antenna craft st2 vs par Mon 3

[FireDawgEMT22]

I have heard good things about both of these antennas. I am specifically looking at them for 700 mhz trunk systems. Though i also listen to vhf hi and uhf. I contacted par and he is willing to make a Mon 3 on a single thing as he gets time, he said they are very busy with government jobs right now. He says the price will be about $80.

My question is i cannot afford the 80 right now for an antenna but can afford the 30 for the st2. Is it that much better of an antenna i should just wait and get the mon3 or is the st2 good enough? I want to listen to a700 system that is single tower 33 air miles away. Right now on my 20-176 with 60 ft of rg6 i can't even get the control channel.

 

[ka3jjz]

You're pushing it trying to get 33 miles on 700 mhz with a basically omnidirectional antenna, depending on the terrain. How high is that antenna (just because it has 60 foot of coax, does not necessarily mean that it's up 60 foot)?

You might need a Yagi for that - and if the antenna is basically at tree-level, you'll need some more height. Likely as not new coax - some 9913 is a start - and maybe a preamp.

Mike

 

[FireDawgEMT22]

The antenna is about 10 feet above my roof peak, so about 40 feetish up total. I am planning on changing out to lmr400. But i would use 100ft of the lmr because i may be relocating the antenna at some point and i know the 100 feet of lmr is still much less loss than the 60 ft of rg6. That is already a plan. But since the 20-176 really doesn't have elements for 800, i figure i would want to get s new antennas also. I tried to modify the 176 by adding two 3.5" elements just like the uhf elements just 90 degrees out. But that did not help at all. Would the 4db loss on the rg6 really be enough to prevent nee from getting anything at all on the cc?

And the Mon 3 says it is tuned for 800-900. Would the 771.50625 frequency fit into that tunning area? Also it is northwest Ohio, so nice flat land.

 

[ka3jjz]

If you're on the fringes of this 700 mhz signal, then yes 4db of loss is a problem.

And yes, while that 700 mhz freq is not quite 800, the MON-3 would still likely work, just with somewhat reduced performance. Nevertheless, it is not likely to solve your issue. You are really asking a lot to get 33 miles on 700 mhz, even with flat terrain. A Yagi is in your future, most likely...Mike

 

[FireDawgEMT22]

So then that brings up the question of bands. As I said I listen to VHF hi UHF and 800 mhz. I have heard two antennas one scanner is simply not as simple as two antennas into a splitter then to the scanner. From what I understand because of the different times the antenna will get the signal and cause phasing issues. Would that still an issue with the 176 being mostly for the vhf and uhf and then using a yagi for the 800? Then tie them both together with a splitter. I do not want to use a switch or even a diplexer because of cost and wanting all frequencies all the time. Right now, it isnt that big of a deal because the 700 system I want it multicast on the local 800 mhz system that I get with no problem, but I have a feeling they will stop that once the 700 system is 100% live. I may just have to accept the fact I cannot get it.

 

[ka3jjz]

There are multi band yagis out there - Grove used to sell one (maybe still does) and I think DPD Productions does too. There are probably other sellers/resellers out there that I don't know about. Just keep in mind that the directivity of the antenna may vary with frequency. Do some homework - there's likely to be other possibilities out there - certainly simpler than the one you suggest.,...Mike

 

[Thtb]

there is/was a monr-6 on ebay, but it looks to be out of band range for what your wanting to monitor.