Antennae questions

[kadenmason]

Hi all. I currently operate a uniden 436hp, I’m looking to get a better antennae for it and am looking for suggestions. I scan for air traffic/atc/ as well as fire/emas/pd here in KC. Any suggestions

 

[RaleighGuy]

Hi all. I currently operate a uniden 436hp, I’m looking to get a better antennae for it and am looking for suggestions. I scan for air traffic/atc/ as well as fire/emas/pd here in KC. Any suggestions

Do you know there is a thread all about antennas, where this type of question has been asked before?

Antennas and Associated Hardware

Sub-forums for discussing various hardware for scanners and receivers such as antennas, filters, splitter/multicouplers and towers.

forums.radioreference.com

 

[paramedic228]

I have read this before, someplace, but here goes...What is the optimum length for a telescoping antenna for VHF-HI, UHF, and 800Mhz? The antenna that I have is one that came with one of my Uniden scanners and has a BNC connector.

 

[mmckenna]

I have read this before, someplace, but here goes...What is the optimum length for a telescoping antenna for VHF-HI, UHF, and 800Mhz? The antenna that I have is one that came with one of my Uniden scanners and has a BNC connector.

1/4 wavelength tends to work well since it's resonate.
VHF-High = ~18 inches
UHF = ~6 inches
800MHz = ~3 inches


Or, if you want to get fancy, you can search up "quarter wave calculator" on the internet. That'll let you type in frequency and get a length.

But, before you pull out the dial calipers and micrometer, it's not super critical, and there's a LOT of variables. So the best thing you can do is to adjust the antenna a little bit and see what works best, and ignore the online calculators. Most just yank the antenna out as far as it'll go and roll with it. You do you, we don't judge.

 

[bearcatrp]

I have read this before, someplace, but here goes...What is the optimum length for a telescoping antenna for VHF-HI, UHF, and 800Mhz? The antenna that I have is one that came with one of my Uniden scanners and has a BNC connector.

I use a Comet W100RX on most of my handheld scanners. On the side of the antenna is the marking of length needed for a particular frequency/band. Works fairly well.

Scanner Antennas | Comet Antenna

wireless mobile and fixed station voice and data

cometantenna.com