Antenna for Trunktracker and How to Wire It?

[airwavelistener]

Been using Trunk Tracker for a while now and now I want to get a Antenna for the Attic. What do you guys suggest?

Also,since I have two dongles running on the pc,how would I hook up the two dongles to the one Antenna? Are there a splitter I need to get?

 

[airwavelistener]

Sorry guys,I was having a moment when I wrote this. I meant to say Unitrunker on my PC,not trunktracker.

 

[airwavelistener]

Two antennas the best way?

Running unitrunker on my PC and want to put an antenna in the attic. Since I'm using two dongles is it better to run two cables and use two antennas or can a splitter be used?

 

[M105]

I use RG6 TV cable and a TV splitter. Works fine.

 

[airwavelistener]

Something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/CHANNEL-2532...=1504479407&sr=1-5&keywords=tv+splitter+2+way

 

[CanesFan95]

Doesn't using a splitter cut the signal strength in half? I would use multiple antennas. I also use attic antennas in the apartment and here's what I did. I found a local sheet metal place and ordered a few 2 x 2 foot pieces and asked them to cut a 3/4-inch hole in the middle of each sheet. Then I was able to mount NMO antennas on the sheet metal for a ground plane and plop them in the attic. For the NMO mount & coax, you can search online and find dealers that will make them in a custom length with whatever connector you need. So get 2 of 'em with SMAs for the dongles.

And, use USB extension cables for the dongles to avoid stress on the computer USB ports and for a shorter coax run (less loss).

 

[M105]

Something like this?
https://www.amazon.com/CHANNEL-2532...=1504479407&sr=1-5&keywords=tv+splitter+2+way

I would recommend a little better quality than that one. They are cheap so go with one rated at least 2000MHz.
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A 2 way splitter does reduce your initial signal by 3.5 db. This causes no noticeable effect on reception in most cases. If you are running a very long piece of coax a 10-15 db inline amplifier can be installed at the antenna and powered over the coax. Again, TV hardware works great. I have had excellent results with these little Emerson amplifiers which are usable up to 900MHz. EMERSON AV3241 3241 10dB DIGITAL TV SIGNAL BOOSTER AMPLIFIER AMP

In my opinion a single antenna and single piece of coax with a splitter is the simplest and most economical way to go and will perform as well if not better than two antennas. Put another way: You know you need one antenna so go ahead and install it. You can easily add an amplifier later if needed. The great thing about the SDR sticks is that they are TV tuners and there is a ton of cheap TV hardware out there.

 

[airwavelistener]

The cable run will be around 50-75ft.

 

[M105]

Try it without the amplifier. It is easy to add one later.

 

[airwavelistener]

Thanks.
Going to see which antenna to get now.

Try it without the amplifier. It is easy to add one later.

 

[M105]

Homemade antennas are fun. There are a few on here and elsewhere on the web.
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