any suggestions for a cheap preamp that will cover the 164.00 to 174.00 Frequency range. The forest service radio comes in really week, so I like to try to boost the range a little to see if I can pick them up better. Thanks for your help.
Preamps are the last thing you should consider to improve performance. Especially in urban areas, they can introduce noise and overloading issues. Get a better antenna, put it up nice and high (above obstacles) and get good quality coax (and be sure to waterproof the ends).
Ignore these idiotic ads that claim 'x mile range'. These statements are nothing more than Reaganomics style smoke and mirrors. It's meaningless. They're carryovers from TV antenna manufacturers that try to lure customers this way. Mike
Ubbe, myself and a very small number of others here know that Pre-amps can and will work.
As Ubbe mentioned, often the problem is with the set up and implementation of any amplifier.
during fir season I do stream Tonto NF fire crews an towers. I can pick them up but the volume is very very low. not sure how to increase the volume so you can hear the feed during fires. Any suggestions how to solve this. I am using a pro-197 scanner. I did change the coax to a lmr 300 low lost cable.
scanner shows a strong signal, just low volume. I am streaming the feed so external speaker won't help