which antenna for my bands? 150 and 800mhz

[gtdude]

I've been interested in radios my whole life. In my truck I installed a CB and went all out on rigging it up for great performance... well it's less than amazing. So I recently purchased a scanner (Uniden BCD996XT) and want to know about an antenna so i dont have a disappointment like my CB.

I want to listen to my local fire dept which operates on about 850-870mhz. I also want to hear my ambulance company's operations on 152.3300.

my questions:
If I get an antenna that focuses on those bands would I lose the fancy features of the scanner like close call and the highway patrol alerts?

Is it possible/better to run 2 antennas and couple them into the one scanner to better cover the bands?

Side note: I dont care about drilling into the roof of my truck.
also I found this: Mobile Antenna Comparison - InterceptRadio.com Wiki
that comparison was dated 2003 so I'm not sure if better antennas exist today.

 

[ka3jjz]

No matter how far back you go, there's always one antenna better than another, but that's certainly a place to start.

If you want something inexpensive, Larsen has a 150/400/800 Mhz antenna that should fit the bill. On the expensive side, the Austin Spectra - this is one that has its detractors and ones that rave about it (I like it a lot).

The Larsen can be found in places like Ham Radio Outlet - the Austin is sold via RF Wiz (the link is in our Scanner Antennas wiki, if memory serves), among others. You have to buy a mount for it, but that just adds flexibility so you can choose the best method for your situation. However, the higher up the antenna is, the better.

best regards..Mike