scanner frequencies. Will this scanner pickup these frequencies or will some other scanner pick it up. I like to stay with a scanner from Radio Shack but if there's something kind of cheap out there and is very good than tell me. 

Scanner Frequencies:These are the radio frequencies for your scanner while at Berea: ·                      CSX "IF" Dispatcher - Berea-Crestline - 160.485 ·                      CSX "IF" Dispatcher - Berea-Crestline - 160.860 ·                      CSX Columbia Detector - 160.860 (A little hard to hear) ·                      CSX "IG" Dispatcher - Berea-Collinwood - 160.800 ·                      CSX "IG" Dispatcher - Collinwood - 160.995 ·                      NS Cleveland Terminal Dispatcher - 161.070 ·                      NS Rockport Yardmasters - 161.070 and 160.350 (160.350 sometimes is
overridden by a  harmonic of the Berea Police frequency) ·                      NS Toledo East Dispatcher - 160.980 ·                      NS Olmsted Falls Detector - 160.980 (Quite hard to hear)  

 

[tree68]

It's all about the antenna. 

If you're using it in a fixed mode (ie, at home) a tuned antenna as high in the air as possible will greatly help your range.  Caveat - you're sticking a lightning rod up in the air and you live in lightning country.  Make sure you install it correctly.

If you're interested in other radio traffic (ie, fire, police, etc), a multi-band scanner antenna may be better for you. 

If you're mobile, a tuned antenna permanently installed on the roof of your car will provide the best results.  Next is a mag mount, also properly tuned.

I believe there are better antennas than the "rubber duck" that probably came with your scanner for hand-held use.  Others will undoubtedly chime in.

I don't recall if you said where you actually are.  Depending on local conditions, you should be able to pick up base stations in a 10-15 mile radius, and perhaps even locomotives within 5 miles or so.  Be aware that RR base stations often use directional antennas, focused on where they need coverage.  This extends the range of a base station along the line, but drastically cuts the range perpendicular to where the antenna is aimed.

Of course, the variables are endless, so your results may vary.   Sometimes for the better, sometimes not.