jasona7536
Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2020
- Messages
- 6
What is the best 800mhz antenna on the market for this scanner? The stock antenna reception is good some days and terrible other days. Thanks for your feedback.
Antenna
- Thread starter jasona7536
- Start date
- Status
doctordialtone
Member
jasona7536
Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2020
- Messages
- 6
Ws1065 base
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Well, "best" can mean a lot of things depending on your budget. It's really easy to spend $2500 on an 800MHz base antenna if you really want "best".
Really does help if you give us some parameters to work with, as well as what your budget is.
jasona7536
Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2020
- Messages
- 6
In door antenna, would like to keep it under $200 but can spend more.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
OK, that's easy to do.
So, a few questions:
Is it one single system you want to listen to? Reason being, if it's a single site, or all the sites you want to listen to are in one general direction, a directional antenna might be a good choice.
If they are not all in one direction, a good omni-directional antenna will work. While discone antennas are common favorites in the scanner world, if 800 is all you want to listen to, a dedicated vertical antenna with a bit of gain is going to work better.
jasona7536
Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2020
- Messages
- 6
800 system only, looking to basically boost reception. Stock antenna works good 1 day and terrible the next.
Don't count out intermittent performance on antenna corrosion or connectors/cabling.
Like the cable guy probably one of the first thing he does is cut back the coax and put on new connectors.
A good brushing of the antenna with a fine brass brush and spray down with Lime Away followed with a water rinse and replacing hardware with stainless might make things come back to life. Has for me.
jasona7536
Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2020
- Messages
- 6
It's all brand new equipment
Even the best antenna used indoors might not give you much improvement, a lot of it depends on how your house is constructed, putting the antenna near a window might work well, but it may very well be enough for you, just have to try it. I'm guessing you are using the extendable antenna on the back of your scanner?
Putting the antenna outdoors will almost always greatly improve reception, but it does add more complication such as getting coax cable into the house, properly grounding everything, and waterproofing the connections. If that isn't an options sometimes putting the antenna in your attic is a good solution depending on how your home is constructed, you can't have a lot of metal or electrical wires near the antenna, or foil backed insulation in the roof.
This has already been asked, but if you let us know if all the signals you want to receive are coming form the same direction, or different directions, and that will allow some specific suggestions to be made as to what you should get.
Putting the antenna outdoors will almost always greatly improve reception, but it does add more complication such as getting coax cable into the house, properly grounding everything, and waterproofing the connections. If that isn't an options sometimes putting the antenna in your attic is a good solution depending on how your home is constructed, you can't have a lot of metal or electrical wires near the antenna, or foil backed insulation in the roof.
This has already been asked, but if you let us know if all the signals you want to receive are coming form the same direction, or different directions, and that will allow some specific suggestions to be made as to what you should get.
jasona7536
Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2020
- Messages
- 6
Yes I am using the original antenna. Scanner sits by a big window and the towers are all around me. Outdoor antenna is not an option.
Well you will need an Omni antenna then. Here are some choices,
Don't forget you will need coax cable to connect from the antenna to your scanner, the shorter the better. Once you decide on what antenna you will get we can help you with the right coax to order, you can get custom lengths made from the same seller. That is a good option if you already know where you will mount the antenna and where your scanner will be.
Don't forget you will need coax cable to connect from the antenna to your scanner, the shorter the better. Once you decide on what antenna you will get we can help you with the right coax to order, you can get custom lengths made from the same seller. That is a good option if you already know where you will mount the antenna and where your scanner will be.
For 800MHz this antenna would be hard to beat for the price. It probably doesn't have the advertised gain but at least you can compare its size with others.
8dBi 868/915MHz Fiberglass Antenna N-K WiFi Router Waterproof Outdoor Female | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 8dBi 868/915MHz Fiberglass Antenna N-K WiFi Router Waterproof Outdoor Female at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com
Bob1955
Member
I was looking into purchasing the Comet 25-1,200Mhz 40" telescoping antenna with a BNC connector on Amazon.com but it is $38.95 or so. That's a lot of money for a telescoping antenna but Comet is a TOP rated brand. I would of used this on the rear of my Bearcat BCD-996P2 verses the stock telescoping whip.
Ubbe
Member
Keep in mind that a telescope are just a piece of metal that you can adjust to different lenghts and have no gain. The antennas for 700-900MHz usually has some sort of coil half way up that acts as connector for two different parts of the antenna and then it adds some gain that could equal the double of a single antenna.
If the antenna also has a bottom coil its purpose usually are to match a longer antenna than a 1/4 wave and that will also have some gain compared to a telescope.
Add both those things and a dedicated 700-90MHz gain antenna are so much more effecient than a telescope, at that frequency range.
But if you where to monitor 450MHz or 150MHz you probably get a better signal from the telescope, after adjusting its lenght, than from a 700-900Mhz antenna.
/Ubbe
Are the signals that you get right now very strong (does your radio show signal strength?). How about when you reception doesn't do as well, what does the signal strength look like then?
Is there any correlation to the signal strength going up and down to other nearby events (even your movements)?
Thanks
Joel
Is there any correlation to the signal strength going up and down to other nearby events (even your movements)?
Thanks
Joel
Not sure of your intention. To have an antenna attached to the back of the radio or an external one you can place in a window with a cable from it to the radio. 800MHz is approaching line of sight.
An omnidirectional antenna will have less gain than a directional one. You know that.
I make yagi antennas that are quite directional. All towers are in one general direction. So they work good and only cost a few bucks to make.
Just rigging a few directors and a reflector to a telescopic antenna that is extended to the length needed for 800MHz can deliver several S units of gain. It's a hack, but it works.
An omnidirectional antenna will have less gain than a directional one. You know that.
I make yagi antennas that are quite directional. All towers are in one general direction. So they work good and only cost a few bucks to make.
Just rigging a few directors and a reflector to a telescopic antenna that is extended to the length needed for 800MHz can deliver several S units of gain. It's a hack, but it works.
An important question I always ask for anyone inquiring about an upgrade antenna for 700 & 800mhz, especially if not using a Uniden SDSx00: What system(s) are you looking to improve your reception with? If you see the word "Simulcast" anywhere on the site names then your antenna may not be the issue. Have a read at simulcast distortion, it may or may not apply to your situation
Last edited:
Bob1955
Member
jasona7536, For better reception, go onto Amazon.com and order the Comet telescoping antenna that extends to 40". It is pricey at $38.95 that product is well made. It comes either with a BNC connector or a SMA connector. Hope this helps you out.
Be safe out there.
joesheets
Member
Do you have the plans for your yagi?
- Status
