MRP2000MK2 Scanner Preamplifier

[bpoolfc95]

Hi all,
I had bought this amplifier for my scanner, the gre psr 295, from Maplins with the hope of picking up stuff from much further away and picking up usual frequencies clearer. Wierdly, when i have the amplifier hooked up and switched on, i actually, depending on the precise location i stand, pick up hardly anything except hospitals and occasional Newcastle approach. I just wonder if anyone can shed some light on why this is happening because i thought it would pick more up, not less.

Cheers

[jaybranch]

Hello mate,

Can I ask, which antenna are you using with your pre-amp?

Pre-Amps are quite useless on VHF... especially airband! They just amplify noise!

If the signal 'line of sight' is not good, using a pre-amp won't boost the signal into your receiver. You might actually be doing more harm than good.

The GRE range aren't the best ones on the market either.... for more features and a better design build/quality, you can pick up a JIM M-75 from Ebay for around £50-£60 (ish) and they aren't bad, as you get bandpass filters and variable attenuation. Again though, ideally you'll need to have your antenna nice and high in order to establish a good line of sight, then the pre-amp can work on trying to boost the signal.

If you live in a populated area, you might find the pre-amp will pull in signals that are already good to start with and it'll sound awful!

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Jay

[nerdsville]

Agree with Jay

The problem with a wide-band pre-amp is it will amplify everything (in the case of that pre-amp 25MHz-2000MHz) it really needs some form of filtering and controllable attenuation otherwise the out of band signals (this will include any sources of noise) will simply overload the scanners front-end, especially if it has poor selectivity/rejection.

I have a similar issue, my wideband discone in the loft is unusable on a couple of hand held scanners because it simply overloads them, but works nicely on the 'base station' Realistic PRO2006 which has a more selective frontend.

[bpoolfc95]

Hi jaybranch
I use two different antennas from time to time. The mobile one i use is a telescopic antenna from maplins. I think it was 15 pound(ish). The other one i use is the sky scan mobile scanner antenna, again bought from Maplins. I know i should have researched into the pre amp before buying, but it promises great reception pulling those distant signals. Shouldnt have blind bought it without research. Cheers

[jaybranch]

Hi there,

Not to worry.... I did the same a few years back when I bought mine. I got the JIM M-75, but I used it with a telescopic antenna and I just stopped using it as it was doing nothing!

That was until I got an external antenna on the chimney stack... things were a bit different!!

If you can do the same, you may see a massive difference with your pre amp.

Good luck!