Wireless Antennas?

[InHouston]

So, the idea comes to mind if such a product exists. I imagine having an outdoor antenna mounted on top of my house. Of course, the cable runs into the home which means I am tethered to the room it comes in at. Is there a wireless solution to this? In other words, is there a device I can plug the antenna to indoors that will transmit the signals gathered from the antenna wirelessly around the house? Then I would imagine a receiving device my hand-held scanner is plugged into that picks up this signal.


Outdoor Antenna ----> cable ----> Indoor wireless transmitter--->/\/\/\/\/ (WI FI Signal) /\/\/\/\/\------> To wireless receiver ---> To scanner radio

 

[zz0468]

Outdoor Antenna ----> cable ----> Indoor wireless transmitter--->/\/\/\/\/ (WI FI Signal) /\/\/\/\/\------> To wireless receiver ---> To scanner radio

Yes, such a product exists, but not quite the way you're envisioning it. There are amplifiers that will attach to an antenna outside, amplify a signal, and send it to another antenna inside. Cellular companies and public safety agencies use these devices all the time, only they work in both directions. It's how they provide coverage in buildings and tunnels, etc.

There are consumer grade products that do this for cellular bands, but they're not exactly legal. The interference potential to public safety systems is enormous, so they're a BAD idea for general public use.

The public safety/cellular grade units are very expensive - in the tens of thousands of dollar range. They also take a great deal of skill to install and operate properly. The consumer grade units are in the several hundreds, are essentially crap, and did I mention the interference potential is enormous?

A legal way to do this would be to wire your receiver to an outside antenna, then send the audio to a wireless transmitter to a wireless headset. the downside is, you don't have the scanner there in your hand, just a headset.

What you're picturing would be kinda neat, but would require modulating, and translating the desired signals to a different frequency, then converting back to original before sending to your scanner. Well, guess what! That's being done to, sort of. There are public safety grade units that use fiber optics between the indoor unit and the out door unit. Again, hugely expensive.

 

[Skypilot007]

Someone on here posted a while back a very clever way to use a very high gain pre amp. The guy had an antenna connected to the output port instead of connecting it to the radio. The pre amp had enough gain to transmit through an antenna connected to the output port everything the antenna connected to the input port was receiving, basically creating what you desire. I believe the range was limited to about 100ft or so. I'll have to search for it. It has been some time since I read that.

 

[zz0468]

Someone on here posted a while back a very clever way to use a very high gain pre amp.

Yep. A variation of the approach I mentioned. I remember that post. The problem with making that recommendation is that unless one has the means to insure that it's done right, it could oscillate and cause all manner of problems. Granted, a small amp isn't going to generate a huge amount of power, but it doesn't necessarily have to be disruptive. I would strongly urge that unless one has the technical know-how to do that, one refrain from it altogether.

And if you think I'm being neurotic about it, ok... I am. I recently spent two days DF'ing a home installation of a cellular amp that was disrupting two 28 channel trunked systems.

 

[tekshogun]

I don't see or even believe there is anything that is practical or possible for what you want. Especially if you want to be able to change the frequency you are listening too (which is automatic on trunked systems). Base stations and repeaters used in buildings are usually setup for a small number of channels/frequencies being used. Closest thing I know of are through-glass antenna mounts and I assume there is some highly conductive element on both sides of the glass that radiate well enough to make these antennas practical for all kinds of transceiver operations although they don't make the best antennas.

 

[InHouston]

Someone on here posted a while back a very clever way to use a very high gain pre amp. The guy had an antenna connected to the output port instead of connecting it to the radio. The pre amp had enough gain to transmit through an antenna connected to the output port everything the antenna connected to the input port was receiving, basically creating what you desire. I believe the range was limited to about 100ft or so. I'll have to search for it. It has been some time since I read that.

That is interesting. I would like to read more about this approach should you find the post.