Antenna Recommendations

[nick223]

Looking for a good scanner antenna to mount on a antenna tower at a fire station anyone have any suggestions

 

[Nightshade]

Suggested that consult the fine folk's at Universal Radio for all the help you can stand. This is their line up of scanner antennas. Scanner Antennas

 

[thomast77]

Discone

 

[n5ims]

Looking for a good scanner antenna to mount on a antenna tower at a fire station anyone have any suggestions

Please provide more details on what you need the scanner and antenna to do (bands, etc.). Your question is kind of like asking what kind of truck should I get for a fire station. My answer would vary greatly depending on what you need that truck to do (pumper, quint, utility pick-up, etc.).

Since you state that this antenna will be mounted on a commercial tower where transmitters will be active, you will need to worry about the spacing between the scanner antenna and transmitting antennas. If they're too close, you could easily blow out the scanner's front end and will most likely have some receiption issues at times due to the strong signals swamping the scanner while the station's radios transmit.

Depending on who owns and/or manages the tower for the station, you may be restricted on what kind of antenna, types of coax (especially if it's routed in areas where teflon or other 'safe' material must be used), and mountings can be used. While it's important that the scanner install do what you need, it's more important that this install not affect the critical functions of the fire station's radios. Mounting a cheap discone in the wrong place on the tower could lead to tragic results if a strong wind rips off an element causing it to land on the station's communication antenna, shorting it out and causing them critical down time.