Antenna help please...

[Duramaxman]

I went out and bought an umbrella type antenna, it said right on it "scanner antenna". I put it up on the front of my house about 5' higher than the roof and it picks up my local county,ems really well. I want to be able to pick up the KSP which has a freq of 460.22500, the locals run on 154, 155.... Can you PLEASE tell me if I have the wrong antenna to pick up KSP and why? If so tell me what kind I can get that will pick up BOTH equally well, THANKS! Oh yea i Have the Pro 106

 

[kma371]

First start with which antenna you actually bought. Do you have a model number?


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[N8IAA]

I went out and bought an umbrella type antenna, it said right on it "scanner antenna". I put it up on the front of my house about 5' higher than the roof and it picks up my local county,ems really well. I want to be able to pick up the KSP which has a freq of 460.22500, the locals run on 154, 155.... Can you PLEASE tell me if I have the wrong antenna to pick up KSP and why? If so tell me what kind I can get that will pick up BOTH equally well, THANKS! Oh yea i Have the Pro 106

If it is the antenna with the 4 ground plane radials and an approximately 20" vertical rod, it should be fine. Hopefully, you have the correct NAC (network access code) for your division of the KSP. Also, understand that UHF frequencies can and will be interfered with by buildings, trees, etc.. All digital frequencies operate on lower power than analog. Something else, if you know how far the towers are from your home, can also play into how well you hear them. Here in Georgia, our state police operate on simplex. I can only hear them on their mobiles if they are close to me. Your state police operate the dispatch on a repeater, so you shouldn't have a problem. If you do, you may want to extend the antenna by another 5'.
HTH,
Larry

 

[Duramaxman]

First start with which antenna you actually bought. Do you have a model

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Radio Shack 20-176, also it picked the KSP with the 17.99 extendable antenna from RS. Then i put this one on and it wont pick up ksp at all from home.

 

[n0lqt]

Radio Shack 20-176, also it picked the KSP with the 17.99 extendable antenna from RS. Then i put this one on and it wont pick up ksp at all from home.

With most antenna installations, it is the coax cable that makes the biggest difference. If you have over 50 feet of coax between your radio and the antenna, you may want to get some 9913 (RG-8X) or better cable. The reason is due to loss down the cable at higher frequencies. These are the specs for Belden 9913:

Loss @ 100 MHz = 1.3 dB
Loss @ 400 MHz = 2.7 dB
Loss @ 1000 MHz = 4.5 dB
​

Compare that with RG-58 coax:

Loss @ 100 MHz = 4.9 dB
Loss @ 400 MHz = 11.0 dB
Loss @ 1000 MHz = 20.0 dB​

At 11 dB loss per 100' you've lost almost 80% of your signal by the time it gets to the radio. Now that you've got a good outside antenna, be sure to back it up with equally good coax to minimize the loss.

 

[nodak1crdet3]

I believe your PRO-106 is a handheld scanner. Try turning on the Attenuator for that KSP freq 460.22500. The new antenna might be overloading the front end of your scanner. The 20-176 is a good antenna, I've had one for many years & still use it today.

 

[Duramaxman]

I bought the cable that had the ends already on it , PL-259 I thinks called. 50' is all i have from scanner to antenna.

 

[LtDoc]

I think your best bet with your present antenna is to get it as high as possible. That will improve things, but it certainly isn't going to make things as good as you'd like. The 400 Mhz band isn't what your antenna was designed for, so while it will 'do' if stations are close enough, if they are at any distance forget it. (Like trying to squeeze a horse through a hole made for a cat.) If you really want to cover both bands (VHF/UHF) then either find a multi-band antenna that covers both bands, or just an antenna for UHF to add to your present antenna. Both of those options aren't cheap or simple. Not impossible, just not very easy/simple/cheap.
Have fun and good luck.
- 'Doc

 

[N8IAA]

I think your best bet with your present antenna is to get it as high as possible. That will improve things, but it certainly isn't going to make things as good as you'd like. The 400 Mhz band isn't what your antenna was designed for, so while it will 'do' if stations are close enough, if they are at any distance forget it. (Like trying to squeeze a horse through a hole made for a cat.) If you really want to cover both bands (VHF/UHF) then either find a multi-band antenna that covers both bands, or just an antenna for UHF to add to your present antenna. Both of those options aren't cheap or simple. Not impossible, just not very easy/simple/cheap.Have fun and good luck.- 'Doc

With respect, that was my main dual band antenna for years. It was mounted in the attic and performed great. It will cover 154-470MHz because it is cut for those bands.
Larry

 

[N8IAA]

Radio Shack 20-176, also it picked the KSP with the 17.99 extendable antenna from RS. Then i put this one on and it wont pick up ksp at all from home.

Just out of curiousity, why did you go for the outdoor antenna if the telescopic antenna worked. Did you have problems receiving your local frequencies Was there something else other than local and KSP that you needed an outdoor antenna? Not meaning to sound like I'm picking on your choice, but like the old saying goes: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Larry

 

[04Z1V6]

Radio Shack 20-176, also it picked the KSP with the 17.99 extendable antenna from RS. Then i put this one on and it wont pick up ksp at all from home.

That thing sucked for me I ended up taking it down and putting up a discone antenna from radio shack and love it.

 

[Duramaxman]

Just out of curiousity, why did you go for the outdoor antenna if the telescopic antenna worked. Did you have problems receiving your local frequencies Was there something else other than local and KSP that you needed an outdoor antenna? Not meaning to sound like I'm picking on your choice, but like the old saying goes: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Larry

Well, it WOULD pick up the locals but not very well, so i thought an outdoor antenna would make a stronger signal. Also i live in the country, my house is right in the middle of the field. I live about 20 miles from town, but i can pick up other towns 45 miles aways good on freq 154, 155... Its just the 450, 460's Im having trouble with.

 

[Duramaxman]

I believe your PRO-106 is a handheld scanner. Try turning on the Attenuator for that KSP freq 460.22500. The new antenna might be overloading the front end of your scanner. The 20-176 is a good antenna, I've had one for many years & still use it today.

How do i do that for just one freq?

 

[Rsmims]

That thing sucked for me I ended up taking it down and putting up a discone antenna from radio shack and love it.

I'm using a RS Discone myself for all my scanners AND I've used it on my 2 meter rig, both transmit and receive. It's about 10 feet above my roof line, about 40 feet up total and it REALLY does the job.

I got it for free from a friend after all but 2 of the radials broke off after the wind blew a tree branch in to it. The original radials are hollow stainless steel tubes. I bought a couple 10 foot lengths of solid stainless rod, cut them to size to use as replacements , threaded the ends, and used Blue Loctite to install them, and it works GREAT.

I've had it up for 3 years now and it supplies all my feeds. Plus I can hit repeaters 100+ miles away on 2 meters at 50 watts with it.

I cannot complain about it at all, and the price was right.

 

[nocpire]

Antenna

Of course the overall situation will provide the requirements for the setup, but I'm surprised that nobody has recomended a pre-amp. (provided of course that he's not in a strong emi zone to begin with).

 

[04Z1V6]

How do i do that for just one freq?

You press ATT when an object is displayed on the screen. So it may be tough but you can wait until the frequency or TG is displayed or you can hit the page up arrow in manual mode and press ATT. If you use software like Win500 you can go to all objects and there is a att check box.

 

[04Z1V6]

I did the same thing and got a hard time on this forum when I asked about it in the antenna forum this has been a great mod for this antenna.

I also should have mentioned the pre-amp this helped my long range signals a bunch.

 

[Duramaxman]

Just now i unplugged the outdoor antenna, plugged in the factory one and the KSP started screaming at me. BUT know i cant pick up local...haha. You guys probly think im kidding but im not.

 

[KC5EIB]

Must be getting front end overload from TV and FM radio signals. Try turning the ATT for just the KSP frequency or add a FM trap to the lead in from the antenna.

 

[Duramaxman]

Must be getting front end overload from TV and FM radio signals. Try turning the ATT for just the KSP frequency or add a FM trap to the lead in from the antenna.

How do i go about doing that? Also, this is probly a dumb question but im new so I get to ask a few. Why cant i just use 2 antennas, or will one effect the other?