Hey all, I run a base scanner at my house with a Diamond XC50C on my roof. The antenna is 5.6ft tall. My question is if it’s worth upgrading to a taller antenna to pull in frequencies that I can hear now but are a bit fuzzy, etc. I’d only be able to move up a size or two, to the 8 or 10 foot versions of what I have now. Any bigger and I’d need more support structure, etc. I’m happy with the performance now but there are few things I’d like to be able to pull in more clear. Any advice on if this it a worthwhile upgrade? Or any other suggestions would be great as well. Thanks!
Antenna Height Question
- Thread starter emsflyer84
- Start date
you want to mount the antenna as high as you can get it above the roof. i have several gable mounts on the gable end of the house with a piece of one inch 10 foot metallic conduit with the antenna mounted on that.
Might be worth stating what scanner you have.
What scanner, and what are you trying to listen to? I have a Omni X about 20' up, and can pull in stuff at least 30 miles away that I have programmed in. Never tried anything farther.
Treed me, lol.
Ok I have a Uniden BCD996P2. I listen to local public safety which is all VHF range, some analog some digital. The antenna I have is basically made for the bands I listen to. And I understand the higher the better. I’m on the peak of my roof now, just trying to gauge if an extra foot or two in antenna height can really make a big different. Thanks.
A basic rule of thumb for scanning applications is higher is better.
Your antenna is fine and if you can get it above utility lines and poles, that is great.
My antenna (discone) is above poles/lines and find attenuation helps except weak signals.
Your antenna is fine and if you can get it above utility lines and poles, that is great.
My antenna (discone) is above poles/lines and find attenuation helps except weak signals.
There are many things to consider. Do you have a particular goal with raising your antenna? New Hampshire has a lot of mountains, severe storms and high winds. If there is a mountain between you and what you're trying to monitor, elevating your antenna a couple feet won't make a difference. It will put additional strain on the antenna mount as well as the mast. You might want to consider a preamp.
So im putting up an antenna roughly 8FT pole cant get to my peak from side of house its to high so maybe a preamp will help?
Think you missing a bunch of periods and saying 8 feet won't reach your peak. And peak is high from side of the house?
Can you post any pics ? You can add a preamp but those can introduce lots of noise (too much signal) which will could make things worse.
my ladder only goes to the second floor, but im geting on porch roof that will take up roughly 8FT from top of second floor. we have an attic i was thinking about hanging out the attic to attach it. but theres about 2-3 ft till the concrete house beside me and not 100% positive id get it straight either from there. i would be hanging out about 1-1/2ft wide window with roughly 3 story drop so making it straight may not work but was thought of an checked out.
with my ladder im probably about 10-15ft from my peak of the house or i would do that. an im not puting ontop of rough because of solar panels.
Similar threads
