RS 20-032 for P25 phase 1 and 2?

Anybody have any opinions if this antenna is any good receiving P-25 transmissions?

I did a search on here and couldn't find an answer, however I did learn a metal plate improved reception! I had used this antenna for years both as a mobile on my cars and inside my home by usually just placing it on a wood window sill or table...listening to low band/VHF/UHF/800 trunked systems picking all of them up fairly well. Who knows what I could have pulled in if I had put a metal plate underneath it!

Anyhow, worked great on the systems I mentioned, any opinions on P-25 would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

There is no difference between P25 and non-P25. No such thing as an antenna for "digital" reception. If it works for non-P25, it will work for P25.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

Thanks Mark. I have been searching the forums trying my best to do my due diligence before pulling the trigger on a HP-2. I have come across quite a few of your posts and they have been very informative!

I have seen many folks on here swear by the RS 800 mhz (20-283) for portable/desktop use. Back in the day when I was scanning regularly, I always found I did better indoors with mobile antennas then anything made for portable use, such as telescoping antennas or rubber duckies. Any opinions on that? I was looking at using my old 20-032s or maybe buying a Pro-Com JBC290M just to have something new to go with my new HP-2 in case the 20-032s suck. If it helps, in my area I would be scanning a mix VHF/UHF/Motorola Type II trunked and P-25.

Antennas made for portable use, such as telescoping antennas or rubber duckies are inferior due to the lack of a ground plane. That is why mobile antennas work better on a cookie sheet or other flat metal base. I listen to 700/800 MHz. using a mobile antenna on a base kit atop a torch light pole (see the post link below). This setup works perfectly in my situation, unable to install an exterior antenna, feeding two scanners, my HP-2 for general monitoring, and my BCD996XT which monitors the Motorola Type II system for my feed.

Antennas are dependent on frequency not system type/mode. I use to use a directional Yagi antenna but our new P25 system requires me to listen to multiple sites from different directions and with that mobile/base kit antenna I am able to receive another P25 system about 20 miles to the NW as well, which I could not receive before.

http://forums.radioreference.com/oh...s-basic-programming-question.html#post2312246

I use An HP 1 with the RS 20-032, I also use a 2 ft square sheet metal for a ground plane. I have had no issues with recieving P-25 traffic or conventional traffic.. It's a great antenna that I use in my area as well as when I go to Seattle. So in my book it's a great antenna in my opinion..

Now you guys got me second guessing whether I even need to get a new antenna...LOL!

Thanks for the replies though. Glad to know my old RS antennas are still good!

statebear said:

Thanks Mark. I have been searching the forums trying my best to do my due diligence before pulling the trigger on a HP-2. I have come across quite a few of your posts and they have been very informative!

I have seen many folks on here swear by the RS 800 mhz (20-283) for portable/desktop use. Back in the day when I was scanning regularly, I always found I did better indoors with mobile antennas then anything made for portable use, such as telescoping antennas or rubber duckies. Any opinions on that? I was looking at using my old 20-032s or maybe buying a Pro-Com JBC290M just to have something new to go with my new HP-2 in case the 20-032s suck. If it helps, in my area I would be scanning a mix VHF/UHF/Motorola Type II trunked and P-25.

Click to expand...

The Radio Shack 800mz antenna is the best on-set antenna for the HP2. Terrific on 700 -900 mz while still being very good down to the vhf-hi band. Have a bunch of them.

If you are going to use a mobile antenna and set it up at home, the Laird TRAB7603 antenna is one of the best.

I use it for my mobile antenna and I am amazed at the stuff it pulls in. It's strength is the ground plane created on the roof, so it might be very good on a cookie sheet or some other configuration.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

marksmith said:

The Radio Shack 800mz antenna is the best on-set antenna for the HP2. Terrific on 700 -900 mz while still being very good down to the vhf-hi band. Have a bunch of them.

If you are going to use a mobile antenna and set it up at home, the Laird TRAB7603 antenna is one of the best.

I use it for my mobile antenna and I am amazed at the stuff it pulls in. It's strength is the ground plane created on the roof, so it might be very good on a cookie sheet or some other configuration.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

Click to expand...

Looked at the Laird at the Antenna Farm and looks good. What kind of mount would you use? Looked at some on the site, but configuring antennas is outside of my league....

I am used to ones that are magnetic plug and go right out the packaging type. I am guessing this Laird would not be bad on VHF-Hi as well? I got a county and some small PDs that are still on VHF in my area.

statebear said:

Looked at the Laird at the Antenna Farm and looks good. What kind of mount would you use? Looked at some on the site, but configuring antennas is outside of my league....

I am used to ones that are magnetic plug and go right out the packaging type. I am guessing this Laird would not be bad on VHF-Hi as well? I got a county and some small PDs that are still on VHF in my area.

Click to expand...

I use it with a Motorola magnet mount on my Explorer roof. Antenna farm has it also. Never tried it off the roof but it is hands down the best 800mz antenna I have ever used mobile, and I have a bunch of them. Even 1 bar reception is strong and clear. If you can receive it, you can receive it well. It's only a couple inches high also, so parking garages are not a problem and it's pretty hidden.

It will work OK on uhf and vhf-hi, but it's not the best in those ranges.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

W8RMH said:

...That is why mobile antennas work better on a cookie sheet or other flat metal base. ...

http://forums.radioreference.com/oh...s-basic-programming-question.html#post2312246

Click to expand...

I never thought about a cookie sheet. Is that large enough to provide benefit?

marksmith said:

I use it with a Motorola magnet mount on my Explorer roof. Antenna farm has it also. Never tried it off the roof but it is hands down the best 800mz antenna I have ever used mobile, and I have a bunch of them. Even 1 bar reception is strong and clear. If you can receive it, you can receive it well. It's only a couple inches high also, so parking garages are not a problem and it's pretty hidden.

It will work OK on uhf and vhf-hi, but it's not the best in those ranges.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

Click to expand...

Will check the mount out at the Farm. Thanks.

Here is another thought...

Spend the dough on the Uniden BC-GPSK Serial GPS Receiver to use when traveling. Or spend that money on a excellent mobile antenna set-up and just have favorites lists setup when I am traveling through known zip codes.

The reason I bring this up is, I am guessing with the GPS option once it detects your location changes it will load everything for that area, even stuff nowhere near where you are traveling. For example, if I am traveling on Interstate 44 coming into Tulsa, Oklahoma, I would mainly be interested in monitoring the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Tulsa County SO and Tulsa PD. Not Skiatook PD, Owasso PD, Collinsville PD..etc or any other agencies nowhere near the Interstate.

So if I know what the zip code is for Tulsa and I create a fav list off of that, could I not manually switch to that fav list once I get close to the Tulsa area and instantly avoid transmissions I don't want to hear?

Seems like with the GPS option, I would have to pull over and manually start deleting/blocking certain agencies, then continuing on my trip or just listen to them even though I am not interested.

Ideally, I would like to afford both the GPS unit and a high end mobile antenna, but it seems the more I look into this, the more I realize I may have to settle for one or the other at first

Straight GPS with reduced service types works, but the best is custom favorites lists with location control on.

I travel across a 3 state area on a trip. I have a favorites list for everything I am interested in along the way. I have also modified the circle ranges (larger) on some systems that are strong or I want to activate earlier.

Then as I make the trip only those systems and frequencies I have selected turn on and off through the trip and the number of them active at the same time is small so I can actually monitor events that happen.

I am using an HP2 on a mobile Laird rooftop antenna, so there is really no need for quick keys and I get the very readable screen to follow the activity.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

That is the IDEAL set-up right there. Time to start saving because that is how I would ultimately like to roll.

This request is for marksmith:
Mark: I have a RadioShack 668, the rubber duckie sucks. I'm assuming it's for wide band or dual band? So you're saying the RS 800mghz antenna is the solution to p25 phase II with this scanner?


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I just picked up a RadioShack 800MHZ antenna. Will let y'all know how that works out

I have 20-032 antennas on all three of my vehicles and they work great. I just bought an Austin Spectra and tried it, next to the 20-032 I am very disappointed on both UHF and VHF, I don;t have any 800 in my area that can be monitored (open Sky). The 20-032 showed higher % receiving using my PRO 96 and 2096 scanners although not by a great deal (5 to 10 %). For the money the 2-032 is my choice.

kb3isq said:

I have 20-032 antennas on all three of my vehicles and they work great. I just bought an Austin Spectra and tried it, next to the 20-032 I am very disappointed on both UHF and VHF, I don;t have any 800 in my area that can be monitored (open Sky). The 20-032 showed higher % receiving using my PRO 96 and 2096 scanners although not by a great deal (5 to 10 %). For the money the 2-032 is my choice.

Click to expand...

I actually got a whole bar's difference to the good on my Pro Comm vs. my 20-032. That was in the house on a pizza pan. Mobile wise, it was kind of reserved. The 20-32 did slightly better on my car then the Pro Comm.....

I plan on getting a Laird 150/450/800 as I have a mix of all those frequencies in my area. I had three of the RS models, but I broke two of them by tightening the very bottom allen screw to tight (for fear of it coming loose driving down the road) and ended stripping the thread in the connector

Lesson learned.....

Now I am down to one. Looked all over the internet for replacement parts with no luck. Went to my local Radio Shack (that is privately owned) and had no luck there either, owner told me they are no longer receiving parts/support from RS, what they had on the shelves RS wise was all they had with nothing more coming in.

Drill it out and retap next size larger.

I don't have the tools on hand, but luckily I only use one at a time, so I still have a good one. May end up taking the two others to a to a local CB shop and seeing what they can do. Thanks for the suggestion though.