Hello all, I recently purchased a wide-band antenna for my Uniden BC346XT scanner. The model is the Diamond SRH77CA, and I got this from the knowledgeable people at Radio World in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
I live in the K-W area and am mainly interested in listening to the WRPS/FD EDACS 800MHz and MOH VHF fleetnet system. The stock antenna that came with the scanner actually isn't all that bad, and performs great for the EDACS 800MHz system, but doesn't perform well when it comes to the VHF MOH system, hence me purchasing a different antenna.
Not only did the SRH77CA not bode well at all for the MOH VHF system, it totally would not receive the EDACS 800. A little about my location: I mainly listen at home in the basement, but with access to a large window (not sure if this makes a difference, just pointing out so you're aware the room isn't entirely submerged underground). When driving around, the SRH77CA still doesn't perform well, but it will intermittently receive signals from the EDACAS system, and then the MOH system, but only when the unit is physically being held. Sidenote: when driving around, the stock antenna is fabulous in all areas, just not in my basement.
Hopefully I have provided enough information about my situation. My question here is what antenna(s) do you guys recommend and why? I should also mention that in my frustration (knowing I needed a longer antenna length for the longer VHF bandwidth) I grabbed a hanger out from the closest, unwound it, wrapped it around the top of the rubber duck antenna twice and ran the rest up a wall, and the MOH fleetnet came in crystal clear with signal strengths of 5. While this may be funny and work, it's tacky and I can't bring that setup into my vehicle. I need an antenna that works well in both environments, is cost effective, and still rationally sized.
I tried to provide as much information about my thinking here, if you have any questions, please fire away.
Thanks in advance for anybody's help!
I live in the K-W area and am mainly interested in listening to the WRPS/FD EDACS 800MHz and MOH VHF fleetnet system. The stock antenna that came with the scanner actually isn't all that bad, and performs great for the EDACS 800MHz system, but doesn't perform well when it comes to the VHF MOH system, hence me purchasing a different antenna.
Not only did the SRH77CA not bode well at all for the MOH VHF system, it totally would not receive the EDACS 800. A little about my location: I mainly listen at home in the basement, but with access to a large window (not sure if this makes a difference, just pointing out so you're aware the room isn't entirely submerged underground). When driving around, the SRH77CA still doesn't perform well, but it will intermittently receive signals from the EDACAS system, and then the MOH system, but only when the unit is physically being held. Sidenote: when driving around, the stock antenna is fabulous in all areas, just not in my basement.
Hopefully I have provided enough information about my situation. My question here is what antenna(s) do you guys recommend and why? I should also mention that in my frustration (knowing I needed a longer antenna length for the longer VHF bandwidth) I grabbed a hanger out from the closest, unwound it, wrapped it around the top of the rubber duck antenna twice and ran the rest up a wall, and the MOH fleetnet came in crystal clear with signal strengths of 5. While this may be funny and work, it's tacky and I can't bring that setup into my vehicle. I need an antenna that works well in both environments, is cost effective, and still rationally sized.
I tried to provide as much information about my thinking here, if you have any questions, please fire away.
Thanks in advance for anybody's help!