Best replacement of stock HP2 antenna
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Your question does not give anywhere near enough information for anyone to answer it accurately.
1. Do you want a rubber duck replacement, indoor (i.e. attic mount ) or outdoor antenna (i.e. roof mount)?
2. What band(s) do you want/need to monitor (VHF-Low, VHF-Air, VHF-High, UHF, UHF-T, 800-900 MHz, etc.)?
3. What is your budget for replacing the stock antenna?
N5TWB
Member
trp2525 asks good questions that you should answer but I'll just throw out that I found the good old Radio Shack 800 MHz scanner antenna has worked great for me.
Thanks for the responses. I am brand new to this and my desire is to listen to local emergency depts. PD and FD from home as well as while travelling in my vehicle. I do plan to get the GPS unit for using in my car. Unless I absolutely have to, I do not plan to install an attic antenna and definitely will not be installing a roof mount antenna. That said, it will be a rubber duck antenna that would hopefully perform better than the stock antenna to ensure I get the most out of the HP2. Budget is to be less than $200.
I found more information on the equipment used by the Public Safety entities in my home county - Oakland County, MI. It is a state-of-the-art digital Voice over Internet Protocol 800 MHz system
The system uses of two types of OpenSky stations: High Profile sites which are intended to cover relatively large areas, and Cell sites, which are used primarily to fill in coverage "holes" between high-profile sites and improve in-building coverage. I hope this helps in recommending a good antenna. Thank you.
The system uses of two types of OpenSky stations: High Profile sites which are intended to cover relatively large areas, and Cell sites, which are used primarily to fill in coverage "holes" between high-profile sites and improve in-building coverage. I hope this helps in recommending a good antenna. Thank you.
FYI per the Radio Reference Wiki, "OpenSky cannot be monitored by any scanner": OpenSky - The RadioReference Wiki
If you are interested in monitoring other 800 MHz radio systems that your scanner can monitor (i.e. analog, P25 phase I, P25 phase II, etc.) I would recommend the Remtronix 800 MHz antenna (Remtronix REM-800B, Diamond REM-800S Scanner Antenna). The Remtronix antenna is the same antenna as the Radio Shack 800 MHz antenna (https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-800mhz-scanner-antenna) already recommended by RR member N5TWB above in post #4 but is just sold under a different brand name and is available in an SMA version.
There's a rather glaring error in the linked page--it claims "Like ProVoice Open Sky cannot be monitored by any scanner, past or future."
This is laughable. Uniden scanners just got ProVoice capability, and if a radio can be built to receive something, a scanner can be built to receive it as well. Perhaps no current scanner receives OpenSky, but claiming no future scanner will ever receive it is right up there with "640K should be enough for anybody."
Blackswan73
Active Member
The radio can't be built if the owner of the technology won't license it out, which is the case with Open Sky
So that applies to current scanners. It does not, however, guarantee that no scanner in the future will be able to receive it. Especially when SDR applications like DSD+ are reverse-engineering unlicensed digital protocols, which offers a legal means to receive systems like OpenSky even if the manufacturer never licenses their codec.
Thanks guys. Being new to this, I just spent the past hour reading up on OpenSky and think I have a decent understanding of it now. Certainly my county, which has OpenSky was my primary interest, I have discovered that surrounding counties are not on OpenSky and may very well be receivable for the HP2 that I am considering purchasing. I have received a couple of antenna suggestions, like the RS800 and comparable clones of it. As I will be trying to reach out to adjacent counties, it makes getting the best possible antenna even more important to me. That said, any further recommendations for the best antenna, is most welcomed. Thanks.
According to your previous post you have not yet purchased the HP2 that you are currently seeking the "best" antenna for. Wouldn't it make sense to first actually purchase the HP2 and see how the scanner with the stock antenna actually performs for what YOU are interested in listening to in your area? You MAY find that the stock antenna meets your needs in your area.
Regarding the Radio Shack 800 MHz and the Remtronix 800 MHz antennas, those antennas are optimized for 800 MHz reception. While it is true that they will also work adequately on UHF/UHF-T they would certainly not be your "best" choice if you want to seriously monitor VHF-Low or VHF-High channels in your area.
Also as an FYI the HP2 antenna connection is an SMA connection. Therefore any antenna or coax that you hook up to it would have to terminate in an SMA connector either directly or through the use of an SMA adapter. This should also be a determining factor as to which antenna you choose. The Radio Shack 800 MHz antenna terminates in a BNC connector which would require a BNC-to-SMA adapter to connect to your HP2. The Remtronix 800 MHz antenna is available in an SMA version which would not require a BNC-to-SMA adapter. In either case you would also need to use a 90-degree adapter to orient the antenna in a vertical position while the HP2 is in a horizontal position (like sitting on a desk).
Unless you are going to be monitoring very strong/repeated channels, you shouldn't expect to have excellent reception of your surrounding/adjacent counties with just a rubber duck antenna. For longer-range monitoring like that at your home, especially for lower-power or non-repeated channels, an attic-mount (better) or roof-mount (best) antenna would perform MUCH better compared to a rubber duck. For mobile use an outside-of-the-vehicle mobile antenna will certainly outperform a rubber duck antenna that is inside of the vehicle.
WQPW689
Member
I've found Diamond's SRH789 works very well on my HP2 for the house. It's telescoping, so useful for many frequencies, has the angle joint hinge, and is SMA for direct connection.
Works very nicely in the back bedroom away from my main antenna and pretty much facing away from most of the transmission sources. Wouldn't be ideal for the car though. For that I use an Opek AM800 window mount and a plain old Diamond SRH77CA. Works surprisingly well.
Of course, range will be a factor, but good luck.
Works very nicely in the back bedroom away from my main antenna and pretty much facing away from most of the transmission sources. Wouldn't be ideal for the car though. For that I use an Opek AM800 window mount and a plain old Diamond SRH77CA. Works surprisingly well.
Of course, range will be a factor, but good luck.
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