Scanner and External Antenna for Metal Building?

[SyN]

Hello: I have had police scanners almost all my life but always in the house and auto. They have saved my life as well as my families life many times->Since we live in Tornado Alley.

My question is my wife works in a all metal building--->corner office-->4 miles out side of town. The building has think layers of sprayed foam insulation through out. We have tried hand held scanners and small desktop scanners at her work with the original supplied antenna and none of them seem to receive any radio broadcasts worth a hoot.

What radio would you all recommend as well as out side external antennas?

Spring is getting close and she needs to be aware of what is happening in town as well as in coming weather alerts.

Thanks Lonnie

 

[DickH]

Hello: I have had police scanners almost all my life but always in the house and auto. They have saved my life as well as my families life many times->Since we live in Tornado Alley.

My question is my wife works in a all metal building--->corner office-->4 miles out side of town. The building has think layers of sprayed foam insulation through out. We have tried hand held scanners and small desktop scanners at her work with the original supplied antenna and none of them seem to receive any radio broadcasts worth a hoot.

What radio would you all recommend as well as out side external antennas?

Spring is getting close and she needs to be aware of what is happening in town as well as in coming weather alerts.

Thanks Lonnie

First, try getting the scanner as close to a window as possible. Glass will not impede the signals.

 

[mmckenna]

First, try getting the scanner as close to a window as possible. Glass will not impede the signals.

If it's a newer building with "low-E" glass, it has a metal film in it to reduce UV and heat exchange. Those types of windows will attenuate a signal pretty well. We are tangling with that at work where a new library was built with the latest energy saving techniques. The place is a death trap for RF. Our trunked system can't penetrate the lower floors, neither can the VHF systems for fire and PD. Cell signals are gone also.

Anyway, if they are older/non-tinted windows, that is certainly worth a try. Placing the scanner as close to the window as you can, or use a length of coax to keep the radio in a convenient place and use some tape or suction cups to hold the antenna at the window.

If that doesn't work, you need to start looking at some sort of external antenna. This doesn't need to be fancy if you are just trying to pick up the radio traffic from a town 4 miles away. If it's a steel shell building, you could even try a magnetic mount antenna stuck outside a window, or on the roof if you can find a way to run the cable.

Only other option that comes to mind would be to stream a feed from a scanner at your home over the internet to your wife's work. Might be an expensive way to do it, but it would work.