Antenna Height Advice

[trainerman]

I have a Scanntenna mast mounted on my roof approximately 25ft. off the ground. It runs inside via 70ft. of RG-6 Quad Layer to a BCT-15. My question is I am thinking of taking the Scantenna up in height about another 8ft. on the mast but to do this I would have to use a coax coupler and add on another 8ft. or so of RG-6 at the antenna. Would having to add an additional joint in the cable offset any gain I would acheive by raising the antenna an additional 8ft? Is it worth my trouble? I mainly monitor 40-42 and 150-160 range.

 

[madnachos]

Unless the extra height gets the scantenna up above something that is currently blocking its line of sight the extra 8' would not be noticeable.

 

[kc8zdf]

Well here are your two choices in my opion. If you are already getting good signals at your current height then do you really need 8 more feet. You might answer your own question there. Second put any type of a connector in line to add on more is going to add db loss. Will you notice it probley not. Is the eight feet going to make up for the difference in loss only depending on if there is a roof somewhere in any direction that is blocking you from getting a good signal. Example you may rx good from the east but to the south your blocked so to say. So like I said in the first sentence you might be answering your own question if its really worth 8 feet. Then again if your rx just fine now I would not add. Only add if your going up like 30 more feet.

Hopefully I helped you out there and others will too. Height is always good.

73 kc8zdf, Brian

 

[zz0468]

The additional loss from the connector will not be noticeable, if you put the connectors on. What WILL be noticeable is all the extra work adding that 8 feet. And unless that extra connector is well waterproofed, it now becomes a weak link in the reliability of your antenna system.

As previously stated, unless it's currently blocked, 8 feet isn't going to buy you enough to make all the trouble worthwhile.

 

[sflmonitor]

Adding 8 feet to your antenna height will net you an addtional mile or so to the horizon (line of sight). I agree with zz0468 about the extra work and the vulnerability of the link to the weather may not be worthwhile unless you REALLY need the extra height.

 

[JohnSPWD]

If you run some LMR 400 cable that will probably make up the difference.

 

[rescuecomm]

If you are trying to hear comms that you can't hear now, I would try a more specific freq antenna rather than the scantenna. Changing to LMR 400 will help but again, who are you trying to hear that you can't hear now. Eight feet is not a lot.

BOB

 

[trainerman]

Thanks for all the help. 8 feet is just the distance to the top of my mast and would be all I could go. Just trying to max out all my options, but it sounds like any extra gain would not be worth the effort to achieve it. I receive what I want to hear well now, but again...just trying to get all I can. What do you think is an additional distance that is worth the extra effort? Another 15ft.? 20ft?

 

[k9rzz]

If you're pretty much above the trees and houses now, then no, it wouldn't make much sense to go up 8 more feet. BUT, if you think that you can clear some trees, or see above that distant hilltop, then YES! do it. You could see an improvement. I would swap in new feedline right away too.

John K9RZZ

 

[Don_Burke]

Thanks for all the help. 8 feet is just the distance to the top of my mast and would be all I could go. Just trying to max out all my options, but it sounds like any extra gain would not be worth the effort to achieve it. I receive what I want to hear well now, but again...just trying to get all I can. What do you think is an additional distance that is worth the extra effort? Another 15ft.? 20ft?

Once you have line of sight to the transmitter, any additional height just costs you in feedline losses and may cause problems by introducing interfering signals.

As long as you are clear of surrounding objects, 25 feet is great for the vast majority of scanning.

I would raise the antenna that other eight feet the next time I replaced the cable.

 

[timmer]

If you REALLY want to hear something long distance in a particular direction, and you have the $$ to spend, you could try a log periodic. Either Create, sold by Grove and I think Universal radio, or DPD productions sells a good one. If you want cheaper the Grove scanner beam is pretty good. Put a rotor on your mast and you can zero in on long distance signals such aircraft and NOAA weather radio stations, as well as others. A relatively inexpensive rotor can be bought at Walmart or Menard's for about $60.00.

 

[timmer]

If you REALLY want to hear something long distance in a particular direction, and you have the $$ to spend, you could try a log periodic. Either Create, sold by Grove and I think Universal radio, or DPD productions sells a good one. If you want cheaper the Grove scanner beam is pretty good. Put a rotor on your mast and you can zero in on long distance signals such aircraft and NOAA weather radio stations, as well as others. A relatively inexpensive rotor can be bought at Walmart or Menard's for about $60.00.

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi Trainer and all,

Let's keep this SIMPLE, we all know that height is might but there comes the point of diminishing returns, in the coax. 8' buys nothing but if you want more signal go for the gold but don't forget the golden rule, the best coax costs a lot of gold.

When you guys get done confusing him please give my regards to the cave man.