Antenna's at Apartments

[Chutdoggin]

OK - Before I get my head bit off, the first thing I would like to clarify is that I DID search this forum for previous posts.

Now that we got that out of the way, I live in San Marcos, TX and regularly scan with a BCD996T the LCRA System here(Exclusively until now). I work at the police department and love listening to the 900 Public Service Frequencies. I would like to be able to scan the military frequencies (I believe Motorala II) out of Randolph and Lackland, and was wondering if this was even possible (san antonio?). If so, what would be the best antenna set up for living on the 2nd floor of a 3 story apartment building?

Anything you guys could offer me would be much appreciated.

**Just to clarify, I live in southern Hays County and and SA is in Mid-Northern Bexar County - Roughly 30(Randolph) to 50(Lackland/Kelly) Miles to the towers I would like to scan. The area my scanner is in has a view to the south, which is the general vicinity of the area I would like to add. I also did see the thread for the guy living in an apartment, but he was looking for a 25 mile range, would that same radio shack setup work?

 

[dangitdoug]

Indoor antennas

I live on the second floor of a two story building. I use a RS mag-mount in the window of my bedroom. The frame under the paint is metal and gives me a good ground. This is coming off a Uniden BCT9000 base scanner. Excellent results. I have no problem with my Pro-95 and a RS 800mhz antenna, so I have not tried that one with the antenna. Maybe I'll get bored and try it this weekend just for the heck of it.

You can also try a mag-mount on top of a metal file cabinet or maybe a refrigerator depending on where your scanner is. By the way the window I use faces east and most of the county is to the west of where I live and I still get great reception. I also happen to be about 4 miles north of one main radio peak on Mt. Miguel and 4 mile east of another one on Cowles Mountain. Even though I live in a valley and one of the lowest points in the county, my scanners still get great reception. This is in El Cajon, Ca. (San Diego County)

Doug K

 

[N_Jay]

http://www.eham.net/articles/5087

Here is a solution a friend of mine uses from an apartment near Hollywood, CA.

Of course this for ham, so it is TX and RX and for HF, but the idea of the mount might work for you.