The scanner mega-thread

[Mark Mitchell]

Can anyone tell me what frequency I need when at the following Circuits please?

1: Donington
2: Mallory Park
3: Silverstone
4: Rockingham
I thought that there was only the one frequency (169.3357) but this seems not to apply at some tracks - any info would be appreciated

[pixie]

My understanding is that only Donington, for Air Traffic Control reasons, is not on the RAC frequency.

[JimW]

http://www.marshalspost.com/display_circuit.php says:

donington have possibly three;
166.7625 main one
169.0125 ch 2
169.3375 ch 3

Mallory Most use MSA

Rockingham most clubs use normal msa 169.3375 but with tone lock

I think you may have a typo in the freq you quote. It is probably 169.3375MHz.

Several circuits (clubs or organisers) use the PMR sets now. Better than CB but still a bit of a worry. VSCC and Hagley and District LCC are two examples of this.

Regards

Jim

[JimW]

Silverstone: loads of frequencies for here but depends on level of meeting;


165.1625 main e.s.
169.8375 pits
169.2125 paddock
169.0625 e.s. 2
plus various other for yellow/ blue flags etc.

I forgot about Silverstone.

Jim

[Peter Harding]

Mallory uses MSA (169.3375), Rockingham same but tone locked (I think code is 77?), Silverstone also has MSA freq registered but only use it when multi circuits in use and even then its tone locked. That means your scanner will still hear but anyone with a non tone locked tranceiver wont be able to interupt.

[kevf]

marshals one and all need some advice, looking to buy a scanner what sort of frequency do i need for most circuits? Will an air band one do?

[Dave Brand]

The standard motorsport frequency is 169.3375MHz FM, but some circuits use different frequencies. Airband scanners will cover the required frequency range.

We have two scanners, an Icom IC-R2 (around £160) & a Maycom AR-108 (£70).

We had a lot of problems with the Icom - it struggled to receive broadcasts with low signal strength, so often you'd only hear one side of a conversation. After twice being returned to the suppliers, the second time with a detailed description of the locations & frequencies it was required for, a different antenna was supplied, which cured the problem; a side-by-side comparison with two identical units showed that the signal strength with the new antenna is up to five times the level seen with the standard antenna. For anyone having this problem with an Icom using the standard antenna, the one that works is part number FA-S57V. The Maycom has given no problems.

Ignoring a lot of features which are not needed for the job in hand, the biggest difference between the two scanners is that the Icom has an auto squelch setting, the Maycom has only manual squelch - not a big problem. In case you don't know, squelch sets a signal level threshold to eliminate the annoying white noise which would otherwise be heard when no local signal is being recieved.

£90 extra for, in this context, nothing more than auto squelch, & poor performance with the standard antenna, makes the Icom look poor value. The only little niggle I've got with the Maycom is that the volume & squelch controls are concentric & rather fiddly, which makes it easy to accidentally change the squelch setting when adjusting the volume; otherwise, highly recommended.

[Craig]

Interesting topic...

I took my scanner to Mondello with me last weekend with the idea of listening in to the pit to car radio, marshals and safety car freqs. Never really achieved very much as no-one either knew, or would tell me, where I should be looking to scan

So - to make it a little more interesting next time can anyone offer any suggestions for interesting freqs at different circuits? I'll be taking it to Brands in a couple of weeks so any pit to car radios for BTCC, CART or other series would also be interesting!

If I get back into it I will be looking to replace and update my current scanner with something a little more modern and a little smaller, so any suggestions on that front?

[Dave Brand]

I can't give you much help on frequencies used by teams, etc., Craig - without that information, it's impossible to recommend a scanner. For the circuit frequencies, either of the scanners we've got is OK - most circuits use 169.3375MHz, marshalspost.com has information on other frequencies used. For scanning multiple frequencies the Icom, despite the antenna problems, is probably better, as it has much more sophisticated programmability - but then, at twice the price, it should have! It also has wider frequency range coverage.

As to size, both our scanners are around 90 x 60 x 35.

[Logrence]

What's the cheapest one you can get?

[Craig]

That's fair enough Dave. I will endeavour to acquire some info on teams from my spies...

Cheers

[Craig]

PS Any suggestions for 'sniffers' to seek out local broadcasts?? Something cheap along this line would be awesome if anyone knows of such a thing?

[scorch]

I use the Icom ir-r2, and I too had problems picking up anybody but the immediate posts.

The reason is that the ic-r2 has such a wide frequency range that the antenna you get with it is 'jack of all trades and master of none' and not very good at it. BUT you can get a banded antenna for VHF as all circuits use the 160 - 170 band (i forget the exact freqs) I paid £5 for the antenna but I did need a converter from the screw in type to a standard BNC.

Now I can get every post on the circuit.

What I like about the ic-r2 is the size, it's not much bigger than a normal radio and does'nt get in the way, and maplins sell them for about £80 so I can't argue with that...

[scorch]

Oh by the way the use of scanners at some circuits is frowned upon.

Personaly I think they are a necessity for flags and observers but they are a hazard for incident.

[KayBee]

Originally posted by scorch
Oh by the way the use of scanners at some circuits is frowned upon.

Personaly I think they are a necessity for flags and observers but they are a hazard for incident.

At all the bike meetings I have marshalled at if there is a flag position at some distance from the central observation point a scanner is supplied to the flag marshal by the organising club.