Radio question from a radio newbie

[DBFanatic]

All,

In approximately one week a lifelong dream of mine will come true- I will be closing on a house that's located about a block from an active railway line. The house is fairly close to John Riel Memorial Park which sits near the "big tire" in Allen Park, Michigan. Map coordinates: 42.269132, -83.205074. The N&S line coming from Romulus crosses an old DT&I line at one corner of that park. As a railfan I'm in seventh heaven.

The only reason my wife agreed to the location was the fact that there are no grade crossings nearby, so there are no locomotive horns blaring at all hours. However this also means that I don't have a convenient way of knowing that a train is coming, giving me time to throw on a pair of shoes and walk the block or so to watch the train go by.

On several trips to Fostoria for railfanning I have been amazed by fellow railfans who, by listening to the radio chatter used by the local yards and towers, know when a train is approaching and from where. I'm hoping some benevolent railfans on this forum are willing to help me out by giving me a primer on this level of railfanning and answering the following:

1) Whether that is even possible in the area I'm moving to

2) What kind of equipment I would need to receive the radio traffic

3) What frequencies (if known) I should be tuning in

4) What announcements or audio (like sensors) would provide any advanced warning about an approaching train

The reason I don't know these basic elements of railfanning is because my primary railfanning destinations are all in Europe. So as a thank-you to everyone reading (and hopefully advising on) this post here is a short music video I made while railfanning in Wassen, Switzerland a few years ago: https://youtu.be/WbaCkqwNny4.

Thanks, and have a great weekend!

Carsten Ramcke
Ypsilanti (soon Allen Park), Michigan

[cbehr91]

All you need is a radio scanner. If there is a Radio Shack in your area they should have them. If not there's always Amazon. They should have the rail channels preprogrammed.

[coasterrider]

better yet get a scanner and listen to detroit metro airport. probably alot more interesting

[C&O6084]

"Radio Shack near you?"

Only if you can time travel. RS has been bankrupt and gone for years.

But for your needs, any "VHF Hi" scanner on eBay will work, for your purposes. later on you can look at some of the more esoteric equipment and projects, like custom antennas.

As for frequencies, there are plenty of lists to Google, or you can simply ask the guys who already have the scanners. It's not "secret information."

[Saturnalia]

I always recommended a Uniden Bearcat 125AT for a basic, value scanner. As for the railroad radio frequencies, just search your state and "railroad radio frequencies" and a list will come up.

[Railfanjunction]

Or, if you want dual-watch capacity, letting you listen to multiple frequencies at the same time, the Icom IC-R20 is a godsend. While I don't have one out here, as I left it back in California with my father, I have a Uniden BC100XLT (in my opinion a better constructed and superior but cheaper model as compared to the 125AT) which works really well when paired with a TrainTenna 5/8 Wave Mobile Antenna from DPD Productions. I don't have suggestions for a whip antenna, but I don't tend to take the scanner out of my car so I don't one.

http://www.dpdproductions.com/page_trai ... ttmobile58

A used BC100XLT typically goes for around $50 on eBay, and the antenna sells for about $85 if I remember correctly. It's not the flashiest scanner out there but it gets the job done well.

Zach

[Ben Higdon]

"Radio Shack near you?"

Only if you can time travel. RS has been bankrupt and gone for years.

[Fred]

There are Radio Shacks near you in Southgate & Dearborn. Living near the "Big Tire" the NS Oakwood Yard will provide lots of chatter on your scanner.

[C&O6084]

Radio Shack was dissolved as a corporation in Federal Bankruptcy Court.

Radio Shack trademarks were purchased by General Wireless, which stated "The Radio Shack Corporation is dead." I walked into one store, and it was clearly a Sprint outlet, selling a few Radio-Shack-branded items apparently for sentimental purposes. Not a Radio Shack store.

I worked for RS in the 70s and 80s, and as a high school Junior, could sell circles around the older guys, who avoided computers like the plague. I sold some 100+ Trash 80s, which, despite the jokes (they had some interesting and novel problems), put computers in the hands of moderate income hobbyists. I was forced to cash in all my stock when I left in '85 (thank God) and really lucked out with a hefty 600% profit and the capital gains taxes to prove it.

But walk in any of those places on the map? Those aren't Radio Shacks.

[hoborich]

Radio Shacks were basically phone stores anyway in recent years. Most of their stuff was skin packed crap, hanging on pegs.
Back in the 60s and 70s I bought a lot of stuff there, including some early base and handheld scanners, crystals, antennas, and components. In recent years, they didn't have much of anything I wanted or needed. Back in the day, the Radio Shack guys usually were ham or electronic nerds and really knew their stuff. In recent years, they were just retail clerks, with an occasional knowledgable clerk.

[~Z~]

What I think of when I see Radioshack:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scx7QGgr5tc

[Tier4GEVO]

I would advise against Uniden's and other Chinese brands considering for not much more you can get something of much better quality.

I'd recommend a ICOM IC-V80 HD, or a Yaesu FT-270R. They're like a Mercedes vs BMW in terms of how they work for railfanning. I recommend the ICOM because of its ease to use. I have it. Point is - both are great, both will please you. The ICOM is more modern in terms of features and how you can set settings. I use a Diamond RH77CA for portable use, and depending on location, get 5-10 miles range (note when in flat Ohio, I get 15 miles range).

With a Traintenna on your car, range is very good. I was picking up CSX calling Romulus when I was in Plymouth one day. Conditions also affect performance.

If you can pick up good coverage from your house, try having a J Pole tuned to the railroad band. Get it as high as you possibly can with good coax cable. Belden is the gold standard but costs an extreme amount of money.

Enjoy these radios while you can, before NXDN-only radios will only be able to pick up RR's. And they are a lot more money.

[Jetlink]

I would advise against Uniden's and other Chinese brands considering for not much more you can get something of much better quality.

I'd recommend a ICOM IC-V80 HD, or a Yaesu FT-270R. They're like a Mercedes vs BMW in terms of how they work for railfanning. I recommend the ICOM because of its ease to use. I have it. Point is - both are great, both will please you. The ICOM is more modern in terms of features and how you can set settings. I use a Diamond RH77CA for portable use, and depending on location, get 5-10 miles range (note when in flat Ohio, I get 15 miles range).

With a Traintenna on your car, range is very good. I was picking up CSX calling Romulus when I was in Plymouth one day. Conditions also affect performance.

If you can pick up good coverage from your house, try having a J Pole tuned to the railroad band. Get it as high as you possibly can with good coax cable. Belden is the gold standard but costs an extreme amount of money.

Enjoy these radios while you can, before NXDN-only radios will only be able to pick up RR's. And they are a lot more money.

I would avoid the yaesu FT-270R for a newbie. Incredibly non-user friendly. Great radio, superb quality. While it does scan, it isn't a scanner, it is a feature chocked shortwave radio trans-ceiver. I own one and don't particularly like it for railfanning.

[DBFanatic]

Thanks, all, for the feedback. I'll definitely look into the scanners you recommended. Frankly I'm not as concerned about the quality (as maybe I should be) because I plan to just have it stationed (no pun intended) in the garage plugged into an audio system alongside my iPhone. My hope is that there are defect detectors or similar automatic transmissions that will give me some indication that a train is approaching, allowing me time to scoot out to watch the train go by a block away...

Have a good weekend, all!

- Carsten

[hoborich]

It all depends what you want to do with the scanner. Speaking for myself, I don't want to hear a bunch of yard chatter and yardmasters yelling at crews. When I am out trainwatching, I just want to hear trains calling signals toward my location and maybe a defect detector. I have an expensive digital scanner for cops and fire, and I have an old Radioshack Pro 82, vhf/uhf scanner, that picks up the railroad freqs as well as the more expensive scanners. I use to have a bunch of freqs active in my scanner, and it would lock on some long winded dispatcher or crew repeating a train order on some other line a couple miles away, and I would miss something nearby. So I lock out all but the channel for the line I am watching. And you can get 5 to 10 miles reception from most any vhf scanner. Just out of curiosity, I hooked up an old CB magnet mount antenna on the roof of my van, to my handheld scanner, and it gets 20 miles away on vhf frequencies, even though it is designed for the lower CB freqs. That is because almost any antenna will give improved reception over the usual rubber ducky that comes with most radios.

[GTW6401]

You'll hear everything fine around Oakwood Yard if you live in Allen Park. There is enough warning that something is around also.

Eastbounds on NS get the OK by MP10 when approaching Oakwood Junction. Westbounds get a route from the manifest when approaching Ecorse Junction. There is other radio chatter from the manifest or diesel shop to figure things out.

CN Trains on the Dearborn Subdivision call the NS dispatcher for permission across at Oakwood Junction, something like CN 129 needs a signal north on the northbound.

The LIncoln Secondary is also nearby, along with the Michigan LIne/Junction Yard Secondary.

[JStryker722]

I would recommend watching Youtube videos from Florida's Danny Harmon (Distant Signal Productions) on the subject matter of using scanners for railfanning from the scanners to antennas to understanding the railroad ops chatter you are hearing.Very informative yet easy to understand.

[DBFanatic]

Thanks, all, the Danny Harmon suggestion was excellent- it taught me the basics of what I needed to know. I guess all I really need now are the scanner, the road channels for my two railway lines, and to figure out the mile markers and locations near me to listen for and I'm good to go. Very cool!

[hoborich]

And if you are going to just listen to trains, you don't need an expensive top O the line scanner. Almost any old VHF scanner will do the job. Any improvements would come with a better antenna.

[JStryker722]

Thanks, all, the Danny Harmon suggestion was excellent- it taught me the basics of what I needed to know. I guess all I really need now are the scanner, the road channels for my two railway lines, and to figure out the mile markers and locations near me to listen for and I'm good to go. Very cool!

You are very welcome for suggesting Danny Harmon to you. As for road channels,they can often be found on Wikipedia and railfan websites. Heck Im sure if you said please,I know of a few guys on here that would tell you the road channels you want and even were to find a timetable book/route map for the lines you are wanting to railfan more closely.