Wideband Properties of Laird Technologies WPC39S0B-001 and Austin Spectra

[kandrey89]

Hi,

I'm currently sporting an Austin Spectra on my car, mainly for listening to CHP on my daily commute, and occasionally enabling county systems, most of which are on 150MHz and 450MHz bands.

I am planning to buy a Laird Technologies WPC39S0B-001 antenna for my car to get better reception of CHP frequencies and was wondering how it would do as a wideband receiver up to 800MHz so that I may replace the Austin Spectra instead of running with 2 antennas.

Let me know what you think.

I want the wideband coverage because of trips and other systems I may need to listen to while in the car.

Thanks

 

[marksmith]

That Laird antenna is optimized at 39-42mz. I would not count on it being anything but a substantially compromised antenna in the 800mz band. Your current antenna, while also not very appropriate for the 800mz band, is probably better on 800mz.

Sent from my LG-V410 using Tapatalk

 

[K2theFEA]

Hi,

I'm currently sporting an Austin Spectra on my car, mainly for listening to CHP on my daily commute, and occasionally enabling county systems, most of which are on 150MHz and 450MHz bands.

I am planning to buy a Laird Technologies WPC39S0B-001 antenna for my car to get better reception of CHP frequencies and was wondering how it would do as a wideband receiver up to 800MHz so that I may replace the Austin Spectra instead of running with 2 antennas.

Let me know what you think.

I want the wideband coverage because of trips and other systems I may need to listen to while in the car.

Thanks

Are you going to completely replace the Austin Spectra with the Laird Technologies WPC39S0B-001 or run both of them at the same time? I have a SUV and I'm worried about the overall height if I roll with the Laird. That's why I was also thing about the PCTEL Maxrad MLB3001. This could be side mounted and I wouldn't have to worry about hitting the ceiling of a parking structure or drive through. I can't find any reviews or feedback on the PCTEL on RR Forums or the web. I also don't want to limit the frequencies I can pickup so if a multiple antenna setup is feasible I'm not opposed to that thought either. I haven't had enough time to read up on that to see if it can technically and logistically work.

I also hear good thing about the MON-52 triband antenna (if you can find one).

Curious to hear your thoughts.

Thanks,

 

[popnokick]

Here's a firsthand user review of an antenna that is reasonably short yet the user reports it does very well on lowband for him. And if you have seen his other threads on his search for a "short" lowband antenna, you know he did his homework. Apparently it paid off. Pictures in this thread, too -
http://forums.radioreference.com/pi...updated-2014-subaru-xv-crosstrek-install.html

 

[kandrey89]

I was thinking of completely replacing it, unless UHF is horrible, then I need to figure out if I should use a multiplexer or a switch and run 2 antennas with a single scanner.

 

[K2theFEA]

I was thinking of completely replacing it, unless UHF is horrible, then I need to figure out if I should use a multiplexer or a switch and run 2 antennas with a single scanner.

Thanks for the response! I'd love to know how this ends up for you.

How do you like the Austin Spectra for CHP frequencies? I'm going to be doing a ton of Tahoe trips this winter and I'd like to pick up whatever I can. I'm getting garbage on those frequencies in San Jose right now. I imagine it'll only get worse in the mountains. Right now I'm using the stock antenna that comes with the BCD436HP [emoji16]

Cheers,

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[kandrey89]

Thanks for the response! I'd love to know how this ends up for you.

How do you like the Austin Spectra for CHP frequencies? I'm going to be doing a ton of Tahoe trips this winter and I'd like to pick up whatever I can. I'm getting garbage on those frequencies in San Jose right now. I imagine it'll only get worse in the mountains. Right now I'm using the stock antenna that comes with the BCD436HP [emoji16]

Cheers,

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Having a stock antenna in the car is like no antenna at all, car is like a cage.

When I installed Austin Spectra, I got wonders. I did a trip to Tahoe 1 week ago and I wable to pick up base transmissions 160 miles away. So I think Austin Spectra is a great antenna.
The reason I want the antenna CHP uses on their vehicles is to possible increase range of CHP mobile units transmitting on ~42MHz.

Actually, I listened to fire dispatch rso I couldnecently and I think the way fire and CHP communicate is quite different. CHP dispatch pretty much always repeats what the mobile units transmit, while fire did not, so I couldn't figure out what broken transmissions said.

 

[K2theFEA]

Too bad scannermasters is out of stock.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[Citywide173]

I've been running a Spectra on my car for about 7 years. I generally travel between Boston and Providence. I regularly receive low band from Connecticut and the White Mountain region of New Hampshire while 800 reception is more than adequate. Massachusetts State Police, RISCON and Worcester systems are received well out of their designed coverage areas. I don't think you would see any benefit other than those specific CHP frequencies, and I'm sure there would be loss associated with a multiplexer that would offset the desired result.

 

[K2theFEA]

I've been running a Spectra on my car for about 7 years. I generally travel between Boston and Providence. I regularly receive low band from Connecticut and the White Mountain region of New Hampshire while 800 reception is more than adequate. Massachusetts State Police, RISCON and Worcester systems are received well out of their designed coverage areas. I don't think you would see any benefit other than those specific CHP frequencies, and I'm sure there would be loss associated with a multiplexer that would offset the desired result.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Do you have it installed on your roof (center mounted)? Mag mount or something else?

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[Citywide173]

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Do you have it installed on your roof (center mounted)? Mag mount or something else?

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

It's offset mounted on the roof of a 2006 Trailblazer, just to the passenger side of center. There is a SBB-5-NMO just to the driver's side.

 

[kandrey89]

I have it mounted on a 5" mag mount on my sedan's trunk lid, the cable wraps around trunk edge, the into the trunk lid's lining cover, along the trunk lid's support arm (this is important so that the cable slack moves with the trunk lid instead of loosely hanging in the trunk) and into my trunk's lining to go between the rear seats.

 

[K2theFEA]

I have it mounted on a 5" mag mount on my sedan's trunk lid, the cable wraps around trunk edge, the into the trunk lid's lining cover, along the trunk lid's support arm (this is important so that the cable slack moves with the trunk lid instead of loosely hanging in the trunk) and into my trunk's lining to go between the rear seats.

When are you going to pull the trigger on the other antenna?

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[kandrey89]

I'm trying to figure out how to build an OCFD for home use in a tall attic, don't want to pay extra $10 for shipping from antennafarm if I'm going to need some parts from them. Maybe 1-4 more weeks.

 

[markclark]

K2theFEA:

You'll need a very good antenna to receive CHP up in the Tahoe area. I run a commercial receiver and loaded coil low band antenna and still have bad reception in many areas around Lake Tahoe and the South Truckee area. That's because the sites along I-80 and around the lake don't have much range in the rugged mountains surrounding the area. You'll receive transmissions well if you are near the same transmitter the dispatcher is using to talk to the unit and you have good line of sight. The vote steer-system up here works pretty lousy overall. Often the talk out transmitter used is the next one further from the nearest site to the CHP unit resulting in degraded copy.

 

[K2theFEA]

K2theFEA:

You'll need a very good antenna to receive CHP up in the Tahoe area. I run a commercial receiver and loaded coil low band antenna and still have bad reception in many areas around Lake Tahoe and the South Truckee area. That's because the sites along I-80 and around the lake don't have much range in the rugged mountains surrounding the area. You'll receive transmissions well if you are near the same transmitter the dispatcher is using to talk to the unit and you have good line of sight. The vote steer-system up here works pretty lousy overall. Often the talk out transmitter used is the next one further from the nearest site to the CHP unit resulting in degraded copy.

Thanks MarkClark, great insights! Can I pickup signal from the CHP vehicle in the field? Let's say he/she pulls someone over and I'm 3-5 miles away do you think I'll pick up that radio transmission using a Austin Spectra or Laird WPC39S0B-001? That's assuming they call into dispatch or something of the sorts.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[kandrey89]

Thanks MarkClark, great insights! Can I pickup signal from the CHP vehicle in the field? Let's say he/she pulls someone over and I'm 3-5 miles away do you think I'll pick up that radio transmission using a Austin Spectra or Laird WPC39S0B-001? That's assuming they call into dispatch or something of the sorts.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

I haven't figured out how far out I can receive mobiles, but I think it's between 3-10 miles in the bay, at least.

 

[markclark]

K2theFEA:

The mobiles are repeated on CHP Gray, which covers Lake Tahoe and Truckee; so I don't monitor the mobile channel. With a good commercial antenna you can receive the mobile units for up to 20 miles on flat terrain and probably about 7-10 miles in mountainous terrain; there are exceptions of course. It all depends on how good your antenna is and if your radio has a noise blanker. The Austin Spectra just doesn't have the physical length to be an excellent performer on low band. It probably works well on flat terrain and high signal strength creating the illusion it is pulling in weak signals, but it would never cut it in the mountains or in the remote desert regions of the state where weak signals are the norm. You'll need to decide if listening to the CHP is important enough to install a commercial radio and commercial antenna for maximum reception in remote areas. Good luck!

 

[scottyhetzel]

Thanks MarkClark, great insights! Can I pickup signal from the CHP vehicle in the field? Let's say he/she pulls someone over and I'm 3-5 miles away do you think I'll pick up that radio transmission using a Austin Spectra or Laird WPC39S0B-001? That's assuming they call into dispatch or something of the sorts.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

I have both antennas, but run Austin...size and looks all around good 4 bander. There is a little bit more performance on the low band laird. However it suffers a bit on non vhf low freq. the best set up is a dedicated scanner with the low band antenna and Austin for above vhf and above with a dedicated scanner... The wide band low in black that Chp runs is bad a$$. Pricey though...

The mobile extender 700 MHz new freq. come in great on the Austin...of course with a digital scanner.

 

[K2theFEA]

K2theFEA:

The mobiles are repeated on CHP Gray, which covers Lake Tahoe and Truckee; so I don't monitor the mobile channel. With a good commercial antenna you can receive the mobile units for up to 20 miles on flat terrain and probably about 7-10 miles in mountainous terrain; there are exceptions of course. It all depends on how good your antenna is and if your radio has a noise blanker. The Austin Spectra just doesn't have the physical length to be an excellent performer on low band. It probably works well on flat terrain and high signal strength creating the illusion it is pulling in weak signals, but it would never cut it in the mountains or in the remote desert regions of the state where weak signals are the norm. You'll need to decide if listening to the CHP is important enough to install a commercial radio and commercial antenna for maximum reception in remote areas. Good luck!

Thanks MarkClark. Sounds like I have a lot more reading to do

I was hoping you could point me in the right direction. What exactly do you mean when you say, "commercial radio and commercial antenna?"

A) I'm only interested in scanning and not transmitting
B) This is only something I'm interested while I'm on the road driving, not something I plan on doing inside the house.

Do the caveats above remove me from the realm of commercial grade devices? If not, are there some models you can suggest I research?