Splitting Antenna Signal

[fredclausen]

Hi all -

I've been doing research on what type of device would be most suitable for me. I have a discone antenna outside and I would like to have 4 scanners hooked up to this antenna. I would like no signal loss (so the "splitters" are out?), but I'm worried that drop amps with 4 or so db gain would overload scanners. The specific DA that I have found is the Electroline EDA 2000 Series.

Thanks!

 

[crayon]

Get a Stridsburg.

http://www.stridsberg.com/prod01.htm

 

[Turbo68]

I use 2 of the 4 way Stridsberg vhf/uhf multicouplers and 1 of the 8 way multicoupler and they work excellent with no signal loss.

Regards Lino.ALINCO-DJX2000,AOR-3000A,AOR-8200MK3,AOR-8600MK2,ICOM-R5,ICOM-R20,ICOM-PCR1000,ICOM-R2500,ICOM-R9000,ICM-R9500,UNIDEN-245,UNIDEN-396,UNIDEN-780,UNIDEN-785E,UNIEN-996,RADIO SHACK-PRO96,REALISTIC-PRO2035,YAESU-VX7RYAESU-VR500,YAESU-VR5000.

 

[hoser147]

The Electrolyne will work fine I got one and several others have to depends on what you want or have room in your budget for...................Hoser

 

[K8PBX]

Electroline models EDA-UG 2402 (4-port) and 2802 (8-port) provide 0 dB loss after splitting the signal. No excess gain. See previous post here: LINK

 

[fredclausen]

Thanks all. Is there an appreciable difference in quality between the EDA-UG models and the Stridsberg ones?

 

[K8PBX]

Thanks all. Is there an appreciable difference in quality between the EDA-UG models and the Stridsberg ones?

I have both, and in my opinion there is no perceptible difference aside from price. Performance seems equal. I'm more partial to the Electroline because of the F-connectors. Being that I use a lot of RG-6 for my receive antennas, it works out real well for me from a connectivity standpoint.

 

[W4KRR]

Thanks all. Is there an appreciable difference in quality between the EDA-UG models and the Stridsberg ones?

I have used both the Stridsberg and the Electroline models. They are both of good quality, solidly constructed.

Right now I use the Electroline 8 port model. It's a fraction of the cost of the Stridsberg 8 port model, and IMO, it works just as well; I can tell no difference. If I had it to do over again I would not hesitate to buy the Electroline model again. Just my 2 cents!

 

[trooperdude]

Thanks all. Is there an appreciable difference in quality between the EDA-UG models and the Stridsberg ones?

NONE.

I went through 3 Stridsburg's with faulty parts before I switched to Electroline, and I'll still on my first Electroline.

Stridsburg is WAY overpriced for what you get.

 

[SkipSanders]

Actually, you more likely want an amp AT the antenna, and a splitter at the radios, which compensates for the loss (and there's a LOT of it at 800!) in the antenna feed line.

A four way splitter means 6-8 db of loss. A 50 foot feed line probably means 6-10 db of loss. Put a 15-20 db gain amp at the antenna, and you end up with slightly amplified (and a discone has no gain, so you're basically raising it to the gain of a good dipole) signal at each scanner.

 

[fredclausen]

I have a 50 foot run of coax coming from my antenna. I hear everything very well, including air traffic over 70 miles away. I am in the southwestern US so the terrain is fairly flat, so I do have good line of sight on the city. I'm worried that if I got an amplifier involved, I could desense the scanners and lose all of my signal. Of course, an 8 port drop amp seems to only amplify the signal 4 db, which, considering the loss of signal just from the cable means little.

I appreciate the input everyone.

 

[gmclam]

No Amp here

I also have a discone antenna outside, and about 50 feet of coax. When I first connected this to my PRO-97 the reception was crazy. I added a filter from Scanner Master that removes FM Broadcast and everything below 25 MHz and that increased my reception. I am using a high quality cable TV splitter with NO amplifiers to run my scanners. I pick up signals from 100 miles away no problem (less distance on 800 MHz). I am in Northern California and about 300 feet above sea level, with a good "view" of the valley.

I had a pre-amp at the antenna for my TV antenna, and it blew out during a storm. I since went to an inside amplifier, with adjustments for each band, and I am much happier. I do not use amplifiers for my scanners; I already pick up "too much".

 

[trooperdude]

Yep in some urban areas you do NOT want an amplified multicoupler.

 

[kd5dga]

I have a few of those CATV multicouplers on my bench and was thinking of splitting one antenna to two radios since I have been running two radio trunking.I figured that the signal should stay constant for both radios.One is of the SVI company but its DB is only -3.5.The other decent one I have is a antronix 4way splitter and it is rated at -7.5db loss.For my location I have great reception and I live on a hill.

 

[kd5dga]

I had tried all three CATV splitters and one I bought at a dollar store.My signal reading was 1/2 of what it was with the splitters showing -3.5db loss so that proves the fact the splitter has a good amount of loss.The one which has -7db loss dhowed no signal strength what so ever but I did have activity.
I use my experiment with a Icom PCR1000 using TRUNKPCR as my radio program.

 

[wjf]

Does any of this work in reverse?

I have an RS 20-176 in the attic and would like to add something to help it pick up 800 mhz.

 

[trooperdude]

Does any of this work in reverse?

I have an RS 20-176 in the attic and would like to add something to help it pick up 800 mhz.

Nope, you get phase cancellation in the reverse and won't hear anything.

Add an 800mhz specific antenna and a diplexer to combine them.

 

[wjf]

Nope, you get phase cancellation in the reverse and won't hear anything.

Add an 800mhz specific antenna and a diplexer to combine them.

Can I do it on the same cable run?

 

[trooperdude]

Can I do it on the same cable run?

Yep, one cable from scanner to diplexer.

One cable to the existing Sputknik
One cable to an 800mhz antenna of choice.

The diplexer can be placed close to the antennas if desired and
then only one run of coax to the receiver.

 

[allen5565]

May I ask if you can combine both a multicoupler and a diplexer? I've been using a powered Stridsberg MCA204M with a Larsen NMO-800 on three car-mounted 796s for several years, with not bad results across 154 - 800s. I would love to know if I could improve reception by adding a stronger VHF/UHF, combining it with the 800, then re-splitting it to all three scanners, or would the loss be so great as to make the project pointless?