Does anyone here use an outdoor antenna for their scanner?

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svenmarbles

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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.
 

dmg1969

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This is the actual antenna that it is (I paid half that price). Very highly reviewed on Eham. Evidently it's also very good for 144-440 transmitting, but I'm not a ham.

Outdoor VHF-Hi/UHF Scanner Antenna - Radioshack

I have three antennas in my attic and the RS VHF-Hi/UHF is one of them. I just put it up there in the beginning of December. I like it. I got it because my county is in the planning stages of switching from low band to VHF. I am currently using in on my home base scanner and it works well...including on low band.
 

autovon

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That was the first outdoor scanner antenna I had. Outside antennas make a world of difference. Band specific ones do too.
 

PACNWDude

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Diamond discone here. Tried the Radio Shack version first, but the elements just corroded off in a couple of years. Lived closer to salt water in those days though.
 

BillMcE

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Neptune City, NJ
I'm using a $10 hi band VHF directional yagi in my attic. It's pointed towards an area where I'd like to hear & lot of stuff & it works great on all bands & in all directions. Would love to get it on the roof, but I live in a condo, so no can do.
 

kb2hpw

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I've got one of those Radio Shack discones (sputnik!) in my attic, works great for the scanner. had it for over 20yrs. Was in the attic of another house, I broke a couple of the radials off moving it to this house, haven't noticed any real degradation on receive. I used to use it for 220mhz and 440mhz transmit too back in the day (early 90's) back in the other house. SWR was too high on 2m. It just sits on the remaining radials on the joists up in the attic. Works pretty well on the VHF-LOW stuff too. I used to tell non-radio types that it was a broken umbrella made into an antenna :)
 

ic_geeps

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Cottage Grove, MN
Used an outdoor mast mounted RS VHF-Hi/UHF for nearly 30 years doing public safety and railroad scanning. Yes indeed it worked rather well for 2 meter ham transmitting!! When I got a "new to me" Pro-197, I got a new Antennacraft ST2 antenna - so far been pleased with its scanning performance.
 

svenmarbles

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I'm using a $10 hi band VHF directional yagi in my attic. It's pointed towards an area where I'd like to hear & lot of stuff & it works great on all bands & in all directions. Would love to get it on the roof, but I live in a condo, so no can do.

I'm in a similar situation but I've taken the liberty of putting this up anyway. It'll stay up until anyone tells me different :D. I notice a guy down the street has done more or less the same exact thing but he's got a direct TV dish on his pointing to the south (over his roof line). So I don't know why I can't do the same thing for a radio antenna. Hey, some people watch TV as a hobby, I like to fart around with radio stuff.

http://bearshq.com/antenna.jpg (here's how it looks)

It's funny, because I actually have been toying with the idea of buying another 15 feet of mast and getting it even higher.
 

BillMcE

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Neptune City, NJ
I'm in a similar situation but I've taken the liberty of putting this up anyway. It'll stay up until anyone tells me different :D. I notice a guy down the street has done more or less the same exact thing but he's got a direct TV dish on his pointing to the south (over his roof line). So I don't know why I can't do the same thing for a radio antenna. Hey, some people watch TV as a hobby, I like to fart around with radio stuff.

http://bearshq.com/antenna.jpg (here's how it looks)

It's funny, because I actually have been toying with the idea of buying another 15 feet of mast and getting it even higher.

That doesn't look so bad to me, since it appears to be in the back of your place. At my development, there are dozens of direct TV dishes, many mounted in very silly places such as above the front porch. Yet, I don't think I'd get away with an antenna, even on the back of my place. Good luck!
 

ScannerSK

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Weld County, Colorado
In my earlier years, I use to pull an antenna mounted on a flat piece of wood up a 70' tree with coax running down into the house. That was some good reception!

Shawn
73s
 

RoninJoliet

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I have three of the RS antennas shown on this thread, 2 in the attic using RG6U and LMR400, they pick up the IL-Starcom Digital 700/800 system great.....
 

jiminpgh

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Pittsburgh, PA
You have made the second step into the hobby, nice.
Chicago is an easy place for radio, you can get it about half right and still hear a lot.

Outdoor antennas are a cancer, they just keep growing in size and number.
My advice: STOP NOW!

enjoy
 
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