antenna amplifier

[dow35]

does anyone know of a resonably priced antenna amplifier that works good and is made just for a scanner?

 

[digitalanalog]

There are some shown here.
http://www.scannerantennasource.com/Accessories.html

 

[zz0468]

does anyone know of a resonably priced antenna amplifier that works good and is made just for a scanner?

You may want to rethink that. Preamps "made just for a scanner" are frequently junk, and often as not do more harm to reception as good. Same for the TV grade preamps that people use.

Don't buy a preamp unless you know the noise figure. If the seller doesn't specify, it's probably nothing to be proud of. A noise figure higher than that of your receiver will harm reception, not help - no matter how much gain it has. Look for something with less than 2db NF. The lower the NF, the better the preamp. Mini-circuits makes some decent ones that sell on eBay frequently, or you may also try Advanced Receiver Research. Both companies make low noise preamps with wide enough frequency response to cover all the scanner bands of interest.

 

[Mike_G_D]

preamp

zz0468,

Well said! Good advice! Also, I would add that you should pay some attention to the 3rd order intercept point - the higher the better. Some of those lab amps may not make good antenna preamps as they may not be spec'ed well outside a certain frequency range and with a large variance in load impedances - though if they are really spec'ed as "unconditionally stable" then they shouldn't go into oscillation (something some of those cheaper TV preamps can often suffer from to the dismay of ALL around!).

-Mike

 

[rbm]

Here's one that performs well and isn't overly expensive.
http://www.rfbayinc.com/LNA/LNA-1000.pdf

It's stable and does a nice job. If you want to hear how they sound, you can can listen to my feed on ScanAmerica.us (second link down on the page)

Broome County Sheriff, Fire, and EMS:
(also includes Binghamton Police and Fire, Vestal Police, Fire, and EMS, NY State Police (Troop C) and also covers Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania)
http://broome.ny.scanamerica.us/index.php

That online feed is one of 17 scanners on a Scantenna using that particular amplifier. It's mounted using the method described in this post. (I have five antennas, all have amplifiers right at the base of the antenna.)
http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showpost.php?p=860180&postcount=5

You'll need some coax adapters to go from SMA to the connectors of your choice.

You can buy from him on ebay for $69.99
http://cgi.ebay.com/10-1000MHz-Low-...ptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Depending on your RF environment, I would recommend that you use a variable attenuator inline after the amplifier so you can reduce gain to the point where you have no intermod etc.. Something similar to the one at the link below. Not the one I have on hand but just something for you to think about.
http://www.scannermaster.com/ATT_20_Variable_Attenuator_p/24-531021.htm

Rich

 

[iMONITOR]

GRE Super Amp
https://www.greamerica.com/shop/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?pg=prod&ref=scan003

 

[ecbooe]

I'm not sure if this is what you are looking for, but I have this GRE Super Amplifier 3001 With Gain Control & AC Adapter listed on ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...80145&_trksid=p3907.m32&_trkparms=tab=Selling