Apartment Antenna

[akniller]

I am looking for a way to improve reception inside my apartment building. I have a Kenwood portable radio and a Motorola Tone pager and I cannot get reception on either device. Any suggestions would be greatly appreiciated! I am looking for anything so that I can pick up the Frequency's that I Need to monitor!! Thanks

 

[ka3jjz]

Likely as not no one can do much about the pager - but what's this Kenwood portable radio??? Maybe - just maybe - a mag mount on an air conditioning unit might be a possibility, but no one can say unless more information is supplied - like the model number, frequency range, what you are trying to hear. Sounds like the apartment is on a ground floor, or has a whole lot of metal around....73s Mike

 

[akniller]

I am trying to monitor (155.925) our police dispatch. I am roughly 20 miles from where wer are dispatched out of, and I dont know if that is part of the problem??? Would a scanner pick up the frequencies that my portable will not?? New to this so any suggestions would be great!!

 

[Raven95150]

I wouldn't put a mag mount on an A/C unit unless you don't use the A/C very much. The A/C unit would be a huge source of interference when it is running. Apartments are a problem because they usually wont let you put up any kind of outdoor antenna. I lived in a 3rd floor apartment for a while...I stuck a mag mount out on the balcony railing and no noe ever noticed it was there. Do you work for the police dept or are you just trying to listen to it? If you work for the police dept, explain your dilemma to the apartment management and I would bet they would be ok with you putting up an antenna, as long as it isn't something huge and obnoxious. If you can get a antenna outside, it might be more convenient to just hook it up to a base scanner. From 20 miles away a scanner should recieve it with no problem on an outdoor antenna.