Antenna Purchase

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ViRoCo

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Hi!

I'm looking for a new antenna for my Uniden BC125AT Scanner. I'm looking for one that is tuned for the 160 MHz range (for railroads), and something that is STRONG! Back in May, I purchased this scanner is a Rail Fan package from Scanner Master. It came with an antenna tuned for the railroads, but it seems the rubber duck antenna that comes with the scanner alone is more powerful.
If anyone has any suggestions, please tell me!
Thanks!
 

popnokick

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Highly unusual that a rubber duck attenuator... er, antenna.... would ever work better than a dedicated, commercially built 160 mHz railroad scanner antenna. I would suggest that something else is wrong, possibly:
- Bad connector on the railroad antenna
- Bad coax on the railroad antenna
- Connector on the coax not properly seated in the connector on the radio
- Location of the antenna
Have you tuned to one or more of the NOAA weather broadcasts in the 162 mHz range? How are they coming in? If you're not hearing them... or not hearing the nearest one strongly.... something is definitely wrong.
 

DickH

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Hi!

I'm looking for a new antenna for my Uniden BC125AT Scanner. I'm looking for one that is tuned for the 160 MHz range (for railroads), and something that is STRONG! Back in May, I purchased this scanner is a Rail Fan package from Scanner Master. It came with an antenna tuned for the railroads, but it seems the rubber duck antenna that comes with the scanner alone is more powerful.
If anyone has any suggestions, please tell me!
Thanks!

Before you buy anything, try this. Use a piece of wire 17 inches long. That is 1/4 wavelength and will work as well as a rubber duck antenna.
 

ViRoCo

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Before you buy anything, try this. Use a piece of wire 17 inches long. That is 1/4 wavelength and will work as well as a rubber duck antenna.

This does seem to work. If it works real well, I would use it at home, but I would want an actual antenna when I'm on the go.
 
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ViRoCo

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Have you tuned to one or more of the NOAA weather broadcasts in the 162 mHz range? How are they coming in? If you're not hearing them... or not hearing the nearest one strongly.... something is definitely wrong.
The NOAA broadcasts are coming in fine on both antennas. There is a railroad that works about 6 miles away from me that I could not hear with the tuned antenna. Recently I put the rubber duck antenna on and I could hear them, but not too clearly, but I could still hear them.
This is the antenna I have: VHF 150-162 Professional Portable BNC Antenna
 

ViRoCo

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Is that DPD antenna worth it? And how about that Diamond one mentioned, is that also worth it? I am looking to make a purchase soon.
 

Blackink

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I use the antenna that came with my BCT15X scanner and installed it on my BC125AT scanner.

That telescopic antenna works much better than the "rubber ducky" antenna that came with the BC125AT scanner.

I can pick up frequencies 30 miles away easily.

I don't listen to railroads but I can hear anything in the 150-160 MHz range and I also listen to frequencies in the 400-450 MHz range.

From the bottom of the BNC connector to the tip of the antenna not extended is 7 1/2". When fully extended, it measures 26 1/2".
When the antenna is fully extended, it has 5 equal sections in length.

Here is the antenna that I think came with my BCT15X scanner:
BNC Deluxe Telescopic Antenna

Hope this helps.
 

ViRoCo

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Thanks, Blackink!

Would this be a better purchase than the diamond antenna? I'm still looking at the DPD antenna for an 'at home' use. Is that worth it?
 

popnokick

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An inexpensive alternative for an "at home" antenna is the Off-Center Fed Dipole (OCFD) which you can very easily make yourself for about $10. Hung on the 2nd floor or higher (in a window if possible) this antenna gets very favorable reports here on RR (use Search). The details are here (scroll down to the wire version.... 2nd one shown) -
Homebrewed Off-Center Fed Dipole - The RadioReference Wiki
 

Blackink

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Thanks, Blackink!

Would this be a better purchase than the diamond antenna? I'm still looking at the DPD antenna for an 'at home' use. Is that worth it?

Sorry ViRoCo, I can't answer your questions because I'm not familiar with those products.
 

kc2kth

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Agree with Blackink, as far as antennas for a hand held scanner the extendable ones work better generally than fixed length rubber duck types since they can be "tuned" somewhat for specific bands by only extending specific sections. The Radio Shack 20-006 is a classic that should be in everyone's kit in my opinion. That being said the included rubber duck type antenna included in my past few scanners from Uniden have performed just as well as any aftermarket antenna I have tried.

I think part of the issue may be height in this case. Getting your antenna higher will help your reception. The OCFD recommended above will help in that respect since you can hang it on or even outside a window while running the cable to wherever your scanner is. I've made one of those scanner OCFD antennas using only a length of coax. Strip the coax back to allow you to pull the insulated center conductor through the shield. The shield should be cut to the 18" required for the bottom and allowed to hang down. The center conductor is cut to the proper "top" length and used to hang the antenna. Great item to have as it can be tossed in an overnight bag easily.
 

KF8XO

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First thing I always check for is a shorted coax, this will kill your RX. Disconnect the coax from the radio AND the antenna at the same time. Then get a VOM with a continuity tester, or just a continuity checker. Put one test lead on the center conductor and the other on the shield side (The barrel portion, not the part you tighten). If you get sound, dead short. This is usually the fault of the connector (bad install or faulty PL-259). Simply replace both PL-259's and recheck. You can also do this with a VOM set to ohms, if there is a short you will see a reading of infinity (needle pegs to the right). Always check the coax and connectors first when having RX issues. Easiest to do, and nine out of ten times is the culprit.
 

ViRoCo

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Thanks for all of the replies!

I ordered last night the DPD Productions Traintenna. I will let everyone know how it performs when it arrives.
 

colbrz1319

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Nothing beats "a metal rod pointing toward heaven." Don't buy hype, buy a 1/4 wave VHF telescopic or a "2 meter ham band 16 to 18 inch whip" available from Diamond or other ham antenna manufacturer. As a railfan myself going back over 30plus years, and having owned virtually every brand of scanners and antennas dating back to the 1970's, I have disassembled numerous "specialty" antennas to see what makes them "so good. " I have yet to stumble upon a "magic wand" that beats what the HAM community has built and tested over the years. The "secret" of reception success is "ELEVATION."Get that metal rod as high as physically possible, without it becoming a "lightning rod" or electrocution hazard. Put a Scantenna made by Antenna Craft in your attic, and run the coax downstairs.
 

ratboy

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On handhelds, nothing beats a telescoping or solid metal whip antenna. They will break eventually, mine always have anyway. I have one of the swiveling telescoping ones on one of my scanners and it always does a little better then the Diamond RH-77, and similar, but for convenience, I use several ducks, one that has no name on it is about 9" long with no markings at all. It's the best all around duck I have. It does well on VHF and 800 too. Plus, even with the cats chewing the tip of it, it seems indestructible, it's close to 20 years old. I've looked and looked and can't find another one. It came in a "box of ducks" I bought at a hamfest. It's the only one of them that I still have.
 

colbrz1319

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RATBOY wrapped it up quite well. First , nothing beats a metal rod pointed toward the sky, in the pursuit of greater range and clearer reception. I always "point" folks toward my latest website that I stumbled upon, usually finding not only what I was looking for in antennas, but other models that may be of interest to a fellow Scannerhead. Checkout OPTOELECTRONICS on the web. They appear to have RATBOYS telescopic chrome whip as well as a full range of other multi-band/ varying frequency length antennas. In the event that you need to "GO SMA MALE THREAD" versus their BNC LINE, DX ELECTRONICS has Mini ADAPTERS as well as another full line of Quality Multi-band "RUBBER DUCK" style antennas. For the new SCANNERHEAD, the HAM community has for years reported back to the HAM community and product manufacturers advise on improving or outright rejecting politely, flawed designs of virtually all products they purchase. Furthermore, many HAM BANDS are at the very beginning/middle/end of the Public Safety "Spectrum" we desire to listen to, as well. You will note that Low Band coverage {30-50] MHZ rubber antennas are harder to find these days so HAM 6 meter [28 MHZ] and !0 meter [50 MHZ] dual band and tri-band antennas like the Diamond Brand fill the gap well to cover your needs.
 
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