I've been playing around with scanners since I was a kid, and never really did anything with anything besides the provided unit antenna for any scanner I've ever owned. Well, yesterday I decided to pop into a Radioshack after learning that they're more or less liquidating all of their inventory (It's not looking too good for "The Shack"), 50-70% everything in the store. I bought the radioshack outdoor scanner antenna, many feet of coax terminating to BNCs, and about 15 feet of mast. I mounted the mast/antenna outside in the outter corner of the railings of our balcony and the height gets the antenna up past the roof line as we're on the top floor of the building. WOW! I'm located in a south suburb of Chicago and I'm able to pull in the weather radio station for an area almost 100 miles away, police/fire/business from places WAY up north that I could never hear. All CPD districts. Best of all, the antenna is terminating to this radio http://support.radioshack.com/support_tutorials/communications/Images/20-424.jpg , Just a budget model conventional VHF-UHF 30-512 desktop.
Bottom line,.. If you've never experimented with an outdoor antenna, I recommend everyone head over to their local Radioshack and buy the setup I just put together on clearance for about $45 total.. You're going to find things that you were totally deaf on with the telescopic whips and rubber duck antennas.
Bottom line,.. If you've never experimented with an outdoor antenna, I recommend everyone head over to their local Radioshack and buy the setup I just put together on clearance for about $45 total.. You're going to find things that you were totally deaf on with the telescopic whips and rubber duck antennas.