Use a Yagi or Log Periodic to receive Morris County from Mt. Olive?

[rmosier]

I'm hoping to improve my reception of: Morris County Trunked, and Conventional. I am trying to receive from MT. OLIVE, NJ.

I am currently using a Uniden BCD396T with a Diamond Disc-Cone antenna, and 25 feet of LMR 400 coax. I am mostly interested in Morris County Zones 1-4 Trunked (476-479 MHz), State of NJ Trunked (856-868 MHz), And the following Conventional frequencies:

DepartmentofJust FBI (Confirmed) 167.2625
DepartmentofJust FBI (Confirmed) 167.3625
Parsippany Parsip Dispatch 851.3750 Particularly important!!
Morris Twp. Police 460.2500
Morris Twp. Police 460.4250
Morris Twp. SPEN 154.6800
BoontonTownof/Mu Police Dispatch 151.2725
JeffersonTownshi Police 45.8000
JeffersonTownshi Picatinny Police 165.1875
DenvilleTownship Police 1 45.9800
DoverTownof/Muni Police 472.8500
DoverTownof/Muni Police 472.9750
Mt. Olive Police Dispatch 156.0600
Mt. Olive EMS Tactical 156.1200
Mt. Olive Fire EMS 156.1800
Mt. Olive Fire Tactical 159.1050
Mt.Lakes Mt.Lks & Boonton 151.2200
Randolph Police 476.5000
Randolph EMS Dispatch 476.7250
Rockaway Township Police 154.7250
Rockaway Township Police 154.7850
Roxbury Police Dispatch 478.0500

I am able to receive currently, but would like to improve reception. Placing the greatest importance on 851.375, 476-479, 856-868 MHz....Would anyone be able to advise weather or not a YAGI, or possibly a LOG PERIODIC antenna would improve reception? Or something I haven't thought of. The main issue I'm trying to improve is my P25 decoding. I've received advice in the past and currently have the best possible decode settings (851.375 @ Manual 7 FM), and (Auto 11 with Auto Modulation) for the others. I just need to improve my signal. Thanks in advance for any advice/help.

 

[prcguy]

A yagi would only cover a single band and you would need one for UHF and 800. A 7 element UHF yagi @ 10dB gain or a similar 800 yagi should give you a good improvement.

A log periodic can cover your VHF through 800 or even down to VHF lo band if you have the space but most scanner logs only have about 4 to 5dB gain. That should make a noticeable improvement.

In many cases raising your existing antenna can make more of an improvement than going to a higher gain one at the same height.
prcguy

 

[khoelldobler]

I ran into a similar situation a while back, as there is a big difference between VHF and 800 mhz digital transmissions... I was using a Diamond discone which is very good quality along with LMR-400 coax cable... the discone was fantastic for monitoring VHF and I was receiving from as far away as 60 miles with good reception... however, the discone was not able to pick up the digital P25 transmissions that well, so I picked up a MAXRAD yagi 800 Mhz antenna and an additional run of LMR-400 coax... ran both coax leads to an antenna (coax) switch box and from there, I ran a 4 foot coax jumper to my scanner. The only drawback is that I need to switch one or the other to monitor specific bands, but the manner in which I monitor, this is not a problem for me. My city and my County both use 800 Mhz so I usually find myself using the yagi... the discone is for receiving out of town radio traffic which I seldom use now a days.
Your existing discone may work for everything your trying to monitor if you raise it up higher. The higher the better, if its possible for you to do safely... also remember that discones usually dont offer any gain, thats where the yagi comes in usefull. I am not sure of an all around antenna that will offer you any better results as far as reception throughout all of the bands that you are trying to pull in. I have also heard of people connecting an 800 mhz yagi and a discone together into a "Y" and then running the one single lead coax down to the scanner, something of which I personally have never tried, and heard some stories of good results... but also heard some nitemares, so you may want to read some other posts on RR before attempting that route. Good luck to you.

 

[rmosier]

Thank you both for your responses. I’ll try the “raise the antenna approach” first, because it’s the cheapest, I’ve just enough coax to go up another 5 feet, if I move my receivers. Most of all, thank you for the info regarding both the antennas, and the success with the “Y connect”. I’ve heard mixed results with connecting two antennas. But if I don’t receive enough of an improvement through elevation, I'll try using a log with my discone along a single line of coax. If that presents a problem, then I’ll run them separately. Problem is, I only have one trunking/P25 capable scanner.....Guess I'll worry about that if the first two options fail. Thanks again, and I’ll be sure to post my results.

Ray

 

[rmosier]

Since my last post I've raised my Discone by 5 feet for a total of approx 35 feet above ground level (7 feet above my roof). Still using my pre-existing 25' length of LMR400. I'll post in a week or so what, if any improvement to my reception of: Morris County Trunked, and conventional from my location at Mt. Olive. Thanks again for the replies.

Ray