While checking their site for some info, I found two "coming soon" antennas for the SDS.
https://remtronix.com/antennas/
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https://remtronix.com/antennas/
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SDS100 specific antenna from Remtronix
- Thread starter krokus
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Cannot wait!
check Scanner Master, 22-541122, 700-900 mhz, BNC connection, +6db gain over standard antenna, In Stock $24.99. I have 3 of them in use. Very Satisfied.
That is the "standard" BNC style model, like the RS antenna. The ones I posted about are SMA connectors, with the bases arranged to not need any extenders to fit the SDS. They are all the same core model, so RF performance should be almost identical. (If you ignore the losses, and possible connection issues, introduced by the adapters.)
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When RS was going out of business and having all of its clearance sales I bought fistfuls of the RS 800 antennas. They were made by GRE and are the same antenna shown here but BNC. As it turns out they also were excellent for UHF. I'm glad I have those antennas now especially since I got 40% off on them.
I was also able to score 20 of the RS 800 antenna's for $5 each when my local Radio Shack went out of business. Got a couple of their discone antenna's for $10 each.
NWI_Scanner_Guy
SCANNING THE AIRWAVES SINCE 1987
freqgeek2
Member
I understand that the Remtronix antennas are for the 700-900 UHF bands, however I was curious if they would still be able to receive frequencies in the VHF range.
Most of my listening is on a P25 system, however there are still several police and fire departments that are still operating in the 150.00 - 159.00 range.
Thank you in advance.
Most of my listening is on a P25 system, however there are still several police and fire departments that are still operating in the 150.00 - 159.00 range.
Thank you in advance.
I use my RS800 on vhf occasionally - it performs ok - no worse than the stock antenna.
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I live on the Delaware River and monitor VHF High marine frequencies both analog and digital. The ground planes on the roof work for that at home but in a portable situation the RS 800 does not do well with VHF High. Just grip it with your hand during a transmission and you'll see what I mean. It is however a preferable antenna for UHF and T band. Better than anything else.
I have had about the same experience, with the RS800. It works decently, but might be a bit lossy on VHF. (I was listening, mostly, to local FD traffic, so it was fairly strong. My bigger concern was maxing my signal on 800.)
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My experience with the Remtronix (or "Radio Shack") 800MHz antenna is about the same as trentbob's and krokus.
Dallas (city) uses Uhf frequencies, which the antenna handles well. The smaller cities in the county, as well as some in Ellis County, to my south, are on Vhf. I hear the Vhf users that are either relatively closer, or with a stronger signal, reasonably well, though the more distant stations are often weak, with a good bit of static.
A better antenna for Vhf would be one like the RH77CA, which is tuned for the Vhf and Uhf ranges. This would not be the best choice if most of your systems of interest, especially more distant ones, are 700/800MHz trunked systems. For those, you are much better off with the Remtronix or equivalent. The RH77CA has a BNC mount, so you'd need to use the SMA->BNC adapter that comes with the scanner. The SRH77CA does have the SMA base on it, but does not fully seat on the SDS100 because of the somewhat recessed mount on the scanner (for 'water resistance'). If you don't care to use the SMA/BNC adapter, then the SDS100 specific antenna Remtronix will be releasing may be worth the wait. Looking at the Remtronix page linked above, it appears that they will soon have an Vhf/Uhf antenna as well, but apparently with an SMA mount not tailored to be the peculiarities of the SDS100's antenna mount.. I would expect performance on that to be roughly the same as the RH77CA series.
Dallas (city) uses Uhf frequencies, which the antenna handles well. The smaller cities in the county, as well as some in Ellis County, to my south, are on Vhf. I hear the Vhf users that are either relatively closer, or with a stronger signal, reasonably well, though the more distant stations are often weak, with a good bit of static.
A better antenna for Vhf would be one like the RH77CA, which is tuned for the Vhf and Uhf ranges. This would not be the best choice if most of your systems of interest, especially more distant ones, are 700/800MHz trunked systems. For those, you are much better off with the Remtronix or equivalent. The RH77CA has a BNC mount, so you'd need to use the SMA->BNC adapter that comes with the scanner. The SRH77CA does have the SMA base on it, but does not fully seat on the SDS100 because of the somewhat recessed mount on the scanner (for 'water resistance'). If you don't care to use the SMA/BNC adapter, then the SDS100 specific antenna Remtronix will be releasing may be worth the wait. Looking at the Remtronix page linked above, it appears that they will soon have an Vhf/Uhf antenna as well, but apparently with an SMA mount not tailored to be the peculiarities of the SDS100's antenna mount.. I would expect performance on that to be roughly the same as the RH77CA series.
Agreed. The systems of interest around me are mostly 800Mhz, with one statewide, one regional, and one local 700Mhz - all simulcast. The RS800 performs great on those systems, so I will be buying the Rem antenna that has the O-ring seal that was designed for the SDS100. VHF around here mostly supports county fire alert / paging which is generally a strong signal from tower sites, and no mobiles.
Paul Opitz from Uniden did a blog post about the RS 800Mhz antenna (same antenna as the Remtronix) vs stock antenna. It is an in-depth post, but the real meat of the post is in the graphs at the bottom that show the RS antenna performing the same or better on bands we care about except from about 150-180mhz.
http://massivelyuninformed.me/measuring-relative-antenna-receive-performance/#comment-538
http://massivelyuninformed.me/measuring-relative-antenna-receive-performance/#comment-538
WoodburyMan
Member
Not for nothing the Diamond SRH779. It works great for me. 17" collapsible. Shrinks down real nice to put in my work bag. I use this in my car. Ironically I use a mobile Nagoya UT-72 at home, mounted in a window. They're both 2m/70cm band TX, but work very well across all bands for RX. I can pick up VHF 130-160mhz, UHF 420-450mhz, and VHF 700mhz, 800mhz and 900mhz around me just great.
I have a Nagoya TB-320A Tri-bander, it works okay or TX for HAM needs, but is VERY bad at RX for anything other than 2m/1.25m/70cm. I get -110db on a 700mhz signal I get -85db on with the UT-72.
I have a Nagoya TB-320A Tri-bander, it works okay or TX for HAM needs, but is VERY bad at RX for anything other than 2m/1.25m/70cm. I get -110db on a 700mhz signal I get -85db on with the UT-72.
Next...
When they come out with a wide band scanner antenna that actually outperforms the stock one, then it's worth a look.
And it can't be telescopic or 2' tall.
Trimming rubber off an existing limited band antenna to fit one model doesn't excite.
When they come out with a wide band scanner antenna that actually outperforms the stock one, then it's worth a look.
And it can't be telescopic or 2' tall.
Trimming rubber off an existing limited band antenna to fit one model doesn't excite.
Remtronix REM-820S now available to order
FYI you can now (11-16-2018) order the new Remtronix REM-820S 800 MHz antenna with the O ring for the SDS100 from Universal Radio. The price is $22.95 (plus $6.95 flat rate shipping on orders up to $50.00) and the Universal Radio Order # is 6269: https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanners/6100.html
FYI you can now (11-16-2018) order the new Remtronix REM-820S 800 MHz antenna with the O ring for the SDS100 from Universal Radio. The price is $22.95 (plus $6.95 flat rate shipping on orders up to $50.00) and the Universal Radio Order # is 6269: https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanners/6100.html
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