Antennas for in-car use with UBCD996t

[okysmates]

Hi
We have just got a UCBD996t scanner (purchased new in Australia for a bit more than $838 (but fortunately not too much more)) for use in our 4WD truck (an OKA). We are new to scanning but have had CB and HF radios for some time now. We are wondering what would be the best antenna for our truck and where should we go to get it (we are in Sydney)? We like to travel outback and in remote destinations and would like to pick up anyone that might be out there with us.

We know we are prone to trashing antennas - our first satellite phone antenna didn't survive one trip, our second satellite phone antenna lived in a a nice dome which we trashed on our last trip (but at least the antenna was still intact), our HF radio antenna lost the last 4 inches on one of our trips and I can't count how many CB antennas we have had. The only antennas to survive our treatment unscathed thus far have been the nice flat ones for the GPS units.

Also we are keen to know where to find frequencies for Tasmania and where we can get help with programming the scanner. We are heading to Tasmania for a month at the end of January and would like to have it all up and running for the trip.

Cheers
Okysmates

 

[tanger32]

Hi,
For Tasmania please check out my website:
http://www.scanningtasmania.org

If you have any questions please drop me an email:
paulgblundell@yahoo.com.au

 

[SCPD]

Hmmm. Antenna for a 4x4 Okka. Love those vehicles. Had a ride in one ( a passenger fitted bus type ) at Alice Springs once. They wouldn't let me have a drive but!

OK not sure what antenna your going to use if you tend to smash them a lot. when I had a land cruiser, I used a standard UHF CB whip. BUt this is not good for wide band. It all depends on what you want to listen too. You can buy wide band scanner antenna whips form shops like Dick Smith. Maybe give one of the mobile One whips a try for a few months, see how it goes.

Other then that, I don't know. I have never seen a heavy duty scaner antenna yet. Suppose they dont expect people to be taking 996 scanners out into the bush where there isnt much to monitor generlaly anyway.

Also shops Like Andrews Communications at Greystanes near Parramatta in Sydney may be able to help you out with some of the imported antennas available.

 

[okysmates]

thanks

thanks Tanger32 the website link has been very useful

And thanks also to scanNSw - we basically want to be able to pick up anyone who is out where we are - which of course depends where we are at the time - city or bush. Therefore we need to be able to pick up a wide range of frequencies. Will go with some type of whip antenna and see how we go.

cheers okysmates

 

[okysmates]

Scanning in the outback

On the subject of taking a scanner in the bush -
Our interested was started about 5 years ago when we were crossing the Simpson Desert west to east on a trackless part of the desert. After about 10 days of not seeing or hearing another vehicle outside our party (except on HF radio) we picked up another party on the CB radio who were the support crew for a fellow know as "Lasso the Moon". Lasso the moon was walking across the desert from south to north. Using GPS units we were able to locate each other and arrange a meeting for lunch. We placed a geocache (see www.geocaching.com) out in the desert to commemorate the occasion of two parties crossing paths out in the middle of a trackless section of the desert.

We find it interesting to know who is around us and what is happening - like the time we were overtaken by police vehicles on the Stuart Highway halfway between Adelaide and Alice Springs. Hoping the scanner might help us with this.

Cheers
Okysmates

 

[SCPD]

Very interesting. I know 4x4 trail drivers out there use UHF CB all the time.
And Geocaching is great.I goit into it a bit years ago before rug rats came along. When they get bigger I might dig out my Garmin and take them into the bush.
The UBCD996T shoudl do the job perfectly for you. Amoung the other things you want to listen to,and will have to programin, the 996 has UHF CB built into it as a service search. You can actually add this search to your scanning as well, so when you scan your programmed banks, the scanner will go straight to the UHF CB service search and run through all the 40 channels. Great feature which shoul dbe put into other scanners if you ask me. I set mine up like this when doing runs up the coast.
The 996 has more then enough memories in it to cover as well. I have mine chockers full of stuff and thememory is not even a quarter full. So for adventurers like you its ideal.
I assume you have already, if not invest in a UHF CB anyway. One with a remote head and scanning capability.
For antennas, I currently use a Mobile One bandspanner which came with my 996.NOt my favourite antenna, but of you want one for wide band its idea. If you mainly want UHF frequencies like police and CB, then its probably better to go with an antenna more tuned for that area of the spectrum.
But the bandspanner I find works fine for UHF CB, Police, Airband, VHF low channels ( NSW VHF Police and NPWS ) and so on.

 

[okysmates]

We went with the antenna recommended by the guys at Andrews Communications - MobileOne SCATX 25 ~ 1300 mHz antenna. Have installed the antenna and the scanner in the truck and are picking up reasonably good signals but we have only the preprogrammed sites plus a few others in the scanner thus far. Will let you know how we go after our tasmanian trip.

We are working on programming in all the Tasmanian sites and are on a steep learning curve with the ARC996 software. We are hoping to copy and paste the frequencies in but have not yet worked out where we can get them in the appropriate format. The website link scanning tasmania has been very useful but we haven't worked out how to copy the frequencies. Any tips would be appreciated.

We have used the scan service function but how do we set up the scanner to scan the UHF CB frequencies along with the other systems we will have programmed in?

Cheers
Okysmates

 

[SCPD]

Try different software. Butel in the Netherlands sell software for the 996 as well. ARC996 pro has a feature called Web Catcher. Its basically and advanced cut and paste facility. You can select a whole web page full of frequencies and it works out whats a frequency and whats not. It puts these into a list which you can then move across the frequencies you want into an import box. These can then be dropped straight into the system file of your choice in the 996.

Find it at http://www.butel.nl