Antenna reception

Bonkk083

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I have a outside scanner antenna connected to a splitter for my scanner and weather radio, will that take away reception strength from the scanner.
 

brian

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Yes it will. Whether it's enough loss for you to notice is what you need to experiment with.

A typical 2-way splitter will reduce the incoming signal by 3dB on each leg. 3dB is about half of your signal strength. This assumes it's a passive device with no amplification to offset the loss of the split.

Depending on how strong the signals are that reach the receivers, you may not notice a difference. If you have some channels that are already borderline in terms of signal strength, you might lose some or all reception on those channels. An antenna with higher gain at those frequencies can help overcome the loss.

What might be more problematic is the interaction between receivers. If you're using a typical passive splitter that lacks isolation between the splits, then you may find that the scanning action of your scanner may cause interference with the broadcast on the weather radio.

A little experimentation is appropriate. Connect each receiver directly to the antenna without the splitter and monitor, noting what you can receive. Then put the splitter back in line, but only connect one device at a time. See if you can still hear all of the same channels without degradation. Then connect both receivers and power them both on simultaneously and determine if either interferes with the other.

Good luck.
 

Bonkk083

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Yes it will. Whether it's enough loss for you to notice is what you need to experiment with.

A typical 2-way splitter will reduce the incoming signal by 3dB on each leg. 3dB is about half of your signal strength. This assumes it's a passive device with no amplification to offset the loss of the split.

Depending on how strong the signals are that reach the receivers, you may not notice a difference. If you have some channels that are already borderline in terms of signal strength, you might lose some or all reception on those channels. An antenna with higher gain at those frequencies can help overcome the loss.

What might be more problematic is the interaction between receivers. If you're using a typical passive splitter that lacks isolation between the splits, then you may find that the scanning action of your scanner may cause interference with the broadcast on the weather radio.

A little experimentation is appropriate. Connect each receiver directly to the antenna without the splitter and monitor, noting what you can receive. Then put the splitter back in line, but only connect one device at a time. See if you can still hear all of the same channels without degradation. Then connect both receivers and power them both on simultaneously and determine if either interferes with the other.

Good luck.
Would you use a fm trap, I had one connected but didn't know if it would help are hurt the receiving signal
 

Ubbe

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Stockholm, Sweden
A good working FM trap filter will in most cases improve reception and compensate for a 3dB loss in a splitter. What type and model of splitter are you using and what filter do you have? There's a thread here at RR where most filters have been measured how they perform and how much they attenuate other frequencies.

/Ubbe
 

Bonkk083

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A good working FM trap filter will in most cases improve reception and compensate for a 3dB loss in a splitter. What type and model of splitter are you using and what filter do you have? There's a thread here at RR where most filters have been measured how they perform and how much they attenuate other frequencies.

/
It's a 2 way rca and the fm trap is radioshack
 
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rescuecomm

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Travelers Rest, SC
Most NWS weather transmitters run 1000 watts. Usually you can receive them with only an indoor antenna. However, the factory maintenance office I worked in for 16 years had metal walls and there was not enough signal to work a radio. Even my Icom F3061 had to be carefully positioned for monitoring. Maybe separate antennas would work better. How much trouble to run more coax?
 

Bonkk083

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Most NWS weather transmitters run 1000 watts. Usually you can receive them with only an indoor antenna. However, the factory maintenance office I worked in for 16 years had metal walls and there was not enough signal to work a radio. Even my Icom F3061 had to be carefully positioned for monitoring. Maybe separate antennas would work better. How much trouble to run more coax?
I moved my weather radio to a separate antenna now
 
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