Larsen NMO 150/450/800 Antenna

tbharper · Jan 16, 2018

I have ordered the Larsen NMO 150/450/800 Antenna with a ground kit. Replacing all my coax with lmr 400, which consists of 100ft split to two 25ft. My previous setup was a Tram 1410 Discone 25-1300, with 100ft rg6 split to two 25ft. I was just wandering did I make a good choice, or am I wasting money? I live n Macon County TN and monitor other surrounding Counties such as Sumner Tn, Clay Tn, Trousdale Tn, THP district 3&6, Allen KY, Monroe KY and Some KSP in those counties. Please don't be afraid to hurt my feelings. BTW, this is going on a 25ft mast. Thanks in advance!!!

lou9155 · Jan 16, 2018

its a wonderfull antenna..i use one mobile..you will not be disappointed

Ubbe · Jan 17, 2018

$150 coax, $50 antenna, probably $50 for the crimp tool needed to fit the connectors and then add the work.

I would had kept it as it was and just added a good $30 antenna amplifier, a $20 power injector and a $10 variable attenuater. Then the loss of half the signal in that splitter to two 25ft will also be compensated for.

The total loss with LMR400 and splitter at 900MHz are 8dB and with RG6 11dB. Using the discone with an amplifier will overcome the whole loss in coax and splitter and probably also improve the generell reception from the discone.

But anyhow you improved the coax by 3dB using the LMR400 and then whatever the 17" Larsen whip could improve over the 36" discone.

/Ubbe

tbharper · Jan 17, 2018

Ubbe said:
$150 coax, $50 antenna, probably $50 for the crimp tool needed to fit the connectors and then add the work.

I would had kept it as it was and just added a good $30 antenna amplifier, a $20 power injector and a $10 variable attenuater. Then the loss of half the signal in that splitter to two 25ft will also be compensated for.

The total loss with LMR400 and splitter at 900MHz are 8dB and with RG6 11dB. Using the discone with an amplifier will overcome the whole loss in coax and splitter and probably also improve the generell reception from the discone.

But anyhow you improved the coax by 3dB using the LMR400 and then whatever the 17" Larsen whip could improve over the 36" discone.

/Ubbe

Didn't buy no crimp tool, cables already have fittings 259 on the 100ft and n connectors on 25ft. Thanks for being honest, BTW I do have an amplifier I forgot to mention that a electroline eda-2200.

Ubbe · Jan 18, 2018

That Electroline seems to be a usuable amplifier with 11,5dB gain and less than 3dB NF noise.

You use that as the splitter at the 100ft point to the two 25ft runs?
I would had moved it to the antenna and using a $5 passive 3dB splitter and you don't need to change the coax.

/Ubbe

tbharper · Jan 18, 2018

So putting the Electroline at the antenna, would make a big difference.

Ubbe · Jan 18, 2018

It would compare to using this $300 antenna instead of the Larsen:
https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1825.html

/Ubbe

tbharper · Jan 18, 2018

Ubbe said:
It would compare to using this $300 antenna instead of the Larsen:
https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1825.html

/Ubbe

Guess I will try that this weekend.

druhe · Jan 19, 2018

Ubbe said:
$150 coax, $50 antenna, probably $50 for the crimp tool needed to fit the connectors and then add the work.

I would had kept it as it was and just added a good $30 antenna amplifier, a $20 power injector and a $10 variable attenuater. Then the loss of half the signal in that splitter to two 25ft will also be compensated for.

The total loss with LMR400 and splitter at 900MHz are 8dB and with RG6 11dB. Using the discone with an amplifier will overcome the whole loss in coax and splitter and probably also improve the generell reception from the discone.

But anyhow you improved the coax by 3dB using the LMR400 and then whatever the 17" Larsen whip could improve over the 36" discone.

/Ubbe

Would you please supply a source for the $10 variable attenuator you mentioned. I've been searching for one and have been unable to locate one at a reasonable price. Needed for 800 mhz. Thanks in Advance

Ubbe · Jan 19, 2018

For some reason they don't turn up easily when searching for US suppliers, I don't know why.
They probably have them at any place that sells satellite equipment like LNB, dishes and sat receivers.

Search "variable attenuator" on amazon and ebay and you will find one for $9.99 that have "line" connectors, whatever that is. What shows up most are super expensive $25 König models.

/Ubbe

druhe · Jan 19, 2018

Ubbe said:
For some reason they don't turn up easily when searching for US suppliers, I don't know why.
They probably have them at any place that sells satellite equipment like LNB, dishes and sat receivers.

Search "variable attenuator" on amazon and ebay and you will find one for $9.99 that have "line" connectors, whatever that is. What shows up most are super expensive $25 König models.

/Ubbe

Thanks for the tip. Everything on Amazon is sold out now, I'll keep watch on that. As for EBAY I'll need to explore that a bit deeper. Everything I came up with from Google is $180.00 and up. Twenty five dollars isn't unreasonable in my opinion

EMTJD · Feb 8, 2018

tbharper said:
I have ordered the Larsen NMO 150/450/800 Antenna with a ground kit. Replacing all my coax with lmr 400, which consists of 100ft split to two 25ft. My previous setup was a Tram 1410 Discone 25-1300, with 100ft rg6 split to two 25ft. I was just wandering did I make a good choice, or am I wasting money? I live n Macon County TN and monitor other surrounding Counties such as Sumner Tn, Clay Tn, Trousdale Tn, THP district 3&6, Allen KY, Monroe KY and Some KSP in those counties. Please don't be afraid to hurt my feelings. BTW, this is going on a 25ft mast. Thanks in advance!!!

No, you would not be wasting money.

When I bought my 536, I went into my local HRO store as I wanted to buy the Austin Spectra. The manager, there, told me “don’t waste your money” and suggested that I try the Larsen, which was a fourth of the price of the Austin. I said, “but it’s not tuned for “VHF-Lo”! “ and I needed that for CHP. He said don’t worry, it works great. And you know what? It does. So, no, you won’t be wasting your money. It works great.

bobmich52 · Feb 8, 2018

lou9155 said:
its a wonderfull antenna..i use one mobile..you will not be disappointed

Strong recommendation here also

Works well. On all bands

Low profile
On the front Q/P of my 2012 Tucson

JamesO · Feb 8, 2018

druhe said:
Thanks for the tip. Everything on Amazon is sold out now, I'll keep watch on that. As for EBAY I'll need to explore that a bit deeper. Everything I came up with from Google is $180.00 and up. Twenty five dollars isn't unreasonable in my opinion

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Adjustable...414023?hash=item25d1aaaf07:g:6ZUAAOSw32lYyF~d

https://www.amazon.com/Konig-Variable-attenuator-20-SAT-ATT20-KN/dp/B002KD7OPE

https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.a...8asklTEIhOidOGhBcJn-tKziZjPjf_94aAovjEALw_wcB

https://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=tva-20

tbharper · Feb 8, 2018

So far I am very happy with the changes I made, whether it be the cable or antenna. A lot of what of the weaker channels are coming in very clear now, I would say about 75% improvement. I was out around $200 dollars and I think it was well worth it.

CorwinScansNM · Feb 8, 2018

tbharper said:
So far I am very happy with the changes I made, whether it be the cable or antenna. A lot of what of the weaker channels are coming in very clear now, I would say about 75% improvement. I was out around $200 dollars and I think it was well worth it.

Which antenna are you using & happy with? The Create Log-Periodic 5130-2N or the Larsen NMO 150/450/800 Antenna? Just curious.

tbharper · Feb 9, 2018

Larsen NMO 150/450/800 with a ground plain kit. I got both from Cheapham.com .

SCPD · Feb 9, 2018

tbharper said:
I have ordered the Larsen NMO 150/450/800 Antenna with a ground kit. Replacing all my coax with lmr 400, which consists of 100ft split to two 25ft. My previous setup was a Tram 1410 Discone 25-1300, with 100ft rg6 split to two 25ft. I was just wandering did I make a good choice, or am I wasting money? I live n Macon County TN and monitor other surrounding Counties such as Sumner Tn, Clay Tn, Trousdale Tn, THP district 3&6, Allen KY, Monroe KY and Some KSP in those counties. Please don't be afraid to hurt my feelings. BTW, this is going on a 25ft mast. Thanks in advance!!!

I dont do much with 800 mhz but I love this antenna

Larsen NMO 150/450/800 Antenna

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