My Apt Setup

[bigmattyl]

Hey everyone,

Here's my setup

My scanners are as follows:

PRO-92
BC245XLT
PRO-2006
BC780XLT
BC796D
BCD996XT
HP-1 (with the advanced update)
PRO-90 (with Discriminator tap, its hiding to the right of the stack, feeding unitrunker)


I'm in Orange County, CA and renting an apt, so my outdoor antenna options are limited (read: I can't have any) so here's the best i can do.. they do ok, wish i could do better, but i think im getting the best reception i can get given restrictions... however i havent tried any inline amplifiers or the like yet
Pardon the cat furniture.


thanks for taking a look and im always open to suggestions

Matt

 

[hfxChris]

I like it! Looks great to me

 

[jtech48]

Very nice, Great Job!

 

[sadman3]

very nice

 

[russellmaher]

Very nice shack in my opinion. Since I too am an apartment dweller, I feel your pain; no outside antenna for me either.

I see a couple of Austin Spectras in the window, right? Damn good antenna (mine's on the car).

Nice shack and thanks for sharing.

Russell

 

[brianearlspilner]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.4; en-us; DROID2 GLOBAL Build/4.5.1_57_D2GA-59) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

Love the cat tree! Nice and organized setup.

 

[txzeke]

Antennas ??

What kind of antennas are those ? Are they actually Mobile Antennas with mag mounts ?

 

[bigmattyl]

Two Austin Spectras, a Laird 800Mhz and an Antennex from left to right. they are all mobile antennas that don't need a ground plane attached to magnetic mobile mounts stuck to the window sill

 

[k8krh]

Looks great, do what you can in the restrictions and you have..GREAT
DOCTOR

 

[slickchannels]

Top-floor apartments often have attic scuttle holes in the ceiling of a closet.

And if yours doesn't they aren't hard to create. Stud finder, keyhole saw, some baseboard molding, a square piece of plywood, paint that matches the ceiling and ... you're good to go.

 

[NYRHKY94]

Matt:

A real nice job with the set-up given the restrictions! Good maximizing of space and reception potential! Quick question for you. Mag mounts "typically" need some type of metal surface (acts likie a groundplane) to perform in an optimal fashion inside the shack. Some guys use a file cabinet, cookie sheet, AC unit etc. Looks like yours are on a non-metal window sill. Just wondering if you have tried a metal surface to see if your reception improves? I would think it should.

Thanks for posting the pics! P.S. Is that Pro-2066 on it's side (not a 2006)?

Mike

 

[Dann]

Looks Good.

 

[gewecke]

Nice station!

Oh, and the cat tree is great! They can sit there and smack your antennas when they get bored! :lol:
As others above has said, a metal surface under those antennas would help. Try a pizza pan or cookie sheet on top of a book case, or if you have a drop ceiling with the steel dividers, that's even better.

73,
n9zas

 

[Rt169Radio]

Looks pretty nice, and like everyone else has said, the mag-mount antennas would do better if they were on something metal.

 

[maalox]

very nice set up..

 

[bigmattyl]

OK...


I'll give the cookie sheets a shot.. I didnt know if they needed them because the antennae didn't need a ground plane, but I'll admit my knowledge on antennas and optimization is shaky at best

Matt

 

[bigmattyl]

Matt:

A real nice job with the set-up given the restrictions! Good maximizing of space and reception potential! Quick question for you. Mag mounts "typically" need some type of metal surface (acts likie a groundplane) to perform in an optimal fashion inside the shack. Some guys use a file cabinet, cookie sheet, AC unit etc. Looks like yours are on a non-metal window sill. Just wondering if you have tried a metal surface to see if your reception improves? I would think it should.

Thanks for posting the pics! P.S. Is that Pro-2066 on it's side (not a 2006)?

Mike

Yup! I mistyped.. its a 2066... I leave on the main dispatch talkgroup for Orange County Fire Auth. so i dont miss a dispatch while messing around with other talkgroups!

I
"m gunna try and figure out a way to put some metal under there and see if that helps.. I'm shaky on ground planes and stuff and was try to avoid it by going with antennae that said they didnt need one.

 

[bglatour001]

Try mounting your antennas to the top of the cat tree... assuming the cat doesn't mind... Lol

 

[scottyhetzel]

Nice set up bigmatty,

Do you like that condor antenna on the 245xlt ?

Also how does the 996 perform compared to the 796 units... I have a 15x. My next purchase will be the 996 or a new digital model. I have the austins ok my mobile....love that antenna.

 

[KD2DLL]

Looks really good. Like the antennas