best base station antenna for receiving all frequencies

[rmx77]

hello all. i happen to have an older radioshack patrolman pro-2025. i am wanting to find a good indoor or any good antenna that i can receive all frequencies with very well. right now with my setups or antennas i have used or cobbled up usually i can receive stuff but some is so badly weak some of it is almost unlistenable cause of the fact of to much static over the broadcast or to weak a signal or otherwise. i listen to everything the scanner can get from 29 to 900 mhz sections and most of it is police, fire, transit, schools, towing, ham etc... i am wanting to find a good antenna that can pick up everything without any static or whatever. i happen to be closer to the water or sea level like maybe 500 feet from sea level and there are hills around and such which hamper reception. if anyone knows of a good antenna let me know

 

[mmckenna]

A single antenna isn't going to work well.
To cover 29MHz to 900MHz, you'd probably be looking at something like a discone. They are broad banded, but have zero gain, so a big trade off.

What really works well is a couple of dedicated antennas optimized for what you are trying to do.

For the 29 - 54MHz range, find an old base CB antenna, or a low band base antenna. You need length for it to receive well. Shortened antennas that claim to cover low band usually don't do it well.

For the 144 - 174 and 400 - 512 MHz range, you might do well with a dual band amateur base antenna.

For 700 - 800 - 900MHz, there are some decent base antennas for cellular, land mobile radio, etc. that will work well.

However, none of those antennas will work well unless you get them high up in the air. You need them up as high as you can. Minimum would be higher than all the surrounding houses. Higher is better.
And, you need to use some high quality feed line, especially on the higher frequencies. I wouldn't run anything less than LMR-400 for the low band antenna, depending on the length you might need LMR-600 or heliax hardline. For the VHF/UHF, you probably need the same. With the 700 - 800 - 900MHz stuff, you really need to be using high end coax unless the coax run is really short.
I'm running a "free" discone I scored off about 35 feet of LMR600 and it works well on VHF. Most of my work stuff is running 1/2" heliax on VHF, 7/8" or 1 5/8" heliax on 800MHz.
You really need to have high antennas with great feed line to make this work.

 

[rmx77]

A single antenna isn't going to work well.
To cover 29MHz to 900MHz, you'd probably be looking at something like a discone. They are broad banded, but have zero gain, so a big trade off.

What really works well is a couple of dedicated antennas optimized for what you are trying to do.

For the 29 - 54MHz range, find an old base CB antenna, or a low band base antenna. You need length for it to receive well. Shortened antennas that claim to cover low band usually don't do it well.

For the 144 - 174 and 400 - 512 MHz range, you might do well with a dual band amateur base antenna.

For 700 - 800 - 900MHz, there are some decent base antennas for cellular, land mobile radio, etc. that will work well.

However, none of those antennas will work well unless you get them high up in the air. You need them up as high as you can. Minimum would be higher than all the surrounding houses. Higher is better.
And, you need to use some high quality feed line, especially on the higher frequencies. I wouldn't run anything less than LMR-400 for the low band antenna, depending on the length you might need LMR-600 or heliax hardline. For the VHF/UHF, you probably need the same. With the 700 - 800 - 900MHz stuff, you really need to be using high end coax unless the coax run is really short.
I'm running a "free" discone I scored off about 35 feet of LMR600 and it works well on VHF. Most of my work stuff is running 1/2" heliax on VHF, 7/8" or 1 5/8" heliax on 800MHz.
You really need to have high antennas with great feed line to make this work.

the reason i want a little base one is cause of the fact i am on the second floor of an apartment style condo and we have a rule that states no outdoor antennas of any kind only satellite dishes are able to be used. also i do have the little antennas that come with scanners but even those are limited. the scanner i am running right now has a bnc jack and i have adapted a coax to bnc adapter with a crappy am loop antenna with a coax end on it then to bnc. its doing ok but some stuff doesnt get received very well at all since some signals are sounding like the other person has a very bad or poorly transmitting radio where the dispatch or other person can hear them clearly. i do want to be able to receive all signals as best as i can with little to no static or signal issues

 

[Francosis]

Pro-2025 or the Pro-2026?

If I remember correctly your PRO-2025 covers 29 MHz to 512 MHz & it's replacement the PRO-2026 covers 29 MHz to 935 MHz but doesn't trunk, maybe you should consider a trunk tracker & depending on your local systems you may need a digital capable trunk tracker,(Check the RR database for your area), now as for external antennas are you on the 2nd floor with more floors above you? And are you facing the proper compass heading for the towers you need to monitor & do you have a balcony? If you have a balcony you can get the venerable Austin Ferret antenna which has an N connector enabling you to utilize commercial grade 7/8ths" heliax coax with an N to BNC jumper cable at the radio end, many enterprising locals are having fabricators work up 18" faux Satellite dishes made of very thin gray composite material with dummy LNA's & attach them to the upper end of the antenna with the strongest nonmetallic clamps which practically adds minimal wind load & doesn't interact electrically with the antenna & nosey residents are non the wiser, please keep us abreast of your decision & progress & enjoy your weekend.

Radio Shack Realistic Patrolman PRO-2025 Product Reviews

Radio Shack PRO-2026 Product Reviews

www.eham.net/reviews/detail/5793

 

[rmx77]

If I remember correctly your PRO-2025 covers 29 MHz to 512 MHz & it's replacement the PRO-2026 covers 29 MHz to 935 MHz but doesn't trunk, maybe you should consider a trunk tracker & depending on your local systems you may need a digital capable trunk tracker,(Check the RR database for your area), now as for external antennas are you on the 2nd floor with more floors above you? And are you facing the proper compass heading for the towers you need to monitor & do you have a balcony? If you have a balcony you can get the venerable Austin Ferret antenna which has an N connector enabling you to utilize commercial grade 7/8ths" heliax coax with an N to BNC jumper cable at the radio end, many enterprising locals are having fabricators work up 18" faux Satellite dishes made of very thin gray composite material with dummy LNA's & attach them to the upper end of the antenna with the strongest nonmetallic clamps which practically adds minimal wind load & doesn't interact electrically with the antenna & nosey residents are non the wiser, please keep us abreast of your decision & progress & enjoy your weekend.

Radio Shack Realistic Patrolman PRO-2025 Product Reviews

Radio Shack PRO-2026 Product Reviews

Austin Ferret Base Scanner Antenna Product Reviews

thats right i must have read it wrong which its the 26 instead of the 25 and it goes all the way to 950mhz and above i dont trunk and such since i never got that feature ever figured out on any trunking scanner i owned. i just follow everything all at once. i do love the 800mhz and higher scanners but most things going digital i do get a little bit of lock out noise on some frequencies. i would love to receive as best i can though. the other thing is that there are floors above were i am and there is a balcony but last year or sometime this year they banned outside antennas even being used at all no matter what design or where they can hook to. they only allow satellite dishes outside only. i am limited to indoor antennas only if i am to use one and it would have to be one that either hooks directly up to the scanner like how most of the ones that come with scanners are or a very short cable.

 

[popnokick]

Since you can only have an indoor antenna, for about $10 and a trip to your hardware / home store you can hang one of these in your window (scroll down the Wiki page to the wire version of the antenna) -
Homebrewed Off-Center Fed Dipole - The RadioReference Wiki
They are very broad-banded, exhibit some gain, and cost very little to try. Lots of reports / reviews from people here on RR who use them. The OCFD hung in window will DEFINITELY outperform any back-of-set antenna.

 

[rmx77]

Since you can only have an indoor antenna, for about $10 and a trip to your hardware / home store you can hang one of these in your window (scroll down the Wiki page to the wire version of the antenna) -
Homebrewed Off-Center Fed Dipole - The RadioReference Wiki
They are very broad-banded, exhibit some gain, and cost very little to try. Lots of reports / reviews from people here on RR who use them. The OCFD hung in window will DEFINITELY outperform any back-of-set antenna.

that doesnt look bad all i would have to do is go with an f connector to bnc jack i do know i have one of those type of tv connectors around but yea that looks easy to make in some way. have u ever made one

 

[kandrey89]

Anyone know if doubling the length of the OFCD will increase reception?
Also I think from what I read, using copper pipe, which is a thicker diameter than a thin wire, will improve reception, so does that mean if I use 1" or 1.5" copper pipe, it'll be better than 3/4" copper pipe?

 

[popnokick]

mx77 - Yes I've made several of them as have many here in RR have. There are many people who have posted their pics and results here on RR. Use RR' "Search" function.

Making it longer will NOT work and will not improve reception. Using larger diameter copper pipe is supposed to increase bandwidth.... I have not noticed the difference, but have only used a scanner and not an antenna analyzer to measure.

 

[ansky]

I use this antenna on everything from 154-850 MHz and it works really well.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...r antenna&qid=1445177425&ref_=sr_1_24&sr=8-24

I have it outside about 10 feet up in the air, on top of a shrub in my yard and it is barely noticeable. It's small enough that you could probably find enough space to use it indoors if you wanted to.

 

[kandrey89]

So the OFCD is a 1/4 wave antenna for 43MHz?

 

[nd5y]

So the OFCD is a 1/4 wave antenna for 43MHz?

No. The 48 inch side is 1/4 wave at 58.5 MHz and the 18 inch side is 1/4 wave at 156 MHz.
The overall length of 66 inches would be 1/2 wave at 85 MHz.

 

[kandrey89]

Why is it 1/2 wave for 85MHz but not a 1/4 wave for 42.5MHz?

 

[nd5y]

Why is it 1/2 wave for 85MHz but not a 1/4 wave for 42.5MHz?

It is, but it doesn't work like that. If you cut a 1/4 wave antenna half and feed it in the middle it behaves as a 1/2 wave dipole at double the frequency.

 

[kandrey89]

Oh, I get it now, thanks.

 

[popnokick]

.... and that is why it does not require any sort of ground plane or radials. BTW - It works very well at 42.5 mHz and for the entire VHF low band as well. As you go very high in frequency (above 470 mHz and into 700 and 800 mHz) the angle of radiation becomes very steep and it will be mostly looking skyward. But for the popular aircraft, public service, fire, marine, etc bands..... it works just fine.

 

[kandrey89]

So why won't making it longer increase frequency reception? I thought 1/2 wave receives better than a 1/4 wave.

 

[wtp]

make it easier

buy a radio and an antenna for each band.
i have some older radios and have one to 150's and one for 400 with a matching antennas.
the county is on 800 and i use a stock antenna and even have it in my pocket most of the time.

 

[kandrey89]

So why won't making it longer increase frequency reception? I thought 1/2 wave receives better than a 1/4 wave.

Anyone?

 

[br0adband]

The OCFD is a peculiar beast and there are a LOT of threads here at RR about it discussing why it works the way it does (and 23 dedicated ones I can find) and there's not really a lot that can be done to improve it in most any respects. Many people including myself have built one (or more in some cases) and have had pretty good success with them. I built mine just over a year ago and it didn't work as well as I'd hoped it would so I disassembled it and put the parts in a closet and even created a thread about how disappointed I was after making it, but a few months ago I pulled it out and put it back together and for whatever reason this time it works as expected and it does remarkably well.

Because it's a peculiar beast of an antenna, the best course of action is to build it and be done with it. There are two main designs: the original OCFD which is made basically of wire and not much else and then there's the more "hardcore" hardware version made from 1/2" copper pipe with some end caps and a T-joint of PVC along with the required screws/taps/etc. If you haven't looked at it yet the RR wiki page is:

Homebrewed Off-Center Fed Dipole - The RadioReference Wiki

I'm far from an expert in antenna design and basically make contraptions based on whatever interesting ones I happen to come across here at RR and other forums online, but I suppose it's possible to widen the bandwidth of the OCFD in some respects - I'm just not certain of how to do that. One looks at the design and might figure that if you use the ratio of the long side to the short side (4:1.5 is what I believe it works out to in terms of the length, 4 foot long side : 1.5 foot short side) and extrapolates that it might be possible but I'll let someone else that's vastly more knowledgeable about antenna design than I am take a shot at that one.

The copper pipe OCFD works remarkably well for me inside my apartment (I can't mount antennas on this property outside, sadly) and mine is sitting beside a window but it does yank in quite a bit of content from the civilian air band (116-136 MHz) and even the 700-800-900 MHz stuff too. No, it doesn't handle the 700-900 range nearly as well as a dedicated antenna for that range but, sometimes I get sick of switching out antennas so I just use it as is and don't really have any issues across the entire range(s) I monitor. Because I'm centrally located in downtown Las Vegas (the entire metropolitan area here is in a very rough rounded pattern surrounded by mountains 360 degrees) I think I do pretty well considering.

It doesn't take long to put together the original wire OCFD (I've made several of those) so it's definitely worth the time to make at least one.