Ok guys, thank you for taking the time to reply to me. I was under the impression that I could just run some cable to a better antenna and it would pick up better. I've never heard of a multi site distortion of course but it does make sense. As far as I know, my county only has 1 tower at central dispatch and I do pick it up good.
Simulcast distortion is what they are referring to.
Simulcast is where some systems transmit the same traffic from multiple locations on the same frequency.
Due to different times of arrival, the simple receivers in a consumer scanner can have issues with trying to pick which one to listen to.
-Without knowing your exact location, it would be impossible to know if you would suffer from this issue.-
Yes, there are times when "too much" signal can cause issues, but there are ways around that. Specifically with the digital simulcast systems.
However there are many more times where a better antenna system will greatly improve performance.
Since most of the bands that are used for public safety communications operate mainly by "line of sight", having your antenna up higher and in the clear can allow it to "see" more. That means you might be able to pick up agencies farther away that you could not before. It might mean that agencies you listen too now that come in weak will come in clear. It might mean that under certain atmospheric conditions, you'll get to hear some really interesting stuff from much farther way.
Mounting the antenna that allend linked to would be a good choice. You'll need to get that mounted outside your home, in the clear and up as high as you can safely get it. Connect it down to your radio with appropriately sized coaxial cable for the length of the cable run.
Grounding is important, but we can talk about that later.
If simulcast distortion becomes an issue, there are ways to tackle that. Switching back to the rear mounted antenna might be a workable solution. Finding different locations to mount the antenna might be a different approach.
Either way, don't give up. Adding a properly installed and connected external antenna to your radio will make a big difference.