Antenna for BC 396T

[ragma]

Is there a better antenna for the BC 396T then the one that comes standard with the scanner. I primarly listen to the emergency services in Toronto. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[KE5MC]

I use an Antenex 1/2 wave for 800 systems and Diamond RH77CA for lower frequencies. The Diamond is almost as good as the 1/2 wave, but the longer length of the Diamond gets in the way sometimes.

Not sure what Toronto has to offer but both antennas get good reviews. I bought the Antenex at ScannerMaster and the Diamond at Universal-Radio.

 

[VE3RADIO]

I find the best all around antenna for the 396 in the GTA is the Radio Shack 800mhz.. but i would highly recommend the Diamond RH77CA for listening to Fleetnet. The only downfall it has is the length as mentioned above.. for some reason.. the 800 mhz radio shack antenna works amazing on it..

for the car..

just get a mini sma mag mount.. they sell them at RW and Durham Radio.

 

[EJB]

The Diamond Antenna mentioned by WZI rings absolutely true.
It is good but too long.
I wrote down an antenna that a member on here named RHUTCH likes that is much shorter than the Diamond antenna:
I mihttp://radioworld.ca/product_info.php?cPath=73_191_195&products_id=943ght pick one of these up myself @ RadioWorld:


http://radioworld.ca/product_info.php?cPath=73_191_195&products_id=944

I also use this one for car use on trips and I mount this sucker on my balcony:

http://www.durhamradio.com/ks3-micro-magnet-mobile-scanner-antenna.html

With this from my Burlington base I can scan Fleetnet towers all the way from King City to Brantford & Guelph.
That said I dont see it helping you on Toronto's 800 meg systems

 

[exkalibur]

I bought an SMA 800MHz LMR antenna years back from Ratelle in Oakville for my FT-50 for around 15 bucks - it worked amazing for TPS (back in the conventional days)...I imagine it would work great on the 396, if I could find the damn thing!!!