Antenna Question

[ffmedjoe]

Hey Guys,

I have a ton of extra radios laying around and i want to put one in my basement as a receive only unit, basically a scanner with 3-4 freqs on it. I have a tv mast right next to my house aprox 25-30 feet high. I want to mount an antenna on it. Can I use regular "cable" (tv) cable? Or do i need something different. It will be about a 100-150 foot run.

Thanks

 

[n5ims]

Receive only, yes standard "cable tv" coax (more accurately called RG-6) can be used for short runs (say 50 - 75 foot max). For your 100 - 150 foot length, it would probably be better to use a better grade of coax (LMR-400 at the minimum, although LDF4-50A would be a much better choice) to reduce the loss.

 

[ffmedjoe]

i just looked at the LDF4-50A and it's pricey. I was also going to run antenna off of my silo and into our barn to extend my pager. Thats like 1000 ft at $3 a foot, ouch!! I better think of a plan b...

Thanks for the advise

 

[prcguy]

What frequency range do you want to pick up? RG-11 is cheap and fairly low loss.
prcguy

 

[ffmedjoe]

150-158 MHz

 

[robertmac]

Those frequencies are not in the Amateur band. Might ask to move this thread to the general Antenna forum.

 

[ffmedjoe]

Sorry... My bad