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Fritzchen-26 — Crestwood South
Published: 2010-10-13 03:07:32 +0000 UTC; Views: 645; Favourites: 21; Downloads: 0
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Description
Fall has finally arrived in the Washington District.Armed with a new scanner, I can now actually better prepare for these shots. So when I heard "VRE 331, clear signal Crestwood, track one south" I was actually prepared with proper exposure and composition before the train came into view, which was usually when I would frantically make adjustments while trying not to miss a shot. Either way though, when I saw the sun lighting up these trees I knew I needed this shot, and had only to wait for the movement to line up and take the picture. I could get used to this.
VRE V23 GP40PH-2 (Ex C&O 4096 GP40)
S/B Manassas Train No. 331
NS Piedmont Division, Washington District, CP Crestwood @ MP 22.5, Main 1
Burke, VA
October 2010
Nikon D90 DSLR
Zoom-Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D
© Michael Mueller (Fritzchen | Fotografie). You may NOT use, replicate, manipulate, or modify this image without my permission. All Rights Reserved.
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Comments: 28
I do like the leaves of this time of year.
They're starting to turn, but they haven't gotten to the point where you have to rake them.
Do you ever have problems with people thinking you're a terrorist or something?
Because, I once got told off for taking pictures of a Metro train.
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True, but the piles of leaves blowing around make for some interesting photos as well.
I've had Metro yell at me before too! They're rather uptight I think, but I suppose it's understandable in the current world. I've gotten funny looks before too, and I've had a security guard (in DC) ask what I was taking pictures of, but that's all so far. *knocks on wood*
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Got me a Pro-404 with a giant antenna from RadioShack.
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ahh i use a pro-137 and a yeasu ft60r ham radio and i am looking to buy a uniden 396xt
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That Yeasu looks almost like the Pro-404, though a lot tougher. The light-up keys would be kind nice, but I generally don't get far from overhead lighting, so nothing I can't do without. The Uniden is a little bit outside my price range though. I just needed something quick and dirty for a newbie like myself, and having met another railfan (this was a first for me) with the same radio, he said it was decent, though I would need a better antenna. But it works for me, so I can't complain.
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well i am in public safety also so i need the better gear like the yeasu i used to have a scanner like yours but i gave it to my cousin when i upgraded my gear
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Ah okay, well then I suppose it's warranted. I just wish this thing had the range to pick up the yard traffic 20 miles southwest of here. Based on the feed I'm listening to online there's a lot going on right now. And it'd be nice to be able to follow the VRE trains all the way south from Burke to their storage yard in Manassas, as right now I can only get static from Clifton. C'est la vie...
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the best scanner i have for rail comms is the radioshack pro 137 race scanner i hook that up to a 1/4 wave mobile antenna and i can hear trains calling signals from 15 miles out and in most cases i can pick up the gary fire department on it and that is over 60 miles away
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I'm pretty sure the antenna I have is a 1/4 wave as well. At least this little paper says it is for transmitting, though I'm not sure what all that means. Whatever the case, it works. As far as I know, all fire/EMS and police radios around here are digital now, so supposedly I can't use a regular scanner for that anyway. Looking at their frequencies, this little thing wouldn't pick that range up in the first place though.
I'm hoping to see if I can hear the nightly NS come through (about 2 miles away) here, but from the online feed, it seems they are having trouble with NS 9880 (something about pulling water, I assume that means the braking system...), so I have to wait.
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a 1/4 wave antenna for railroad would be around 19 inches long with out any thing like a coil on it just a straight whip
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Oh, so like 1/4 the length of the actual radio wave then? Well this one is 26" long fully extended. Says to keep it at what amounts to 20.75" for 138-174MHz, so that's what I have it at. I guess this so-called "loading coil" has something to do with reception, but I don't see why extending the entire thing, both above and below the coil wouldn't be the best way to go...
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[link] i bet this is what you have and the size is more for transmitting more then receiving but having it properly tuned will help block unwanted signals as radio waves are lazy and don't want to work as hard to get to the same place i find a tuned "rubber duck" antenna works just as good or better then that radioshack one plus that one from rs tends to snap and cause strain on the bnc connector on the scanner if you go to [link] and look through the online catalog you will be able to find lots of antennas
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Yep, that's the one. I haven't been able to compare the two yet, but I'm content with it for now since I can pick up what it misses online. And I swear I wasn't listening to that feed all night last night... 
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lol well i am speaking from experience when it comes to that antenna but then again i tend to abuse my equipment lol
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Yeah, me too. I just had to superglue one of the rubber cushioning pads back onto my D90 the other day, and the viewfinder eyepiece has been hot glued several times now. Not to mention that I scratched my new pro-grade zoom the first week I got it. I was not a happy camper about that..
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3 weeks after i got my d3000 the 18-55mm lens fell out of my bag and all the pictures went blury on the left side turned out the lens elements shifted and i was able to fix it but i was not happy
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Ouch. Well at least that one would be cheaper to replace, though still just as frustrating if it's your main working lens.
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actually that lens is over 200 bucks by its self cause its a VR lens and yes it was my main lens at least i was able to repair it my self
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Ah, you've got the new one then. I'm actually tempted to get one just to have a cheap-o walkaround lens. I just can't justify VR on an 18-55 though. Wish I had it on my 80-200, but I wasn't dropping another $800 just for that one feature and the loss of my aperture ring. Was this a "bang it on the other side till it worked" kinda repair? Be what I'd do.
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i dont use vr at all lol and actually i use the key to remove my car radio to carefuly move the lens elements back into alignment
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Well that's good to hear. I think amateur photographers are getting a bit too lazy these days with all the fancy new features on cameras. Image stabilization, in-camera HDR, autofocus, auto white-balance, Lightroom/Camera RAW/Photoshop, etc. Nothing a tripod, a few filters, and patience can't handle...
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now dont get me wrong i use PSE and camera raw but only in touch ups i dont do a whole lot of crazy things in PSE
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I do too, but I still had to add it, 'cause I know SO many people who depend on it. I just use it to bring out shadow detail generally. I have trouble with shadows and highlights not getting along so much of the time...
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