800 mhz yagi for monitoring

[bobruzzo]

I am looking for an 800 mhz YAGI beam antenna for monitoring the Motorola 800 mhz state police/fire (etc) system. I live in Rhode Island, not far from the tower in Attleboro Mass. Right now I am presently using a Diamond Discone up about 25' fed with LMR 400......about 50 feet. I am getting satisfactory results but still some annoying white noise at times. Also I have a HUGE hill to my east so I am sure that doesnt help. I am guessing a yagi would work much better than the vertical. I will have r to point the beam northeast and try to get it up high. My scanner is a Radio Shack PRO 2055. I have searched online and there are many yagis....some long, some short.....but I don't know the quality of them. Also I have used a recycled HDTV antenna mounted SIDEWAYS to pick up other stuff and it works VERY well.....apparently the frequencies used by HDTV are close to those scanner freqs. And are vertically polarized signals, so mounting the HDTV antenna sideways seems to work well. So I would rather use a DEDICATED 800 mhz antenna as opposed to an HDTV one. So can anyone suggest a moderately priced antenna?

 

[wtp]

using an analog scanner to listen to riscon, which is digital you are getting noise because the 2055 is not a digital radio.

 

[bobruzzo]

I am NOT listening to RISCON! I am listening to the Mass State Police and associated talk groups on 800mhz.....it is a Motorola trunked system that the Pro 2055 is DESIGNED FOR!!! The noise I get is because signals at times are weaker....but there are times I get full quiet signals. I am just looking for a reasonably priced 800 mhz yagi ti improve reception.

 

[a417]

you can make one for less than $20. A length of antenna wire with your connector of choice on one end and open on the other, couple feet of 1/8 rod and a 1x2 piece of wood, and a free program found all over Al Gore's Internet and you can make your own. A good quality measuring device will be necessary. It's a good learning experience to see what will work for you.

 

[Joe_Blough]

I am looking for an 800 mhz YAGI beam antenna for monitoring the Motorola 800 mhz state police/fire (etc) system.ely priced antenna?

I bought this one for $15.63 shipped free. High Gain 13dBi 9 Unit 806-960 MHz External Outdoor Yagi Antenna F Connector for Cellphone Signal Booster GSM Direction Antenna.

They estimated 3 week delivery but received it in 10 days. You can get them with N connectors too. It works fine to pull in signals I couldn't receive with a standard whip antenna and I am using it indoors. This is cheaper than some of the 5 and 7 element yagis.

 

[wtp]

i meant comirs....missed by = much.

 

[Firebuff66]

I have the below one and it works great, I can get a few systems that are 40+ miles away..That will vary with hills and such
It also does fine on 700Mhz

Browning BR-6388B (Black) 806-896 MHz (800 MHz Range) Yagi Antenna 11db Gain | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Browning BR-6388B (Black) 806-896 MHz (800 MHz Range) Yagi Antenna 11db Gain at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[mitbr]

Below is a link to RR post on the 800 mhz yagi I use daily.

800 mhz yagi antenna review buy this antenna

I recently bought a new yagi ant to replace the yagi I was currently using. After much research I decided to buy the 824-960, 15dBi, Terrawave Yagi Base Antenna model T09150Y11206T . This is an 18 element yagi with a female N connector for the coax connector. Here are the specs of the ant...

forums.radioreference.com

Tim

 

[TailGator911]

And yet another option for you, the Diamond A430S10 Base Station Yagi Beam Antenna. A few options here, the one I use is the $69.99 model. Great little yagi with a small footprint that gets what I aim it at. Very well built and has withstood a couple of pretty gusty days here at my QTH, but it takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. You can't beat Diamond products.

JD
kf4anc

Diamond Antenna A430S10 Base Station Yagi Beam Antennas - diamond yagi KEYWORD - Free Shipping on Most Orders Over $99 at DX Engineering

Find Diamond Antenna A430S10 Base Station Yagi Beam Antennas diamond yagi KEYWORD and get Free Shipping on Most Orders Over $99 at DX Engineering! Diamond Antenna A430S10 base station Yagi beam antennas feature great performance from a lightweight, easy-to-install, 10-element design. These...

www.dxengineering.com

 

[ad5kl]

I use a Diamond X50A for VHF & UHF connected to a Wilson 301111 beam for 800. Up about 30 feet. I have a 50 ft run of 9913 to the shack. Does a great job.

 

[mitbr]

And yet another option for you, the Diamond A430S10 Base Station Yagi Beam Antenna. A few options here, the one I use is the $69.99 model. Great little yagi with a small footprint that gets what I aim it at. Very well built and has withstood a couple of pretty gusty days here at my QTH, but it takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. You can't beat Diamond products.

JD
kf4anc

Diamond Antenna A430S10 Base Station Yagi Beam Antennas - diamond yagi KEYWORD - Free Shipping on Most Orders Over $99 at DX Engineering

Find Diamond Antenna A430S10 Base Station Yagi Beam Antennas diamond yagi KEYWORD and get Free Shipping on Most Orders Over $99 at DX Engineering! Diamond Antenna A430S10 base station Yagi beam antennas feature great performance from a lightweight, easy-to-install, 10-element design. These...

www.dxengineering.com

Hi JD. I think the OP is looking for a 800 mhz yagi not one for 70 cm!
Tim

 

[wowologist]

Hmm...I would lean more towards a panel or a corner reflector...I realize your trying to deafen interference from the sides...but with a Yagi you still have a loop (the main receiving piece of a Yagi, so you have a 20/20/20/40 receive pattern). With a panel you have a very slim beam width and little to no gain from any other direction.

 

[TailGator911]

Umm did I get the model number wrong? Sorry, I thought that link was it. Getting old really sucks sometimes

 

[trentbob]

Umm did I get the model number wrong? Sorry, I thought that link was it. Getting old really sucks sometimes

Happens to me all the time now JD. It's age-related... The term you used takes a lickin and keeps on tickin was introduced as the ad slogan for Timex watches in the 50s and was used right on through the 60s and 70s hahaha.

 

[Jphila20]

I have sort of the same issue. I'm trying to pickup a 700mhz P25 system about 30 miles from me and i have purchased from DMS Wireless a YA70014F antenna - 698-780mhz with a 14dBi. I get a signal but not enough for the scanner or SDR to decode. Odd question. Since digital TV runs from about 470 to 855mhz, could you turn a Yagi TV antenna 90 degrees making it a vertical antenna for a scanner or RTL-SDR? I know that's a pretty broad spread for most trunking systems, but do you think it would work?
Sometime it sucks to live in the country!
Thanks!

 

[wowologist]

I have sort of the same issue. I'm trying to pickup a 700mhz P25 system about 30 miles from me and i have purchased from DMS Wireless a YA70014F antenna - 698-780mhz with a 14dBi. I get a signal but not enough for the scanner or SDR to decode. Odd question. Since digital TV runs from about 470 to 855mhz, could you turn a Yagi TV antenna 90 degrees making it a vertical antenna for a scanner or RTL-SDR? I know that's a pretty broad spread for most trunking systems, but do you think it would work?
Sometime it sucks to live in the country!
Thanks!

Na, at that point you'd have made a sortof OMNI charlie brown x-mas tree hybrid wahmmy zammy antenna. What you need is an LNA / Filter that's going to take that little bit of signal and amplify it, and then the filter will pass (bandpass) only the ~60Mhz of spectrum that you want to listen too. LNA's are a dime a dozen around the web and you can make your own filter...I use ( RF Tools | LC Filters Design Tool ) myself and never had a problem with its calcs. You can also peruse k7mem 's site ( Martin E. Meserve - K7MEM ) ...kinda scattered now but he has some good points and pointers.

 

[prcguy]

A 10dB gain corner reflector has about the same pattern as a 10dB gain Yagi, they don't have any special narrow beam width and may be slightly cleaner pattern off the back side. Here is a reasonably priced 800 Yagi that should work fine for the OP.

Browning BR-6388 806-896 MHz (800 MHz Range) Yagi Base Antenna 11db Gain 727932011279 | eBay

Product Narrative 800 MHz Yagi Antenna. Specific Freq. (MHz) 806-896 MHz (No Tuning Necessary). Manufacturer Browning. Rated Wind Velocity (MPH) 80 MPH. Dual Band Base Antennas. Bandwidth >1.5 VSWR 90 MHz.

www.ebay.com

Hmm...I would lean more towards a panel or a corner reflector...I realize your trying to deafen interference from the sides...but with a Yagi you still have a loop (the main receiving piece of a Yagi, so you have a 20/20/20/40 receive pattern). With a panel you have a very slim beam width and little to no gain from any other direction.

 

[Gadgetmann]

I too am trying to get more distant systems, all MPSCS systems and I have a 6 element, 9dB gain Yagi and used to get Saginaw and Genesee Counties but I had to mess with things and install a pre amp up on the tower. This one

PGA103+ Ultra Low Noise Wideband LNA preamplifier RTL SDR HAM Radio | eBay

Original MiniCircuits PGA103+ Ultra Low Noise Wideband LNA preamplifier RTL SDR HAM Radio. - 1 piece LNA tested and assembled. • High IP3 = 45 dBm at 2 GHz. • Gain: 50MHz= 26dB ; 400MHz=22dB ; 1GHz= 16dB ; 2GHz = 11dB.

www.ebay.com

The odd thing is that when I unplug the pre amp from power(12VDC) it still passes RF and I don't think it is supposed to.

I am thinking maybe I should try a higher gain Yagi instead of the pre amp? A few of them are noted here and I am leaning toward the 15dB one. I have about a 90 ft run of LDF4-50A coax going to a RG6 jumper to my scanner(SDS100). I am up on my tower about 55ft and using a rotor. Thoughts?

 

[62Truck]

Also, I know you said the antenna is up about 25 feet, how long is your run of LMR400?

 

[Gadgetmann]

If that was for me? My Yagi is up about 55ft and I am running LDF4-50A andrews heliax with about a 90ft run.