Best attic antenna for VHF

[matt131]

I am listening to Railroad VHF and I am using a mag mount antenna in my attic that is working pretty good. What I wanted to know is does anyone know of any other antenna that would work even better?

[rvictor]

Originally Posted by matt131

I am listening to Railroad VHF and I am using a mag mount antenna in my attic that is working pretty good. What I wanted to know is does anyone know of any other antenna that would work even better?

If that mag mount isn't on some type of metal foundation, it will help if you put it on something like a steel cookie sheet. You may already have done this, of course.

Dick

[IrvingtonVFD43]

Another option is you can purchase a TrainTenna, manufactured by DPD Productions, it's kinda pricey, but If you have at least 4 feet of vertical space in your attic, you can't go wrong. A ground plane is not needed. I use the outdoor vertical TrainTenna to receive trains, and send them to my streaming audio site. To me, TrainTenna is unbeatable. Not to mention, DPD also produces a mag mount and an indoor model as well.

Also, any 2 meter Ham antenna, or an antenna cut to the 160-162 mhz range, mag or base will produce excellent results as well. Pay attention to the coax, using cheap coax such as RG58 on long runs will create a bit of signal loss. Go with RG8, RG6 or better.

[2beers4me]

I don't know if t would be any better than your mag mount, but I use one of those Radio Shack model 20-176 antennas in the attic. It's the other outdoor model they offer besides the discone. VHF comes is great. I think that is were it does the best actually. At the same time I don't have much to compare it to. It's my first and only external antenna. I do know that it's night and day over the stock rubber duck that came with my Icom R-10, or the telescopic handheld whip that Radio Shack sells. They are not very big, and can fit in a shallow attic. They are pretty cheap at $27.00. I wish I had a discone to compare it to. I always wanted to know if one would do any better for me. I listen to everything not just VHF. If anyone has compared the two please message me the results of the test.

[wise871]

I second the RS 20-176. I have 4 in my attic and there great antennas. Besides being smaller than the discone, they have great range.

[IrvingtonVFD43]

Originally Posted by wise871

I second the RS 20-176. I have 4 in my attic and there great antennas. Besides being smaller than the discone, they have great range.

I had forgotten about the mighty RadioShack 20-176. It is also an great antenna at a great price, I had one myself many years ago when I lived in Colorado to hear Colorado State Patrol when they were operating over VHF Hi.

[ridgescan]

This is an exchange between carmen and base in Oakland at the tail end of a 147-car lashup. I am in the Sunset district of San Francisco. The Oakland yards are 13-15 miles as the birdy flies from my home. This is the performance of a Diamond Discone. A few people like to downtalk this antenna, but IMO it's a great all-around worker. I am not sure, but I think those carmens' handhelds don't run on a repeater? You can tell in the video their signals are considerably weaker than the base.

[burner50]

What I have suggested (and is probably the cheapest option) is to build a J-pole antenna out of some copper tubing. I have several of these things, and they're easy to make.

J POLE ANTENNA DESIGN CALCULATOR by K4ABT


They dont need a ground plane and they will fit nicely in an attic.