Been looking at the
GRE America, Inc. - grecom scanner receiver, lcd modules, spread spectrum radio, wireless bridge, scanner antenna, scanner pre-amps. webpage and see a Super Amplifier for Handheld scanners. The story is you put one of these units on your BNC antenna connection, and then put the antenna onto the amplifier. Supposedly increases signal strength up to "40 miles".. Anyone know if this thing is legit or am I hearing a huge sucking sound directed towards my wallet? ($54.99...plus shipping)
Yeah the thread is two years old, but since it's been resurrected, I was convinced by it to try one of these. Got it from Universal Radio for $53 plus shipping.
I was very skeptical at first--couldn't see how an amplifier would help bring in signals.
After an hour with it, I'm a total convert. I'm using it with my PSR 500, trying it with my RS 800 antenna and the Diamond RH77CA.
With 800Mhz trunking 'hits' are happening far more often, and the signals are nearly all 4 bars instead of the 2-3 bars I generally get. I live in the western suburbs of MA and it's bringing in many more MA state police trunk hits than it did without it. It's also bringing in a larger number of hits from the Worcester trunking system (which is about 30 miles away). It isn't really bringing in many of the city of Boston or Cambridge trunking hits I was hoping to hear, but maybe that's the extent of its range.
On VHF-Hi, the thing totally shines. Before, I could up aircraft signals okay--usually one hit every minute or so. With the GRE even the RS 800Mhz antenna is picking up occasional aircraft transmissions, and with the Diamond I'm getting 5-10 transmissions per minute, and nearly all are 3-4 bars in strength.
Same results with UHF--nearly everything is coming through at 4-bar strength.
Surprising, it's causing very little overload. Generally, I have manually attenuated the VHF 'static frequencies' and this helps stop the bothersome stuff. Also interesting is that it improves reception even if you don't turn the DC power on.
Considering that I really dont' want to put up an external antenna, the GRE is nearly the next best thing. If I have any quibbles with it, it's with the tiny screws you need to dig out to put the battery in, and it's very awkward to put the battery in so the cover goes back over the lead wires. And, if you use it with a handheld scanner, you definitely need to prop it up with something so it won't fall over. Oh, yes, and I'm sure I'll waste a lot of batteries by forgetting to turn the thing off. But, otherwise, it's a great investment.
Suzie
