Antenna Floundering

[robo21]

I guess I screwed up, and now wasted money on antennas. I am using Radio Shack Pro-106 and Pro-651 scanners. I listen to PD mainly in the 482-484mhz and 506-507mhz with some 155mhz and occasional 800mhz. And once in awhile 44mhz for CHP. First I bought a Radio Shack telescoping antenna - center loaded #20-006. I don't detect much improvement on anything but CHP which I think is around 44mhz.

I then picked up a Comet BNC-W100RX which is advertised as having "markings for different frequencies" on the antenna. I'll be darned if I can find any markings. It came from the Antenna Farm. Over $35 down the drain I guess.

Today I got a Watson W-801 from Scanner Master, again I don't see any major improvement over the stock ducky but maybe I don't know how to test.

Now my research is pointing toward the Diamond RH77CA which has awesome reviews but the antenna seems like it might be a bit cumbersome at 16" long. But that could be okay as I generally don't walk around with the radios they are usually on a tabletop.

Have I squandered my money? Am I wasting time and $ on antennas? What should I look for and how should I test to see if they are worth the expense? I am kind of bummed out about this. I guess I should have done more research before buying.

I have to say that I do like the Watson 801's appearance, but $38 shipped for appearance? Seems kind of wasteful .

 

[cmdrwill]

I guess I screwed up,
Have I squandered my money? Am I wasting time and $ on antennas? .

Yes.

The 1/4 wave antenna, 6" for 480, works best. Adapters and junk antennas may not, most often, do not work.

 

[robo21]

Is there any one wideband antenna out there that will cover from 40mhz to 808mhz and be an improvement over the stock, OEM antenna that came with the scanner?

 

[riverrat373]

Any discone will work well.

 

[W8RMH]

A portable antenna to cover such a wide band is virtually impossible. You will give up some performance at one end of the band or the other. The 40 MHz is so far below the other frequencies it is hard to receive without a long antenna.

 

[robo21]

A portable antenna to cover such a wide band is virtually impossible. You will give up some performance at one end of the band or the other. The 40 MHz is so far below the other frequencies it is hard to receive without a long antenna.

Understood, which is why I went with the telescoping antennas. After some further experimentation I think I was hasty in my earlier comments.

It turns out that the Watson W-801 grabs more distant transmissions that the stock antenna cannot. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to determine how much further at this time. Since I have 2 Pro-651's I loaded the same scan lists on both scanners and played with them with the stock ducky on one and the aftermarket antennas on the other.

No question the longer telescoping whip antennas do better with the 40Mhz range. But clearly the longer antenna is unwieldy and unnecessary for the higher frequencies. For those frequencies I really like the Watson antenna.

The next antenna I plan on testing is the Diamond RH77CA. It has great reviews so I am willing to give it a shot. Anyone here have experience with the Diamond?

I should have done the A/B testing before hastily judging these antennas.

 

[robo21]

Any discone will work well.

I was hoping I wouldn't have to go with an outdoor antenna but I can see that would be necessary for top performance.

 

[geartow]

I use a tri band ham radio antenna 2/440/6 meter as a scanner antenna when I need low band options on my hand held. Not ideal but better than the stock antenna. The rh77 works great for vhf high and uhf signals.

 

[gewecke]

Google " Log Periodic antennas", there's your answer for antennas that will perform from 40 mhz. To infinity. . 73, n9zas

 

[prcguy]

Yea, but for most locations you have continuously point it in different directions to hear stations around you. If your lucky enough to have all your stations of interest in one direction its a good choice.

Many scanner Discones come with a base loaded whip that is sharply tuned around 50Mhz. The Discone part works well for VHF air through UHF and you can replace the whip on top of the coil with a slightly longer one to resonate at a specific lo band frequency like 42MHz. Otherwise outside the whips resonant frequency the performance will drop off like a rock.

There is no small antenna that will give good performance from 40MHz to 800MHz continuously.
prcguy

Google " Log Periodic antennas", there's your answer for antennas that will perform from 40 mhz. To infinity. . 73, n9zas

 

[SOFA_KING]

Understood, which is why I went with the telescoping antennas. After some further experimentation I think I was hasty in my earlier comments.

It turns out that the Watson W-801 grabs more distant transmissions that the stock antenna cannot. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to determine how much further at this time. Since I have 2 Pro-651's I loaded the same scan lists on both scanners and played with them with the stock ducky on one and the aftermarket antennas on the other.

No question the longer telescoping whip antennas do better with the 40Mhz range. But clearly the longer antenna is unwieldy and unnecessary for the higher frequencies. For those frequencies I really like the Watson antenna.

The next antenna I plan on testing is the Diamond RH77CA. It has great reviews so I am willing to give it a shot. Anyone here have experience with the Diamond?

I should have done the A/B testing before hastily judging these antennas.

I experimented with all of my vast collection of portable antennas looking for the best antenna for all bands. No matter what, low band is tough without length or being specifically tuned for one frequency area of the band. Any antenna that offers some amount of length will do better than the regular duck sized antennas. So I picked a few of the longer ones and tested them.

I have the Diamond RH77 and gave that a good try on all bands up to 800. Conclusion? Not that good outside the ham bands, and sucked on 800. Couldn't even pickup the next county down from me, and I live near the border. I had this thin whip Comet SMA-24 (BNC-24 for BNC connector) that I compared to the Diamond. Hands down the multi-band winner in a small and flexible design. 800 was no problem, and the other bands did just as well if not better out of the ham bands. The Diamond was great in the ham bands, and that is what I use it for, but not great outside of them. Other than a rigid telescopic antenna, I think you will be hard pressed to find a better antenna. It's just asking for too much.

Phil

 

[robo21]

Yea, but for most locations you have continuously point it in different directions to hear stations around you. If your lucky enough to have all your stations of interest in one direction its a good choice.

Many scanner Discones come with a base loaded whip that is sharply tuned around 50Mhz. The Discone part works well for VHF air through UHF and you can replace the whip on top of the coil with a slightly longer one to resonate at a specific lo band frequency like 42MHz. Otherwise outside the whips resonant frequency the performance will drop off like a rock.

There is no small antenna that will give good performance from 40MHz to 800MHz continuously.
prcguy

For a small, portable antenna let's say we revised the target freqs to between 144 to 868MHz? Does that change things? OR even 144 to 508MHz.

I realize I am not going to be able to obtain the ultimate signal with anything short of a good outdoor antenna, and that a small, portable antenna will be a compromise. I have 2 goals, first I would like to get the best possible small, portable antenna for the frequencies that are most important to me. 80% of those are between 480 and 508MHz, 10% between 144 and 158MHz, 5% 43-44MHz and 5% are 856 to 868Mhz. I don't mind sacrificing either end to greatly improve the middle if possible. Second eventually, I would like to get a good outdoor antenna. The discone sounds great for this. Thanks SOFA_KING I think the Comet BNC-24 sounds like a must have.

Thanks everyone for the feedback thus far, you all have helped me clarify my thinking on this. Now I just need to nail down a couple more of the best choices for my target frequencies the Comet will be one of those.

 

[prcguy]

I have a couple of Austin Condor rubber duck antennas and for me everything VHF hi through 800MHz is noticeably better than a stock rubber scanner antenna. Its not a night and day difference but signals are a little less noisy and I can hear some weak stuff that was not there with a stock antenna.

For me the Condor is a little embarrassing to display in public but its a lot easier to use around the house than a 3ft telescoping model and most of those are tuned for VHF only with a few that will do UHF.

Otherwise nothing attached a handheld scanner will beat even a crap antenna outside on the roof. I see the OP is in LA, can I ask where?
prcguy

For a small, portable antenna let's say we revised the target freqs to between 144 to 868MHz? Does that change things? OR even 144 to 508MHz.

I realize I am not going to be able to obtain the ultimate signal with anything short of a good outdoor antenna, and that a small, portable antenna will be a compromise. I have 2 goals, first I would like to get the best possible small, portable antenna for the frequencies that are most important to me. 80% of those are between 480 and 508MHz, 10% between 144 and 158MHz, 5% 43-44MHz and 5% are 856 to 868Mhz. I don't mind sacrificing either end to greatly improve the middle if possible. Second eventually, I would like to get a good outdoor antenna. The discone sounds great for this. Thanks SOFA_KING I think the Comet BNC-24 sounds like a must have.

Thanks everyone for the feedback thus far, you all have helped me clarify my thinking on this. Now I just need to nail down a couple more of the best choices for my target frequencies the Comet will be one of those.

 

[robo21]

PM Sent

 

[SOFA_KING]

No problem, robo21. Glad to help.

Phil