Scanner Antenna Wire, what to use?

[squale]

I went to Radio Shack tonight and got their Discone antenna. They had either RG-58 (thinner wire), or the thicker RG-8 wire. I got the RG-8 50-foot roll and am using that at the moment, it seems to work okay. I was wondering however, is RG-6 better? is it even thicker than the RG-8?

and where do you get RG-6 from?

what length should I NOT exceed with the wire?

Thanks

 

[N_Jay]

I went to Radio Shack tonight and got their Discone antenna. They had either RG-58 (thinner wire), or the thicker RG-8 wire. I got the RG-8 50-foot roll and am using that at the moment, it seems to work okay. I was wondering however, is RG-6 better? is it even thicker than the RG-8?

and where do you get RG-6 from?

what length should I NOT exceed with the wire?

Thanks

RG-6 has less loss than RG-8.

RG-6 is thinner, and is not meant to carry as much power.

You want to keep your total loss low. The distances is related to the type of cable and teh frequency band you are using.

 

[BJ_NORTON]

If you decide to get RG 6 try and find the stuff they use for satalite TV. I think it is RG-6x, but I might be mistaken. The cable made for satelite TV generally has lower loss, which means a better signal for you. You can tell the difference between the 2 types of RG-6 by the thickness. Satelite cable is usaully thicker and often has a secondary "messenger" ground wire molded to the cable to make it easy to ground out the dish. The packaging might also mention that it has a double shield the regular braided type and a second foil shield.

Generally speaking thicker cable is better (lower loss) and can be used on longer runs than really thin stuff. Try to keep the cable run as short as possible. With RG-6 I would say anything over 100' is probably pushing things a bit, especially if you are listening to 800mhz trunking. You can probably buy RG-6 at Radio shack, or any of the Wal-Mart/K-Mart type stores.

Before I moved to Vegas I was using LMR 600 on most of my cable runs. Rather expensive, but definatly a difference in signal quality. I had 2 antennas (same brand and model) mounted on electrical conduit at 20' and they were about 10 feet apart. One had LMR 600 and they other had radio shack RG8x. As a test I would switch back and forth between antennas. With LMR 600 I could hear highway patrol repeaters 100 miles away loud and clear with very little noise. Swithching antennas, I had to have the squelch open all the way to hear what was going on. Also I would listen to the input side of a local fire repeater (it acted more as a remote base; you could always hear the dispatcher, but not always the fire unit) and hear handie Talkies 20 miles away on the otherside of a mountain. Very marginal signal, but I could hear what was being said. Switching to the cheap cable all I had was noise. Invest in good quality cable and it will help more than a spiffy new radio, and you can use it to help any of your radios.

 

[squale]

okay well since I will be returning the radio shack RG-8 and the Radio Shack Discone antenna, I will be getting the Diamond Discone OR the Scantenna instead cause I heard they are better, what is the exact cable that you guys recommend using?

and what connection do I need on the antenna side of the cable to hook it up? I would preferably like to get cable with the connections already on them so I don't have to crimp the connectors on myself and risk screwing something up.

Thanks

 

[squale]

actually looking at this db loss chart on this page: http://www.strongsignals.net/access/content/co-ax.html

The RG-8/U isn't really that bad at all. It has less loss than BOTH the RG-6 and RG-6/U so it seems it's a pretty good cable. Plus 50-foot cost me only $40 (80 cents per foot). On the actual cable it says:
Radioshack RG-8/U 13 AWG Type CL2 75 degrees C (UL)
The diameter of the cable is I would say about 3/8" thick


So if you compare this to something like the much more expensive LMR-400 or LMR-600 you really aren't lossing a heck of a lot more signal. And for the cost of the LMR-400 and LMR-600 being between $1.50-$3.00 a foot, you are talking way more money for about 50-foot of cable for not a real gain in signal. (from what I can tell from the charts)

So what do you think, should I stick with the Radio Shack stuff?

 

[N_Jay]

actually looking at this db loss chart on this page: http://www.strongsignals.net/access/content/co-ax.html

The RG-8/U isn't really that bad at all. It has less loss than BOTH the RG-6 and RG-6/U so it seems it's a pretty good cable. Plus 50-foot cost me only $40 (80 cents per foot). On the actual cable it says:
Radioshack RG-8/U 13 AWG Type CL2 75 degrees C (UL)
The diameter of the cable is I would say about 3/8" thick


So if you compare this to something like the much more expensive LMR-400 or LMR-600 you really aren't lossing a heck of a lot more signal. And for the cost of the LMR-400 and LMR-600 being between $1.50-$3.00 a foot, you are talking way more money for about 50-foot of cable for not a real gain in signal. (from what I can tell from the charts)

So what do you think, should I stick with the Radio Shack stuff?

That chart is for 100 MHz only.

Google 'Coax Loss Chart'

http://www.qsl.net/kf4l/coaxloss.htm

 

[squale]

okay for this setup..

Diamond Discone antenna mounted on roof, 50-foot cable run, Uniden 246T and Radio Shack Pro-97 scanners

what is the BEST cable and connectors I should use for this? and where is the cheapest place online to get them? I live in Northern, NJ and can't find any local stores that sell this stuff..

 

[N_Jay]

okay for this setup..

Diamond Discone antenna mounted on roof, 50-foot cable run, Uniden 246T and Radio Shack Pro-97 scanners

what is the BEST cable and connectors I should use for this? and where is the cheapest place online to get them? I live in Northern, NJ and can't find any local stores that sell this stuff..

The best consumer cable is probably RG-6, foloowed by the loest loss (Foam, not solid) RG-8.

The BEST cable is the lowest loss commercial cable you can afford. It goes althe way up to 3" (and beyond for broadcast use)!

 

[squale]

so is LMR-400 much better than RG-6/u and RG-8/u?

or should I get LMR-600 or is this overkill?

and should I get the Super Flex LMR or regular.. what provides the least amount of loss?

 

[Voyager]

so is LMR-400 much better than RG-6/u and RG-8/u?

or should I get LMR-600 or is this overkill?

and should I get the Super Flex LMR or regular.. what provides the least amount of loss?

If you're running 50 feet or mote, and you can afford it, run 1/2" Heliax. It's better than just about any coax made.

There really is no 'least loss' feedline. It's all a matter of how much you want to spend. But, if your total run loses less than 1.5 dB, anything better is going to be a waste since you won't see the difference.

Joe M.

 

[squale]

I just put my antenna on my roof and walked around around up there with it and I actually get better reception on my second floor deck (lower than my roof)... weird..

 

[N_Jay]

I just put my antenna on my roof and walked around around up there with it and I actually get better reception on my second floor deck (lower than my roof)... weird..

Better reception, on all bands, on one band, on one system?

Could you be getting desensed from more noise up in the clear?

 

[squale]

it seems that all the civil aircraft came through better and my local police, etc too... they are on like around 40-50mhz and like 150+mhz

 

[squale]

what I did was I put in a ATIS frequency for a airport about 25 miles away, I was picking it up okay on my deck, lots of static but I could make out what was being said. Then I tried on my roof and in my attic the same frequency and it was very spotted and usually I got nothing

 

[K2KOH]

Go for the LMR 400...600 is a little bit of overkill. I changed from RG6 to LMR 400, and it made a BIG difference

 

[BJ_NORTON]

Just as an update, I originally bought the LMR 600 as a downlink cable for amatuer satalites. My interest never really got full fledged, and I never got the egg beaters, and yagis up. I had already bought the cable, so I put it to good use. Besides, I got a really good deal on it from the cable experts website. I would not recomend cable this expensive for a first antenna set up. I was just trying to illustrate the importance a good quality cable can make. Try what you have, and after a while you will probably want to change things or add something to it and then you can decide to upgrade. I'm sure the radio shack discone is just as good as the diamond. I have the diamond discone, and it is really well built, but looking back I probably would have bought the radio shack version. Even if I had to replace it a few times it would have been lees that the diamond.

 

[squale]

well why do you think the Diamond and Radio shack discones are the same in reception? I think the Dimond is like 6' tall and the Rat shack is only about 4' tall so wouldn't the Diamond get more signals?

 

[N_Jay]

well why do you think the Diamond and Radio shack discones are the same in reception? I think the Dimond is like 6' tall and the Rat shack is only about 4' tall so wouldn't the Diamond get more signals?

A true discone (without the whip on top) is sized acording to the band.

The larger the lower the bottom frequency is. The top frequency is 3 to 4 times the lower cut off.

The rest of the 25 MHz to 1300 MHz specification is marketing lies.

 

[BJ_NORTON]

They are both the same basic design, a set of legs pointing down and out (cone) and an array of elements as a hat (disk) hence the name discone. they both have a vertical element as well, normally used to improve low band reception. On the diamond the vertical element has a loading coil at the base to electricaly lengthen the vertical element, but keep it from being physically 9 feet tall. I have never closely examined the radio shack version, but I imagine it has a loading coil too. The coil on the radio shack antenna might be wound differently and require a different sized element.

I would also like to steer you away from comparing antennas on their size. One antenna is not better than another because it is 2 feet taller. Not to say that antenna size doesn't mean anything. It is very important. The size of the antenna is directly linked to the frequency that you are listening to. As the frequency gets higher, the size of the antenna gets smaller. This is why the 109" CB antenna I have on my truck is terrific for CB (27mhz) and lousy on 800mhz trunking. It is the wrong length for 800 mhz.

You mentioned earlier that you got good reception on the deck, and poor on the roof. I now live in an apartment, so I don't get to have any outside antennas. I have a second floor apartment, with attic acces in the master beadroom walk-in closet. I poked the antenna up through the access hatch. Where you see the mast leaning towards you I get great reception on 800 mhz. If I push the mast to the backside of the hatch I can barely get any reception at all. The antenna has only moved 2 feet :!: but it is night and day difference in reception. Sometimes you just have to shrug your shoulders and accept that it doesn't make sense, but it is what it is. :?