Ok, I have more antenna questions, go figure right. I will try to explain everything in the best detail I can.
Basically what I want to know is if there is a way, and if there is, how would go about testing an antenna system without fancy antenna testing equipment ( or basic for that matter lol). Like is there a way to test the receive capability using a basic multi meter ( I have a fluke 77 and a southwire 21050T with a clamp) or the built in bandscope feature on the 325p2. I don't have a SWR meter or anything like that. I can find information for testing antennas, but it pretty much all pertains to testing transmit, not receive.
I am asking because I have tried 4 different antennas, 3 from various locations, heights, and feed lines. These would be a Discone 130NJ, a home made off center dipole and a home made yagi tuned to 850 mhz. The 4th being my large TV antenna on a 30 foot tower. And obviously the stock stubby that came with it. All of the outdoor antennas give similar results, not exact, but similar. The best is the Discone 30 feet in the air with new RG6Q cable and compression fittings. I can pick up analog signals from between 30 and 50 miles away with any of the outside antennas at a reasonable height.
What I am wondering is how would I know if any of these antennas were performing as well as they should. Or are they performing no better than a random chunk of metal 15-30 feet in the air. Or is just the length and height of the coax acting as an antenna? I honestly don't know how I would know the difference one way or another. They could all work above average, average or crappy, all I know is they are similar based on what I can pick up. Like I said, I like the discone the best, but it isn't a "Holy crap, that antenna rocks!" kind of a situation if you know what I mean. And for all I know that system works better simply because I have brand new RG6Q coax running 30 feet in the air with a pre amp at the top. For all I know I may have a 100 dollar antenna just sitting up there looking pretty lol.
The reason I am asking and doubting the set up is because I have a couple guys in the local MI forum telling me I should be picking up a system I can't. They live farther away from the coverage zone then I do, and they can pick it up fairly easy. They live on the other side of the system than I do though. I live to south of it, and they live to the north/ north east of it in the detriot area. I don't know if that makes a difference or not to be honest.
If I get in the car and drive for a little ways to get in the coverage area I can pick them up with the stock antenna on the 325p2 inside a car. They seem to believe that if I live that close to the coverage area I should be able to pick it up pretty easy with an outdoor antenna. Which would lead us to believe I had an antenna issue, cable issue or connection issue. I have used all these antennas on different feed line from 6 feet, 25 feet and 30 feet. Except the large tv antenna, I can't get to that to swap out cable. And I have tried running the cable straight from the antenna into the scanner, so there were not multiple connections to be worried about. It didn't really make a noticeable difference. I did have one situation where a 6 foot piece of coax in side the house was not right, and it was pretty obvious when bypassed or swapped out. I could still pick up all the local stuff, just the signal strength was about cut in half.
Here is a picture of a map I made with the coverage areas and where I could pick them up in my car when driving around. It also shows were my house is located.
The red circle is the Adrian trunked system, I get that fine obviously.
The Yellow circle is Monroe county Multicast system, which come very close to where I live.
The Blue circle is the Washtenaw Multicast system. This is the one the other guys think I should be able to get based on how far away they live and can pick it up.
The two points on the map that show were I can get a signal in my car are where I can start getting a reliable signal. I can start picking up farther out, but it is spotty, or I only get one ID. I also noticed that the scanner will lock onto an ID or a control channel, but you won't actually hear anything. So just being able to get the signal obviously isn't good enough, you have to be able to get it well enough to actually hear the transmissions. As you can see, I actually had to drive a fair amount into the Washtenaw system to start picking it up reliably.
So you can get an idea of scale, the red circle is 15 mile radius, the yellow is 20, and the blue is 25. At least according to the database. And the distance between Adrian and Techmseh is 10 miles.
Does this make any sense to anyone, or am I just over thinking all of this?
Basically what I want to know is if there is a way, and if there is, how would go about testing an antenna system without fancy antenna testing equipment ( or basic for that matter lol). Like is there a way to test the receive capability using a basic multi meter ( I have a fluke 77 and a southwire 21050T with a clamp) or the built in bandscope feature on the 325p2. I don't have a SWR meter or anything like that. I can find information for testing antennas, but it pretty much all pertains to testing transmit, not receive.
I am asking because I have tried 4 different antennas, 3 from various locations, heights, and feed lines. These would be a Discone 130NJ, a home made off center dipole and a home made yagi tuned to 850 mhz. The 4th being my large TV antenna on a 30 foot tower. And obviously the stock stubby that came with it. All of the outdoor antennas give similar results, not exact, but similar. The best is the Discone 30 feet in the air with new RG6Q cable and compression fittings. I can pick up analog signals from between 30 and 50 miles away with any of the outside antennas at a reasonable height.
What I am wondering is how would I know if any of these antennas were performing as well as they should. Or are they performing no better than a random chunk of metal 15-30 feet in the air. Or is just the length and height of the coax acting as an antenna? I honestly don't know how I would know the difference one way or another. They could all work above average, average or crappy, all I know is they are similar based on what I can pick up. Like I said, I like the discone the best, but it isn't a "Holy crap, that antenna rocks!" kind of a situation if you know what I mean. And for all I know that system works better simply because I have brand new RG6Q coax running 30 feet in the air with a pre amp at the top. For all I know I may have a 100 dollar antenna just sitting up there looking pretty lol.
The reason I am asking and doubting the set up is because I have a couple guys in the local MI forum telling me I should be picking up a system I can't. They live farther away from the coverage zone then I do, and they can pick it up fairly easy. They live on the other side of the system than I do though. I live to south of it, and they live to the north/ north east of it in the detriot area. I don't know if that makes a difference or not to be honest.
If I get in the car and drive for a little ways to get in the coverage area I can pick them up with the stock antenna on the 325p2 inside a car. They seem to believe that if I live that close to the coverage area I should be able to pick it up pretty easy with an outdoor antenna. Which would lead us to believe I had an antenna issue, cable issue or connection issue. I have used all these antennas on different feed line from 6 feet, 25 feet and 30 feet. Except the large tv antenna, I can't get to that to swap out cable. And I have tried running the cable straight from the antenna into the scanner, so there were not multiple connections to be worried about. It didn't really make a noticeable difference. I did have one situation where a 6 foot piece of coax in side the house was not right, and it was pretty obvious when bypassed or swapped out. I could still pick up all the local stuff, just the signal strength was about cut in half.
Here is a picture of a map I made with the coverage areas and where I could pick them up in my car when driving around. It also shows were my house is located.
The red circle is the Adrian trunked system, I get that fine obviously.
The Yellow circle is Monroe county Multicast system, which come very close to where I live.
The Blue circle is the Washtenaw Multicast system. This is the one the other guys think I should be able to get based on how far away they live and can pick it up.
The two points on the map that show were I can get a signal in my car are where I can start getting a reliable signal. I can start picking up farther out, but it is spotty, or I only get one ID. I also noticed that the scanner will lock onto an ID or a control channel, but you won't actually hear anything. So just being able to get the signal obviously isn't good enough, you have to be able to get it well enough to actually hear the transmissions. As you can see, I actually had to drive a fair amount into the Washtenaw system to start picking it up reliably.
So you can get an idea of scale, the red circle is 15 mile radius, the yellow is 20, and the blue is 25. At least according to the database. And the distance between Adrian and Techmseh is 10 miles.
Does this make any sense to anyone, or am I just over thinking all of this?