House scanner Antenna

[BostonRedSoxRule]

I am looking for a scanner antenna that I can put outside my house, possibly on the roof.
I have never delt with these types of antennas before so any help would be great. Where to place it, how to place it, what kind of antenna would be best, what kind of wire to use, etc...

I am looking to monitor UHF, VHF, and 800 Mhz systems.
The antenna would be hooked up to a Uniden BCT-8.

I am not looking to spend alot of money, maybe a couple hundred dollors at the most.

Any one have any suggestions?

Thanks!!

 

[Highlander_821]

I have the Antennacraft Scantenna, and a Diamond Discone, both on my roof at about 40 feet. The Scantenna is fed with RG-6, the Diamond is fed with Davis BuryFlex cable (similar to LMR-400 in loss specs, but cheaper).

Performance with both antennas is very, very close on all the bands I monitor (V-lo, V-hi, UHF, 800-900). I can hear a VHF sheriff's dispatch about 40 miles away, I can hear aircraft on the ground at an airport 12 miles from me, I can hear trains running on lines that are at least 60 miles from me. In all cases so far, if one of my antennas is getting a given signal, I can switch to the other and get it , too.

Maybe the Scantenna, if it had the better cable, would edge the discone, I intend to upgrade to Bury-Flex for it at some point.

I am also a Ham, and I have a 2 meter/ 440 gain vertical omni antenna (Workman UVS-300) that I often use as a third monitoring antenna, because I often have 3 or more radios scanning different services at the same time. It does very well for VHF/UHF public service bands and aircraft and railroad bands.

 

[RevGary]

Boston - It may possibly make a difference for those making suggestions... roughly what is the approximate distance between your residence and the primary transmitters that you are interested in monitoring in each of the bands that you mentioned? There are options based upon how much gain that you may require. Also, do you have any mounting restrictions or obstructions at your residence that might influence the type of mast, mounting or the physical antenna size?

 

[BostonRedSoxRule]

Probaly about 50 miles. My friend gets it only on a little antenna that he has outside on his air conditioner. I dont have any restrictions or obstructions that will restrict what I want to put up.

 

[BostonRedSoxRule]

Wow I am surprised I havnt gotten more replies...

 

[RISC777]

Wow I am surprised I havnt gotten more replies...

Mast mounted -
* Antennacraft's 'Scantenna ST-2' is a lower cost solution (but 50 miles might be pushing it for this antenna to receive).
* It's very dependent on your area (distance, frequency ranges, antenna height, cable length, type of cable, etc.) if a discone will work for you or not.

Your friend's solution -
* Do what they did, emulate / replicate their solution.