I am new to the scanner world with a BCD996T and am currently using it as a base unit. I would like to get an external antenna to increase my reception. I have heard of some people putting an antenna in the attic. Is there much of a difference in reception or clarity if the antenna was in the attic with 40ft. of coax needed, or with the antenna maybe 8 to 10ft above roof with 80ft. of coax needed? And what type of antenna would be recommended? Any advice would be appreciated.
Base Antenna Help
- Thread starter Rjtelman
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Wahoos4Life
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PHOENIX_SCANNER
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It depends. What you are trying to do is get the antenna high enough so that the path between it and the target antenna has as few obstructions as possible. The higher you go, the fewer obstructions. And trees count too for UHF and above. Let me give you an interesting example in my own recent life. My rabbit ears wouldn't quite get enough reception recently in the front room for one of my TVs. The digital converter box didn't quite get data fast enough to buffer properly. By raising the antenna a mere 2 feet, and mounting it, it worked fine. That 2 feet made the difference. Obviously, I was clearing a few obstacles that I hadn't been clearing before moving it.
If you are mounting your antenna in an attic around here, that means you are still mounting it below or at the height of the nearby rooftop AC units (full of copper piping), and it will not work as well as being above the roofline. In most parts of the country it should matter less though I would think, although any object in the way can reflect or absorb some portion of the signal. I would say that being 5 - 10 feet above the roof line is best if possible, based on my own experience.
If you are mounting your antenna in an attic around here, that means you are still mounting it below or at the height of the nearby rooftop AC units (full of copper piping), and it will not work as well as being above the roofline. In most parts of the country it should matter less though I would think, although any object in the way can reflect or absorb some portion of the signal. I would say that being 5 - 10 feet above the roof line is best if possible, based on my own experience.
Hoofy
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If your house has aluminum soffets, or siding, or a metal roof or metal rain gutters the attic installationmay not work as well.
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