Are These Worth it??

[mikeydcg2003]

I found this antenna on ebay which i did purcahse due to the price not being terrible. Was wondering if anyone had one of these and how they work. I figure give it a try.
http://cgi.ebay.com/15-J-POLE-SCANN...hZ017QQcategoryZ14956QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

 

[mancow]

I wouldn't expect too much. It's just some wire in a pvc tube but it may work better than a portable radio's antenna.

 

[ericksonmj]

I have one, the price was right, dont expect a whole lot, but better than the rubber ducky, just a little better than a diamond Rh77CA. But like I said for the price not bad.

 

[blueangel-eric]

I found this antenna on ebay which i did purcahse due to the price not being terrible. Was wondering if anyone had one of these and how they work. I figure give it a try.
http://cgi.ebay.com/15-J-POLE-SCANN...hZ017QQcategoryZ14956QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

there's more hype in that ad then antenna information on that antenna. How can a Jpole be 15 inches? All the jpole plans i've seen are 55inches more or less. I wonder what the design and specs for that thing is.

Eric Burris

 

[trooperdude]

LOL, Physics. It's not just a good suggestion, it's the law.

 

[ka3jjz]

Indeed. That EBay item is overstated hyperbole. A J Pole is usually cut to a single freq and good for perhaps 1 mhz in either direction - after that, it's not likely to work all that well. This PDF file from Buck Rogers K4ABT is a pretty good descriptioin of how they're built and what they do...

http://www.buxcomm.com/pdfzips/The J Pole HANDBOOK.pdf

We have several scanner antennas linked in our wiki. I'd start there if I were looking at scanner antennas...of course, the ScanTenna and Diamond Discone are 2 that are pretty much the champs, but there are others, too.

73s Mike

 

[SkipSanders]

If you want actual, high quality J-Pole antennas for various frequencies, here's the place:

http://kb9vbr.com/products.php

Note that you'd get a J-Pole for listening to specific parts of even VHF Hi-band, not for whole bands. (Though it'll work, it's best used at its design frequency).

He makes them for aircraft, MURS, Marine, GMRS, and ham bands, along with one for Low Power FM broadcasters. Notice that a 'real' J-pole for high band is around 60" tall. One for 440 MHz is 30" or so. To fit in 18", it'd have to be an 800 MHz J-pole, I'd think. Not a bad thing to have, but nothing like a 'universal' antenna the way it's hyped.

 

[blueangel-eric]

If you want actual, high quality J-Pole antennas for various frequencies, here's the place:

http://kb9vbr.com/products.php

Note that you'd get a J-Pole for listening to specific parts of even VHF Hi-band, not for whole bands. (Though it'll work, it's best used at its design frequency).

He makes them for aircraft, MURS, Marine, GMRS, and ham bands, along with one for Low Power FM broadcasters. Notice that a 'real' J-pole for high band is around 60" tall. One for 440 MHz is 30" or so. To fit in 18", it'd have to be an 800 MHz J-pole, I'd think. Not a bad thing to have, but nothing like a 'universal' antenna the way it's hyped.

I see no mention in this forum about Arrow Antennas http://www.arrowantennas.com/
he also does custom frequencies. He has a wideband Jpole model, also MURS/GMRS and of course ham radio models. I built one based off those and it works great.