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I got a GRE PSR-800 recently and it works well with my Watson W-881 16" antenna for pulling in simplex frequencies more distant. Other things like VHF Fleetnet can be a bit weak due to my scanner sitting on my desk and fighting with other electronics around.
I often hook it to an outside antenna on my balcony about 100' up. Its a 5'5" tall MFJ-1522 dual band 144/440 antenna and works very well for me to clear up marine, opp simplex and other things in the VHF/UHF range. Its things in that range that come in a bit weak on my Watson due to so much RF being around my desk. The other local system here is P25 in the 800mhz range and isn't an issue. The MFJ-1522 is connected to the scanner with 30' of Times Microwave LMR-400 Flex coax. cable.
Soon I will be getting a Kenwood TMV-71A dual band ham radio transceiver though and it will be hooked to that MFJ full time. In the past I used a Diamond D-130J discone with scanners up here and they seem to perform well but the MFJ has more gain. It takes up less space also. I know the discone has a wider receive range but I'm really having a hard time deciding what to do. I'm wondering if I will have any advantage using the D-130J with my scanner over a second MFJ-1522.
The D-130J and MFJ-1522 are around the same price. I guess it comes down to what I need to listen to. The discone will help with the 25mhz-144mhz and 440-1200mhz ranges but I really don't listen to those areas much. The 800mhz trunk systems around here are close and I don't have a need for a outside antenna. So far I've been using the MFJ and helps a lot. It's been almost a year since I was using the D-130J outside so its hard to remember how well it worked for me here. I'm sorry if I just seem to be thinking out loud in the post. I guess I'm just wondering what other people think I should go with to help me decide.
I often hook it to an outside antenna on my balcony about 100' up. Its a 5'5" tall MFJ-1522 dual band 144/440 antenna and works very well for me to clear up marine, opp simplex and other things in the VHF/UHF range. Its things in that range that come in a bit weak on my Watson due to so much RF being around my desk. The other local system here is P25 in the 800mhz range and isn't an issue. The MFJ-1522 is connected to the scanner with 30' of Times Microwave LMR-400 Flex coax. cable.
Soon I will be getting a Kenwood TMV-71A dual band ham radio transceiver though and it will be hooked to that MFJ full time. In the past I used a Diamond D-130J discone with scanners up here and they seem to perform well but the MFJ has more gain. It takes up less space also. I know the discone has a wider receive range but I'm really having a hard time deciding what to do. I'm wondering if I will have any advantage using the D-130J with my scanner over a second MFJ-1522.
The D-130J and MFJ-1522 are around the same price. I guess it comes down to what I need to listen to. The discone will help with the 25mhz-144mhz and 440-1200mhz ranges but I really don't listen to those areas much. The 800mhz trunk systems around here are close and I don't have a need for a outside antenna. So far I've been using the MFJ and helps a lot. It's been almost a year since I was using the D-130J outside so its hard to remember how well it worked for me here. I'm sorry if I just seem to be thinking out loud in the post. I guess I'm just wondering what other people think I should go with to help me decide.