Icom R20 and antenna choice

[zanedog]

Wow, what a receiver. I like the built in audio recorder very much. Lack of digital trunking is a bummer, but can't have it all I guess. Uniden 72xlt I initially purchased at The Source was very quickly sold.

I found programming this radio on my MacBook to be quite easy running through Parallels desktop. Some peeps on the Yahoo group seem to think it's rocket science, but its certainly not.

So, I'd like someone more knowledgable than me to comment on the following antenna:

http://www.durhamradio.com/angler-fixed-or-portable-antenna-100khz-1300mhz.html

edit: I purchased a 30 foot antenna that is made of thin wire that clips onto the existing antenna. I got it from The Source, it don't seem to do much at all. I also picked up the first one on this page http://www.thesource.ca/estore/cate...ine&category=Indoor+Antennas&pagenum=1&sort=1 with next to no improvement either.

I did find some more frequencies for around here (Lloyd area), if anyone would like I could pull them out of my spreadsheet and post them. I'd have to double check to make sure they aren't allready here

Have a great day all...

 

[electricsheep]

If you want one antenna for all bands, you aren't going to find one that does it all well.

That one you posted a link for looks like a vhf rubber duck antenna with a connector on the end for a long wire... I would go with an antenna specifically for the band you are interested in, or something like a discone, that won't give you much gain, but will give you a good broadband antenna for about 50mhz-1300 or so...

For HF and everything below 30mhz, a dipole for the bands you want to target will do you best. Stick with dipoles tuned for 3, 7, 14, 20 mhz.

I have a Alinco wideband handheld, and it's crap below 20ish mhz... I either use one of my ham rigs or if I am just in a receiving mood and/or backpacking, my Sony 7600GR, which is probably the best SW USB/LSB compact receiver out there.

 

[zanedog]

I'm gonna order this one: http://www.durhamradio.com/telescopic-scanner-antenna.html

I let you guys know how I like it.

I want an wideband antenna because I have no idea what band I'm really interested in. This is my first radio.

 

[zanedog]

Well the antenna linked to in the above post was out of stock with an ETA of a month.

So.... http://www.durhamradio.com/wsm1900-magnetic-mount-mini-scanner-25-1900mhz-new-lower-price.html
This one is on the way with a thirty foot patch cable, that way I can stick it onto the roof if I want.

 

[electricsheep]

If it is a magmount and you are going to use it on top of your house, out the window or whatever (anywhere except on top of say, your car), you are going to have to fashion a ground plane and/or tuned radials to get peak performance out of it.

If you are looking for something to put up outside and pull in signals, I would have gone for this http://www.durhamradio.com/t601-25-1300mhz-wide-range-discone.html

Nothing beats metal in the air... the more metal, the better.

 

[zanedog]

Hey Matt, whats a ground plane?

And how will I go about constructing one?

LOL, I know very little right now, but I'm sure to learn.

 

[electricsheep]

Hey Matt, whats a ground plane?

And how will I go about constructing one?

LOL, I know very little right now, but I'm sure to learn.

To make a groundplane for a magmount, just find a piece of square sheet metal or something, and make sure it is a minimum 36" across, and put the magmount in the middle. A large pizza tray will do in a pinch. You want to simulate being in the middle of a car roof for example.

 

[zanedog]

It must act as a reflector for the radio signals. I'll be sure to do this.
thanks matt