Hey everyone, I came across these 2 units in a friends garage, covered in dust, but still in working condition.. Trouble is, I have no manuals, and can't seem to find much information about them on the internet.

The units are, a Sony FSR-2000 Satellite Receiver and a Scientific Atlanta B-MAC Decoder Series E9700.

Anyone on here know what these could be used for, besides the obvious answer  

The units were in a Ford office around town here, I think they had some sort of video feeds that Ford piped out to all they're dealerships or something...

Sooo....can I get free porn or what ?? Or can I at least get use out of them? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for your help WB2WIK, I'll be looking into the 75 here soon, unless there is one that hooks into my computer, like the IC PCR-2500, but I don't know enough about this stuff, to know if it would do the HF stuff lol.

A large antenna isnt a problem, I can get a long line kit or something like that.

Do you have any specific suggestions for a scanner/reciever to get?

Hey everyone, does anyone have a suggestion for a scanner, that can recieve HF aircraft transmissions?? I live near a major oversea's flight path, and am looking to listen in to the mid-atlantic chatter.

I have seen a couple of Icom products (1500,2500) scanners, that I think would do it, but they are very expensive, and have to be used with a computer.

Someone on another site told me I need to have SSB capability, can anyone offer any insite too that?

Well, Im not about to throw away the Discone, but I will agree, it seems to be pretty crappy, compared to my home made 1/4 wave ground plane, across all bands.

The Discone seems to work good with anything above 400Mhz, so for my area, it works well for Fire/Police monitoring, as they are all on 800 Trunked systems.

Think I'll build to some home made 800 range antenna, and see how they compare. Thanks for the input guys  

HP / Compaq Laptops are usually work horse's, at least in my opinion, having worked on them for some time, along with many other brands of laptops and desktops.

Plus if your handy, most of them are modular, and very simple to replace parts, and replacement parts are readily available threw Ebay, and other more reputable sources

As for model's and features, you can pretty much pick what you want, just shop around for the best prices.

It could be any number of things as the fella above mentioned, are you able to have messenger conversations??

If not, start with the basics, check you cables, if your computer is connected to the router/hub directly, also try a different port on the router if the cables are connected properly, and you don't get a connection.

If is wireless, you got more issues to deal with, and you need to post more information

If the cables and your hub/router seem to be working, then go into the software, and check out the Virus programs and such, see if they are interfering with you connection.

If that doesn't work, and your Virus/Spyware App is working properly, then try looking at your network settings, try simply "Repair"ing your network connection in "Network Connections" - threw Control Panel.

If that doesn't work, post more information again GL

Side note/After-thought ...

I mentioned UTorrent, but I was talking about Torrent systems in general, torrents can be better to use, as often times they have comments you can read threw before you download it, they will indicate if it is a legit download at least.

Good Torrent website that I usually try to stick with is http://www.thepiratebay.org , check it out, you can search, or browse, they have top 100 and so on.

To download any torrents, go here and download this program. http://www.utorrent.com/ (UTorrent) It is very light weigh, and doesn't have any adware/spyware, or any of that jazz, I use it myself. Happy Downloading

You might want to try looking at alternative sources, IE: Utorrent, or other internet downloading programs, I have had good luck in the past with other motorola product software. But you will have to do some searching I'm sure. And that may not be legal in the country that you live. So keep that in mind.

WARNING : If you download something, scan it with virus protection before you try opening. Fake downloads are rampant out there.

Ok W3LK, I'll have to look into it, cause it concerns me, being that the roof is brand new, less then 2 years, I would kick my self if that broke now

So, connector check, and a mast solution, and antenna de-coupling, that should keep me going for a few days, THANKS again guys

Any other ideas, don't hesitate, I'm all about trying different things, and love a building project...

Newbskie McNewb

I thought about that too, I'm using crimp-on F-Connectors(galvanized)which I use day to day for TV cabling, so the reliability is a bit better for cable issues like center pin problems at least.

But you mentioning all of that to me, made me think maybe the "patch" cable I have running from the antenna to the actual feed cable is the problem, so I will look into that when the weather is nicer, hopefully tomorrow.

Is there any way I can make sure my Antenna is properly "decoupled" from my feed line??

 

One side thought, about my mast location, and the mast it self. I thought about what you said about it snapping off my stink pipe.

The actual "mast" is only about 3 foot long, so I dont think it puts too much stress on the pipe, and the area where I live is fairly sheltered from major gusts of wind, but I really don't want to deal with a broken stink pipe.

So what would you suggest as an ideal location to mount it? Also, do you know a good vendor that sells mounting brackets and that sort of thing, for roof applications?

I have a tar/shingled roof, the stink pipe is the only thing that comes thru the rooftop, with exception to the brick chimney, which I tried to use as a mounting point, but found out my chimney needs to be re-pointed and repaired, before I screw/attach anything to it, its about 20 years old now.

I actually have both G8UBJ, but the antenna in question is my 1/4 wave Discone, which I thought has its own ground plain. This link is the exact antenna, check it out :

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Base-Scanner-Antenna-Deluxe-DISCONE-stainless-steel_W0QQitemZ350060130338QQihZ022QQcategoryZ149988QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

So knowing that, does that make a difference in where I place it???

Also, to W3LK, I have tested the coax with a Fluke tester as I had thought of that problem (I work as a cable technician), But my connections are fine, the entire run passes acording to the fluke, and the run is only 29 feet total. The coax is Belden Doubond II, 75 Ohm, Series 6 (RG-6), but my application for now, is only for use with a scanner(2 actually.

I was told before that the 50 Ohm Coax only makes a difference if I'm trying to transmit, so until I get something that does that, I was told to use the RG-6, as it would not make a huge difference for my current application.

SO what else could it be??

And Thanks a lot for posting so quick guys, I really appreciate it.

Hey folks, I have a 1/4 Wave ground plain antenna, I have it mounted on a metal mast with the hardware that came with the antenna(Centerfire Discone - Ebay 29.95). The metal mast is attached to my ventilation pipe (plastic/PVC?) that comes out of my rooftop.

Its up above most trees, and other ground clutter, so one would think it would make an ideal location.

I have grounded both the mast, as well as the coax feed line(F-81 grounding block), with separate ground lines (electrical wire) to a grounding spike outside my home, away from the power system ground for the house.

So I thought I had done everything right, but when I sit down and listen, I get about 1/10 of the transmissions that I receive when I have it mounted on the side of my deck, same mast, with only the coax grounded before it comes inside the house, useing the same ground spike used for the rooftop mount. I've tried the rooftop mast without a ground, makes no difference. The signals/transmissions that I receive are clear, but I only receive half as much as the deck mount.

The deck location is below the tree line, with houses, and electrical wires in fairly close proximity, and all the works. Yet its unreal the difference in the 2 locations. Its literally constant traffic from the deck, compared to sparatic transmissions, every 5 or 10 mins.

Does the height placement make a difference, or is there something else I have missed??

Thanks in advance.. Newbsky

I've actually ordered a decent antenna, it was 25 bucks on Ebay, its a Center-fire Omni-direction thing, so why not, but I am going to try out the first one you show there, as I have most of the parts listed already.

Thanks for your help, I've come across a few designs like this, but none as simple.