Antenna

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Markbb

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Hey everybody new to posting on the board and a newby with use of a scanner, I recently bought a bearcat BCT15 scanner and the factory antenna maybe good in the city but I'm a good 15 miles away and would really appreciate some input on a antenna I could buy that would increase my scanners range and where to buy it from....this site is a great learning tool...Thanks in advance
 

Markbb

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Welcome to RR, it would be of great help to know what area you are wanting to monitor, and what depts you want to monitor.
I guess you mean by what area your talking about the city, it'll be OKC and surrounding area, I like to monitor emergancy (police, fire dept, storm chasers, military)....I hope this isn't asking to much, I'll get some activity but is spuratic and broke up, I'm sure if I reconfigure the size and highth of antenna the signals will come in stronger and clearer.
 

N8IAA

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I guess you mean by what area your talking about the city, it'll be OKC and surrounding area, I like to monitor emergancy (police, fire dept, storm chasers, military)....I hope this isn't asking to much, I'll get some activity but is spuratic and broke up, I'm sure if I reconfigure the size and highth of antenna the signals will come in stronger and clearer.
I presume you are monitoring the OKC EDACS system. It is ProVoice and analog. Pretty sure that is why it is sporadic and broken up. The height of the antenna has nothing to do with receiving the system. Most of the traffic is on digital TG's, or, encrypted. Make sure you have all of the frequencies in LCN (Logical Channel Number). Don't know how to program a BC15 for EDACS. There are some analog TG's, they will have an 'A' not a 'D', or an 'E' after them. Those you should be able to monitor.
HTH,
Larry
 

Markbb

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Thanks for the reply Larry, but could you speak English...I just started scanning and have no idea what your trying to say....so highth of a antenna has no bearing on recieving a signal, just the way the antenna is shaped??? are you saying that I could place this antenna in my office and recieve better than the stock antenna that came with this unit??
 

n2mdk

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Don't confuse height with length of an antenna. Antennas are made to be resonant at different frequencies the longer it's length the lower the frequency, There are ways to make antennas act electrically longer or shorter, buy using things like coils or capacitance in line with them.
The higher up an antenna is the better it will receive that's why you see antennas on towers and on the top of buildings. An antenna outside on your roof will do a lot better than one inside and in the basement.
You want to use an antenna/s that work best with the frequencies the stations/systems are using.
 

Markbb

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Don't confuse height with length of an antenna. Antennas are made to be resonant at different frequencies the longer it's length the lower the frequency, There are ways to make antennas act electrically longer or shorter, buy using things like coils or capacitance in line with them.
The higher up an antenna is the better it will receive that's why you see antennas on towers and on the top of buildings. An antenna outside on your roof will do a lot better than one inside and in the basement.
You want to use an antenna/s that work best with the frequencies the stations/systems are using.
Now I'm beginning to understand and would luv to put a antenna on the roof of the house, so the length and shape of the antenna is what determines what freqs. your scanner is able to pick up clearly, this is like the 5th time I've read the instruction booklet of the BCT15 and it seems like the author assumes to much on the reader expierance it's giving me a headache....
 

N8IAA

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Now I'm beginning to understand and would luv to put a antenna on the roof of the house, so the length and shape of the antenna is what determines what freqs. your scanner is able to pick up clearly, this is like the 5th time I've read the instruction booklet of the BCT15 and it seems like the author assumes to much on the reader expierance it's giving me a headache....
The author is in Japan and writes in Janpanese-English. What Jerri is trying to say, is that an antenna for 800mhz will work better than the push on antenna that Uniden includes with its scanners. If you have a Radio Shack nearby, get a right angle bnc adapter and a 800mhz antenna for the radio.
What I was trying to say, is that on the OKC system, most of the FD and PD are not able to be heard on any scanner made. The 15 will not decode the digital format of the ProVoice system. No scanner will. Now, whatever TalkGroup ID is 'A'nalog, you will be able to hear. 'D'igital and 'E'ncrypted, you will not be able to hear. If you look at the system where the frequencies are, you willl notice that preceeding the frequency is a number: 01 866.XXX, 02 866.XXX. Jerri can help you with how to put EDACS frequencies in a BC15. Whatever else, milair and conventional that you might want to monitor, will need an antenna that is made for those frequencies. A ham radio dualband antenna (140mhz and 440mhz combined together) will work adequately for flatland like where you live. The best place to find all that there is to hear in your area is the Oklahoma forum further down the page from this forum.:)
HTH,
Larry
 

Markbb

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The author is in Japan and writes in Janpanese-English. What Jerri is trying to say, is that an antenna for 800mhz will work better than the push on antenna that Uniden includes with its scanners. If you have a Radio Shack nearby, get a right angle bnc adapter and a 800mhz antenna for the radio.
What I was trying to say, is that on the OKC system, most of the FD and PD are not able to be heard on any scanner made. The 15 will not decode the digital format of the ProVoice system. No scanner will. Now, whatever TalkGroup ID is 'A'nalog, you will be able to hear. 'D'igital and 'E'ncrypted, you will not be able to hear. If you look at the system where the frequencies are, you willl notice that preceeding the frequency is a number: 01 866.XXX, 02 866.XXX. Jerri can help you with how to put EDACS frequencies in a BC15. Whatever else, milair and conventional that you might want to monitor, will need an antenna that is made for those frequencies. A ham radio dualband antenna (140mhz and 440mhz combined together) will work adequately for flatland like where you live. The best place to find all that there is to hear in your area is the Oklahoma forum further down the page from this forum.:)
HTH,
Larry
Thankyou guys for the help and the online BCT15 is better reading its pretty much idiot proof....I'll go to radio shack Thanks again
 

andrewccm

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If the systems are on 800, the Radio Shack 800 is a great replacement for stock. If the system you are trying to listen to is encrypted (ie, ProVoice), you won't be able to. Also, the BCT15 is not digital compatible, so any unencrypted digital system will not be listenable either.

Take a look at a ST2 (Scantenna) if you want a pretty inexpensive, yet very versatile all around antenna. It is large, but I have mine in the attic and it works quite well. Well worth the $50ish..(includes RG6 cable too).
 

Markbb

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If the systems are on 800, the Radio Shack 800 is a great replacement for stock. If the system you are trying to listen to is encrypted (ie, ProVoice), you won't be able to. Also, the BCT15 is not digital compatible, so any unencrypted digital system will not be listenable either.

Take a look at a ST2 (Scantenna) if you want a pretty inexpensive, yet very versatile all around antenna. It is large, but I have mine in the attic and it works quite well. Well worth the $50ish..(includes RG6 cable too).
I'm gonna assume that the ST2 can be found at the Radio Shack too? and what does digital compatible mean? Sorry for all the questions, but bear with me I'm trying to learn either here or by reading
 

andrewccm

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No.. Not found at Radio Shack. Digital systems in your area require a digital compatible scanner. (ie, Uniden BCD-396T, 996T, GRE-500, GRE-600, Radio Shack Pro 96, etc). The BCT-15 is an excellent analog scanner...but will not receive digital systems.

Do a search for ST2 or Scantenna here on the forum. There should be a link provided to where you can buy it. A lot of us are using it with very good luck. I have several scanners and antennas and find that on my BCT15 the ST2/Scantenna works great here in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
 
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