Air band RX: antenna or filter? Local advice request

[sholt]

Hello everyone, I am an aviation enthusiast and am trying to improve the quality of signal I receive through my PSR-310 on the VHF Airband.

I have done some research in the equipment forums and I have come to the conclusion that there are two different routes to take, but I am not sure if one or the other (or either) will work for me:

The options:
1. Use a VHF air band filter to cut effectively 'clean' the signals I can pick up from my apartment (around $80). (i.e. I am looking at San Bruno and Sutro and wondering if what is coming out of them is causing noise on the Airband freqs)

2. Because option 1 would come in around $80 I'd be open picking up an antenna like the VHF Airblade Indoor (DPD Productions - VHF Air/Aviation Band, ACARS & ADS-B (SBS / RadarBox) Antennas for Commercial & Hobbyist Applications) to effectively boost my signals. (Or, as my fiancee and wallet would probably prefer, something smaller like the Diamond SRH320A, if anyone has any experience with that antenna in the SF Metro area. Diamond SRH320A HT Ant - 2/220/430 Product Reviews)

So, the local knowledge I am hoping to find is: does anyone on the SF forum use an air band filter to great results? Having never tried scanning in a metropolitan area like SF I am not sure how effective something like this would be. If it sounds like what I really need is a better antenna, then that's the way I'll go.

My current setup:
PSR-310
Radio Shack telescoping center weighted antenna with the coil deactivated.

My Location:
I am on the south side of the Pac Heights hill with an unobstructed view of San Bruno Mountain (near Lafayette Park). I am unable to put anything on my roof.
Obviously the mountain stops 90% of any aircraft-tower chatter and all tower-aircraft chatter, so what I am really hoping for is to minimize the noise in the air band range that I can hear. (For example, I get a lot of TRACON B and D but there can be a lot of noise if the aircraft isn't right overhead).

More info:
This is a really handy post I got back from a member, hertzian, with some tips that are very useful but have put me in two minds as of which way to go http://forums.radioreference.com/sc...al-500h-vhf-uhf-airband-whip.html#post1747023

Thank you for your help in advance, happy scanning
sholt

 

[ray smith]

Air band

Its a two step process.
1-Get a new fiancee
2-Get a dpd ant.

 

[sholt]

I think I might try to build my own that I can hang in the window and put away easily, to save both money and my future marriage ;-).

 

[Qwerty7]

Hi, Sholt,
I have almost the same situation as yourself except for location and I have an outside antenna.
I use the VHF Air Passband Filter sold by ScannerMaster. It works well. However, I use it in conjunction with an FM Trap. I have read that the FM Trap is only used for outdoor Discone Antennas
for overloading of RF and would not be suitable for a handheld.
Also, I use the Diamond RH-771 Antenna on the handheld with excellent results. This is available
at Universal Radio.com.
Good luck !
Mary

 

[sholt]

Hi Mary,

I am going to try out the radioshack fm trap (only $7, worth the experiment!) to see if it make any difference. If it does and it is only marginal I'll probably look into something higher quality and tuned.

What area of the Bay Area area are you in, by the way? It would be good to compare your terrain and distance from major transmitters to mine.

Thanks!

sholt

 

[Qwerty7]

Hello,

I am in San Bruno on the Millbrae border and a stones throw away from SFO.
It's a pretty good location for Air Band monitoring.

Mary