Combining two antennas into one scanner?

[KB6KGX]

I just bought a BC536HP. I have the Larsen “150/450/800” scanner antenna. But I would also like to monitor California Highway Patrol, which is 39-42 Mhz. I have a Larsen “40 Mhz” coil and whip. Can I “combine” the two with a splitter, and into the back of the radio? The guy at HRO said it MAY work but I would have some loss. If it’s just a little loss, I can live with that. But can anyone here tell me if this would work at all?

 

[n5ims]

Read the sticky thread on this topic (http://forums.radioreference.com/sp...57-running-one-scanner-multiple-antennas.html) and then ask any specific questions not already covered.

 

[n5ims]

To answer your follow-up question. Something like this --> MFJ Enterprises Inc. <-- will help isolate the desired frequency bands. Be aware that if 800 MHz is important to you, hunt around for one that extends into the 900 MHz range for the upper end instead of this ones 540 MHz.

 

[zz0468]

...But can anyone here tell me if this would work at all?

Read the sticky.

Without taking appropriate measures, your results will be random and unpredictable. The overall affect is distortion to the antenna patterns of both antennas, with some potentially very deep nulls.

In a professional environment, what is done is either a wideband antenna like a discone, or better, separate receivers to cover the desired frequency range.

 

[N3JI]

In short, yes, it can be done. All you need is an appropriate diplexer, which admittedly may be hard to find for what you're trying to do. I used a tri-plexer to split a tri-band antenna between my IC-706 for 6m, and my IC-820H which has separate VHF & UHF ports. So, 54 MHz & down went to my IC-706 HF/6m jack, and the VHF & UHF ports went to the IC-820's separate VHF & UHF jacks.

I also used two dual-band antennas on my truck with separate VHF-only and UHF-only amplifiers using a diplexer. My VHF/UHF rig (with single connector, obviously) went to the diplexer, where it was split between the Amps with their own dual-band antennas. I obviously could've used single band antennas, but I already had two dual-band antennas, so I used them with no problems.

I hope all that makes sense. What I actually do in my truck now is the scanner is dedicated to 800 MHz with a 3dB on-glass PC-Tel 800 MHz antenna. If I want to listen to VHF/UHF stuff, I use my dual-band amateur rig with a dedicated VHF/UHF antenna.

 

[KB6KGX]

Thanks to all for your suggestions. Earlier tonight, I tried the Larsen tri-band and it was picking up CHP just fine (42 Mhz). So, that may work for me. I was given a link for a source that sells Antenna Specialists scanner antennas, the kind I used 20 years ago and haven&#8217;t seen since. Might even do THAT.