Discone Antenna Range ?

[usnasa]

Hello all I have a dumb question I just installed a tram 1410 scanner antenna on a antenna craft mast it is about 25 feet up in the air my question is how do I know how far I am receiving is there a test ? what is the best way to tell the range of the antenna I would like to know how far i can hear with it im from brooklyn ny anyone that can help answer this please ?

 

[rivardj]

There are many factors involved but, this link will give you some idea if you know the height of both antennas.

VHF/UHF Line of Sight Calculator

 

[Citywide173]

Check the VHF NOAA Weather frequencies. Try different times during the day and night, as listening conditions vary.

 

[ridgescan]

I think this is what ya need right now-
AntennaSearch - Search for Cell Towers, Cell Reception, Hidden Antennas and more.
plug in your address and stuff and it will present a map with all the known licensed antennae in your area. So you just need to know who you are listening to on the scanner, then you can fish 'em out on the list and map.

PS give it time-it takes a bit for the site to load up your area info after you click "process".
Once it says "your report is ready, click on "locate antennas" then scroll the list.

 

[rivardj]

Ridgescan

Oh good one, I forgot about that one.

Edit: That is not the site I thought it was. It only gives results for a three mile radius.

 

[ridgescan]

Ridgescan

Oh good one, I forgot about that one.

Edit: That is not the site I thought it was. It only gives results for a three mile radius.

Yeah, dammit Jim! But the workaround is-he's in Brooklyn. Say he is receiving an agency in Queens. He can use this
Distance Calculator
and plug in an address in Queens by zeroing down on Queens (like click on a Starbucks icon in Queens then enter its address into the antenna locator engine) and then try and dig up from the list the possible antenna locations of his agency. Then he can put THAT agency address into the distance calculator against his own address to get the line-of-sight distance.
It is a challenge I know, but sometimes you can nail it. The rub is that most police/fire etc are listed as "City and County of..." many times over in the list, and this can leave you lost as to exactly which antenna you heard from but it is a start.

 

[usnasa]

thank you all for your great links