Antenna recommendations
- Thread starter Bonkk083
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mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Are all the signals you want to receive in one direction, or are they in many different directions?
If in one direction (pointed at a distant city) a directional antenna can be a good choice.
If they are in different directions around you, a base antenna with 3-6dB of gain can be a good option. It really comes down to your budget, as you can get antennas with a few dB of gain for anywhere from $100 to $2500.
Multiple directions, I'm not really experience on antennas on what to get
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
I've got one of these up at a radio site, connected to an AIS receiver. It's been a good performer and has stood up to the elements pretty well:
This'll give you 3dB of gain. It's not a heavy antenna, so while it will need a solid mount, you might do fine with some 1" pipe.
This'll give you 3dB of gain. It's not a heavy antenna, so while it will need a solid mount, you might do fine with some 1" pipe.
Would it pick up local 800 mhz
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
No, not very well. That's a VHF antenna.
If you are looking for multiple bands, then you'd want to look at dedicated base scanner antennas. Not my area of experience, though.
What does more gain do, does it help pull in farther signals
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Exactly.
Ubbe
Member
I got a Diamond F23 that comes with a cutting chart to match it to an exact VHF frequency. It's around $100-$120
Diamond says it has 7.8dB gain, but doesn't refer the dB to anything so perhaps dBi. Anyhow it works great at the tuned frequency compared to a 3 element yagi and anything else I got. It seems to receive quite well at all sorts of frequency bands so it's not deaf at UHF.
/Ubbe
Diamond says it has 7.8dB gain, but doesn't refer the dB to anything so perhaps dBi. Anyhow it works great at the tuned frequency compared to a 3 element yagi and anything else I got. It seems to receive quite well at all sorts of frequency bands so it's not deaf at UHF.
/Ubbe
It can be used with a scanner
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
If you are asking if the antenna can be used with a scanner, yes, any antenna can be used for a scanner. You just need to find one that covers the frequencies you want.
Would you go with a dual band antenna, but the one you have is what I mostly listen to
mmckenna
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That's something you need to decide. If all you need is VHF and budget is a concern, that Siro is a good choice.
If you expect you'll need VHF and UHF, and you want good performance, you'd want to use a dual band antenna designed for the frequencies you want to listen to.
Sirio SA 270 MN VHF/UHF Fiberglass Hi-Gain Dual Band Antenna [sa270mn] - $125.00 : Sirio Antenna, High Performance Antenna Made in Italy
Sirio Antenna Sirio SA 270 MN VHF/UHF Fiberglass Hi-Gain Dual Band Antenna [sa270mn] - Ground Plane colinear dual-band antenna for base station service working on the radio-amateur frequency of 2m/70cm. The radial whip is of brass inserted in a conic fiberglass tube for a perfect protection from...
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
That is designed for the amateur radio bands, and won't work as well up in the frequencies you want to listen to.
iMONITOR
Silent Key
What antenna are you currently using? Is it outdoors and if so, how high is it?
Centerfire
5/8 λ Ground Plane base station antenna for land and marine service. It works on the frequency range of 135-175 MHz by using the tuning diagram enclosed. The matching coil is DC feeded for a perfect protection from the static discharges. GP 3-E is made of non-corrosive aluminium and assembled on a very strong base of die-cast metal to get the maximun robustness and the best performance. Tuning is easy by following the attached directions. Does it have to be cut
paulears
Member
159 is in the middle of the marine band, so a high gain marine antenna would be a great choice. Some (the bigger ones) have pretty decent gain figures for 156-162
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