Best Airband antenna for a bcd396T & XT

mattfox27 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-29-2009, 08:40 PM

Hello,

I live in the los angeles area and i do a lot of plane spotting at LAX i was wondering what would be a good portable SMA antenna for monitoring the airband? Right now i have a watson WSMA-801 Regular Gainer SMA...
what do you think of the Watson W-901 Airband Portable Antenna? Does anyone have any expieience with this antenna?

The wsma-801 works ok i mostly monitor LAPD, LAFD at home but when i go watch the planes at lax i can hear the tower great..full bars but the planes i can barely hear even when i can see them...

kmacka · #2 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 12:08 AM

I have two Diamond RH77CA antennas for portable use and they work great for vhf and uhf airband listening. They come highly recommended on this site for this specific use, search this forum for this antenna and you can find out for yourself. They also have a SMA version. I will provide a link to the Universal Radio site, but feel free to shop around for a cheaper price.

Diamond RH77CA Amateur HT Antenna

I also forgot to mention the Maldol AL-500H portable antenna. Which is equally as good. Again they also have a SMA version.

http://www.universal-radio.com/catal...ants/1687.html

blinddog50 · #3 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 08:25 AM

Have had excellent results with the Maldol AL-500H.
However, the Diamond is cheaper and shorter.
Depends on what you want to put into it.

N9JCQ · #4 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 10:15 AM

I have all three antennas, the airgainer, The RH-77, and the Maldol. The Maldol is the top dog for me. However, it's very tall and would not work if you were thinking of carrying your scanner on your belt. The Watson and the RH-77 appear to have the same airband receive capabilities to me.

The big difference is that the RH-77 (or SMA-based SRH-77, same antenna, different mount) has excellent receive capabilities across most bands, precluding 800 MHZ. It does ok for 800 MHZ if you are ok with a compromise. That being said, unless I only want to hear airband stuff, I use the RH-77 full time.

I hope this helps you in your deciding.
Joe, N9JCQ

mpcarlino · #5 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 05:01 PM

I second the RH77. It's a great performer on the airbands, but not necessarily the best. However, it's pretty rugged for its size and is a very wideband antenna. I always take it with me to airshows and the park as it offers the best performance across all bands that I've been able to find.

My $0.02.

FrankJ · #6 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 07:00 PM

High marks for me on the Diamond RH77CA. I tried the Maldol AL-500H and reception seemed to be identical on the VHF/UHF airbands as the Diamond. I've been scanning the airbands for years with my PRO-43 and BC780XLT and I can't honestly tell the difference!

I've switched out antennas on the same signals and there was no change in strength. The fact that the Maldol is too long and flimsy makes the Diamond my choice. I sold off the Maldol a few years ago.

I've even made several custom made 225-400 Mhz Milair handheld antennas and, even though they work well, they STILL don't work any better than the Diamond!

Frank

mattfox27 · #7 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 08:29 PM

i really like the look of the watson one...i mean does it make a huge diffrence between a general use antenna and a specific airband antenna? Will you notice a big diffrence?

JLM7424 · #8 (**permalink**) 07-30-2009, 10:53 PM

I Use the Watson W901 and a pomona sma /bnc adapter with my 396T Works Great
the W901 Does Vhf air & Uhf mil Air

sma Adapter. Testpath.com Has a Ton of Different adapters for almost anything!
Pomona 4290 > SMA Male to BNC Female Connector Adapter, 50 ohms, 12.4GHz 4290 Pomona Test Equipment

mattfox27 · #9 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009, 12:57 AM

sweet i think im gonna get the watson...would the sma to bnc adapter that came with the radio not work as well as the one you have? Or does it matter?

JLM7424 · #10 (**permalink**) 07-31-2009, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattfox27

sweet i think im gonna get the watson...would the sma to bnc adapter that came with the radio not work as well as the one you have? Or does it matter?

I guess to Me it's Preference it I personaly think its better Quality and a Tighter fit to the antenna
I believe the gold plating makes a better connection between the two.

Like i said Preference you may never notice the difference, it just depends on the frequencies your using
and the distance of the signal to be recieved.

Good Luck !

Jlm7424 Scouting Around the Cornfields of Iowa For Signals LOL