Supersonic-SC-602 800Mhz Antenna

[KD4YGG]

A few people from the All Ohio Scanner Club have reported good results using this antenna on Phase I simulcast systems in Cincinnati/Hamilton County and Butler County, Ohio so I picked up a couple of them at an electronics store in the Cincinnati area on the way to Hamvention. They are also available through Staples (and I'm sure other locations). Cost is about $10, plus the cost of a F-type to BNC adapter.

So far I'm getting very good results listening to SAFE-T with it - very clear and very directional, just what you need for LSM/CPQSK systems. The mast rotates and elevates. Size is similar to a small bankers desk lamp (sits great on top of any base scanner!!!). I'm getting SAFE-T sites at 99% signal strength that are over 30 miles away from my QTH.

Supports HDTV 1080p, 1080i, 720p Broadcast.
Full Band DTV/UHF Receiver UHF to 860Mhz.
High Front to Back Ratio Helps Reject Unwanted Multi-Path Signal Corruption.
Flat Forward Gain Slope Delivers Balanced Reception.
Wall Mountable Design
3 foot pigtail coax cable.

Supersonic® SC-602 HDTV and Digital TV Indoor Antenna | Staples®

Supersonic HDTV and Digital TV Indoor Antenna 927517 - Micro Center

Thought this might help the ones in Marion County, in the southeast near Cincinnati, and across the river from Louisville.

 

[scannerfreak]

I'm getting SAFE-T sites at 99% signal strength that are over 30 miles away from my QTH.

That you wouldn't otherwise receive? For $10 I guess it's certainly worth a pick up to see how it performs.

 

[AK9R]

Since most land mobile radio transmissions use vertical polarization, you give up something like 18 dB of signal strength by using a horizontally polarized antenna which this appears to be (since most TV transmissions have a strong horizontal component).

I'm skeptical.

 

[ka3jjz]

Actually that might work very well, and in spite of the rather serious attenuation. Since a good deal of the problem with receiving simulcast signals has to do with receiving signals from multiple towers, it's quite likely that the de-facto attenuation, plus the directionality, is a huge boon

An interesting idea for us folks that have to deal with this nasty problem..Mike

 

[KD4YGG]

Since most land mobile radio transmissions use vertical polarization, you give up something like 18 dB of signal strength by using a horizontally polarized antenna which this appears to be (since most TV transmissions have a strong horizontal component).

I'm skeptical.

It is rather easy to dis-assemble and remount in a vertical orientation.

 

[KD4YGG]

That you wouldn't otherwise receive? For $10 I guess it's certainly worth a pick up to see how it performs.

With orientation vertical, I can receive the following sites from Jasper, most at 99% receive indication on the PSR-500 - within the residence on first floor:
02 Petersburg *
03 Jasper *
04 Scalesville
05 Evansville
06 Georgia
07 Marengo
08 Leopold
12 Vincennes
14 French Lick *
16 St. Meinrad
17 Bramble *
19 Carefree
22 Paoli
25 Santa Claus
26 Birdseye *
29 Augusta *
33 Shoals
34 Cannelton
35 Linton

Those marked with "*" I can receive on Radio Shack 800Mhz rubber duck.

 

[james812]

Nice information on the antenna

I will have to try one out...

 

[W9NES]

I would like to hear from anyone in the Metro Indianapolis/Marion County area if this antenna does work for IDPSC(AKA MECA) and safe-t.I also would like to hear from our members of this fourm who live in Hamilton County to see how this antenna works on the GE EDACS system for all of Hamilton County.Thank You.

 

[KD4YGG]

Tim

The original reports that I had on this antenna were from the All Ohio Scanner Club Journal # 205 in regards to the following simulcast systems in Ohio:

BRICS (Butler County)
Hamilton County-Cincinnati
Northwest Ohio Regional Public Safety System (NORPSS)

At $10, it's worth a try.

 

[W9NES]

KD4YGG, 10-4 copy that. Was asking if anyone in the Metro Indianapolis/Marion County area has bought one of these and was using it for IDPSC (aka MECA) and Safe-t. Also was asking if anyone in Hamilton County(Carmel) has bought one of these and see what the results were on GE EDACS for Hamilton County. I understand that the post was from All Ohio Scanner Club per your post. I am interestred on what the antenna will do in my local area.Metro Indianapolis/Marion County. Thank You.

 

[K9DAK]

Works Great!

I figured what the heck, for less than 10 bux including shipping, even if it didn't work for scanning it might make a good backup TV antenna for when the cable goes out. I ordered it Sunday 5/26 and picked it up yesterday at my local Staples.

Well, I was surprised and delighted when it worked well for both! Horizontally I get near perfect DTV on all Chicago channels but CBS Ch 2. And vertically (no need to disassemble, just rotate it to vertical) I now get about 95% clear copy on StarCom21 vs. about 60%-75% with the Radio Shack 800MHz duck.

With it sitting on my fireplace I aim it out the patio door at the Hawthorn Woods tower, thus putting the Fox Lake tower nearly off the back of the beam, as it were, and the dreaded simulcast corruption all but disappears.

Not bad for a $10 experiment . . . thanks for the tip!

 

[usswood]

A few people from the All Ohio Scanner Club have reported good results using this antenna on Phase I simulcast systems in Cincinnati/Hamilton County and Butler County, Ohio so I picked up a couple of them at an electronics store in the Cincinnati area on the way to Hamvention. They are also available through Staples (and I'm sure other locations). Cost is about $10, plus the cost of a F-type to BNC adapter.

So far I'm getting very good results listening to SAFE-T with it - very clear and very directional, just what you need for LSM/CPQSK systems. The mast rotates and elevates. Size is similar to a small bankers desk lamp (sits great on top of any base scanner!!!). I'm getting SAFE-T sites at 99% signal strength that are over 30 miles away from my QTH.

Supports HDTV 1080p, 1080i, 720p Broadcast.
Full Band DTV/UHF Receiver UHF to 860Mhz.
High Front to Back Ratio Helps Reject Unwanted Multi-Path Signal Corruption.
Flat Forward Gain Slope Delivers Balanced Reception.
Wall Mountable Design
3 foot pigtail coax cable.

Supersonic® SC-602 HDTV and Digital TV Indoor Antenna | Staples®

Supersonic HDTV and Digital TV Indoor Antenna 927517 - Micro Center

Thought this might help the ones in Marion County, in the southeast near Cincinnati, and across the river from Louisville.

wanted to bump this back up for those inside with no outside antenna, as YGG pointed out and I can now confirm also, this little thing does the trick! I'm picking up stations 30-40 miles away, Safe-T as well as Illinois' Starcom system... Weird to cause I'm only around 17-20 miles from the nearest transmitter and I could not pull that system in until now! I picked one up on amazon for 14 bucks ... get one before they are all gone! Works great on DTV also!!!

 

[jknight8005]

Purchased one off the Wal-Mart website and shipped to store in 4 days. Cost $13.30 and tax, no shipping. Connected it to my Pro-197 replacing a RS-800. receives really good. I am in Marion County about a mile south of the airport. Picks up the MECA/IDPSC system very good but judge by that because I can receive MECA without an antenna. Receives Safe-T very good but not any better than the RS-800. I can still pickup Columbus police & fire and Brown county Sheriff and ISP Districts 52, 51, 53 and 33 with no problem. By the way it's sitting in the 2nd floor window sill.

 

[INDY72]

jknight, Do a little experiment for us: Use the RS one and monitor continuously for an hour or two. Then use this new one for an hour or two. Compare interference ratios. Then please tell us how it went. We want to see if this thing works as good on the IDPSC as it doe for other multisite simulcast P25's. If so, it really would be an awesome thing especially at the ultra low costs. Do this with both the flat plane position, and uprights... If you know where the position of the IDPSC tower is from you, point it right towards the site for the flat plane... Same for nearest SAFE-T site. Then put it in line to get both IDPSC, and SAFE-T sites at same time. Then rotate it to vertical and try that on all three again.

 

[jknight8005]

I have had the 602 in both horizontal and vertical and it's receiving the same with no interference. I don't know where the IDPSC tower is around here but like I said I can receive them just fine with no antenna connected. I will have some time tomorrow and I will monitor all day in the wildcard mode and see if I can receive any new transmissions and let you know if this thing anything that I'm not normally receiving. It's worth 13 bucks just to play around with.

 

[AK9R]

I don't know where the IDPSC tower is around here...

There's a site map posted in the RR Wiki:

http://wiki.radioreference.com/images/8/89/MECA_Sites.pdf

 

[jknight8005]

I spent this morning listening on the Wildcard with the 602 in different positions and it's the same as having the RS-800 hooked up. I did not receive anything that I wasn't getting before. My opinion is it is about equal to the RS-800. I also looked at the MECA site map and the SWQ tower is less than a mile from my house, that's why I pick them up w/o an antenna. I forgot one thing, the Hamilton Cty EDACS system is very sporadic with the RS-800 but with the 602 it does pick up at all.

 

[GTO_04]

I spent this morning listening on the Wildcard with the 602 in different positions and it's the same as having the RS-800 hooked up. I did not receive anything that I wasn't getting before. My opinion is it is about equal to the RS-800. I also looked at the MECA site map and the SWQ tower is less than a mile from my house, that's why I pick them up w/o an antenna. I forgot one thing, the Hamilton Cty EDACS system is very sporadic with the RS-800 but with the 602 it does pick up at all.

You are lucky to pick up Hamilton County at all from your location. That quite some distance away to pick it up on a scanner with an RS-800 antenna!. Are you using a GRE or Uniden?

GTO_04

 

[W9NES]

I would like to invite jnkight 8005 to try the antenna in my back yard in the area of 7900 North Michigan road on the metro Indianapolis Northwest side. I am just west of 79Th and Walnut Street where all the tv stations transmitters are for 6,8,13,20,40,59. I cannot get any control channel on 852.1125 in this area. I do have a Uniden Home Patrol HP-1, Uniden 396XT, along with a Uniden 396T along with other digital scanners that I would like to try this antenna on. I have offered my backyard for testing in the past and GTO O4 has been here and knows that after testing that I cannot get any control channels If the antenna would get the control channel and make a major improvement in my receiving of 800 Mhz and other systems I might buy one. I would also like to see what this antenna would do inside my home on 800Mhz trunking systems.

 

[jknight8005]

GTO 04 I am using a Pro-106 and a Pro-197.