Magnacast 5000

[J_Player]

400-3000 mhz is pretty much all of the UHF spectrum. Devices that use these frequencies include UHF television, cordless phones, amateur radio, mobile radios, radar, radio astronomy, cell phones, satellite radio, wireless LANs, and microwave ovens. The problem of building a receiver is you should first get an idea of the receiving frequency before constructing the circuitry and antennas. A quick test (if the actual frequency happens to fall in the UHF TV band), is to use an old-style portable UHF TV with an analog tuner to try to pick up the signal. If the VR1000B sends an AM signal in the UHF TY band, then you should be able to see some video patterns on the screen when you tune to the transmitter frequency. You may even be able to use this portable TV to survey relative signal strength in an area in front of the transmitter. But this works only if the transmitter is sending a frequency that the TV can receive.

Since the "Scan Gun" receiver is only used on the newer Magnacast 5000, I would think this locator uses a higher frequency than the earlier VR1000. The reason is because the "Scan Gun" is physically smaller than the large loop antenna used in the earlier machines, which leads me to suspect it contains a loop antenna to pick up a smaller wave, or higher frequency.

At this point, it may be a good idea to get some help from Carl to test and see what kind of signal the VR2000 puts out. ie: What frequency or frequencies, the radiated signal strength, and what sort of modulation. This information will provide good clues to what kind of receiving equipment would work best to pick up a signal from the transmitter. The antenna design and receiving electronics depends on what frequency, the transmitting technique, and the modulation being used. I would be particularly interested to know if there are any constant or varying lower frequencies being sent as an amplitude modulation signal, possibly in the 500 khz to 3 mhz range.