Base Antenna To Portable Scanner Wireless Wifi Bluetooth Transmitter??

[Chief359]

Hello All,

First time posting. I've been looking everywhere and have had no luck finding an answer. My issue is I do not have good reception where I live with my portable scanner. Does anyone know if its possible to install a base antenna in the attic (looking for suggestions no matter the answer) and have some sort of wireless connection to my portable scanner. I want to have the mobility with it around the house and not have it tied down with a cable. Perhaps wifi, bluetooth, or wireless transmitter? I have looked at industrial wifi receivers and amplified bluetooth transmitters, I just don't know enough about this stuff to know if its even possible.

Can anyone help me out? Thanks in advance!

 

[GrumpyGuard]

Your scanner will need to be attached to the antenna. You might be able to get a mag mount antenna and place it on top of the refrigerator and improve your reception. You might be able to place an antenna in the window on the highest level of the house facing the repeater site and get better reception. There are some great home brew directional antennas you can make relatively cheap as well.



Good luck and post your solution.

 

[Ubbe]

If your scanner can be controlled by a computer you can use a cheap second hand Win7/10 laptop running Proscan if you have WiFi coverage.
Then you use a mobile phone or tablet to control and listen to your scanner. Uniden 536 already comes with WiFi so only thing needed there are the mobile phone and perhaps a WiFi router to boost the coverage. The are other solutions as well like the Android suite for Whistler scanners.

There are simpler solutions if you only want to stream audio and do not need to see what you are receiving or have to control the scanner to lock out channels and continue scan.

But first, what's the scanner model you have and how much can you spend and what functions are needed and are there enought money to get another scanner, a more suitable one?

The attic antenna can be a discone or if you prefere to focus on 700-800Mhz band only then there are other band specific antennas that can be used. As long as the roof isn't made of some material that screen out RF it should be ok to use the attic.

/Ubbe

 

[Chief359]

Hello, Funny thing is I do own the bcd436hp, bcd536hp, home patrol-1, and home patrol-2, but I use the bcd's in my vehicle daily (better scanner and I spend more time listening in my vehicle than home). I moved recently and was hoping the home patrol-2 would of worked better than I thought. I know its not as good of a scanner, but its nice and simple to bring with you around the house. As long as I hear whats going on and where its coming from I'm happy.

Before I moved and installed the 536 in my vehicle I did try it at home with the siren app and it was horrendous, that is if it even worked half the time.

As far as I know there is no way to connect a home patrol to wifi? Can it be tied into a computer and some how used with a siren type app?

I know the 536 would solve my problem, but is there a better app to use?

Is there a way to tie an antenna into the computer and somehow rebroadcast it through some sort of wireless remote head type system?

This is about the extent of my knowledge with this stuff (hence why I'm using bcd's and home patrols lol)

Thanks for your help!

 

[Frankhappyg]

Hello All,

First time posting. I've been looking everywhere and have had no luck finding an answer. My issue is I do not have good reception where I live with my portable scanner. Does anyone know if its possible to install a base antenna in the attic (looking for suggestions no matter the answer) and have some sort of wireless connection to my portable scanner. I want to have the mobility with it around the house and not have it tied down with a cable. Perhaps wifi, bluetooth, or wireless transmitter? I have looked at industrial wifi receivers and amplified bluetooth transmitters, I just don't know enough about this stuff to know if its even possible.

Can anyone help me out? Thanks in advance!

Yes. Go Bluetooth.
Have the SDS100 and use this transmitter along with this speaker when I’m poolside in the summer.
Works great.

TaoTronics Wireless Portable Bluetooth Transmitter Connected to 3.5mm Audio Devices, Paired with Bluetooth Receiver, Bluetooth Dongle, A2DP Stereo Music Transmission for TV https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074QLB1Y7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_.TbmCbVN7CSF8

OontZ Angle 3 Enhanced Stereo Edition IPX5 Splashproof Portable Bluetooth Speaker with Volume Booster AMP 10 Watts Power, Custom Bass Radiator, 100' Wireless Range Bluetooth 4.2 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010OYASRG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_qXbmCbJTJARED


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Chief359]

I have looked into that option. Definitely best bang for the buck. So what I'm gathering is if I get myself a nice attic antenna and tie it into my 536 with a tablet this is my best option? Has anyone had more success with the siren app than I have? Is there another app that will work?

 

[Ubbe]

Siren app works perfect with older Android versions, I have 4.4.2 (the highest it will take) in a second hand $50 Samsung S4mini only bought to be used with Siren. People sell their old phones cheap as they cannot get newer Android versions for them. A also use iPhone 5s but that seems to need restarting the Siren app after 2-3 hours of listening. Could be the Apple WiFi and not the actual app that are the problem.

/Ubbe

 

[Chief359]

Thanks, I do have an old samsung galaxy tab 4 laying around which I can dedicate to the 536. Could you suggest any attic antenna ideas and the best cable to use? I listen mostly 700-800, but sometimes I like to listen to other stuff (aviation/railroad). The attic is empty at this time so room is not an issue and I'll run the cable a short distance to the office below.

 

[Ubbe]

There's a forum department here at RR that are dedicated to antennas.
The best valued cable are RG6 coax and if the lenght are 30 feet or less you do not get any better reception going to a 10 times more expensive coax.

I would suggest a real good 700-800MHz antenna and it will still receive other frequencies better than an antenna connected to the back of the scanner. I would try using a mobile antenna mounted on a magnet base and have it stand on some kind of metal sheet at least 1-2 fot wide.
UHF MOBILE ANTENNA, 800-870 MHz, NMO, 5/8 over 5/8 over 1/4 (6DB) CHILDS ANT | eBay
Antenna NMO 800-900 MHz 5dBd for Motorola Mobile Base Radio Magnet Mount MiniUHF | eBay

Try getting a magnet mount that have a coax as short as possible as the coaxes they use usually are RG58 that in some specifications don't even mentioned how they perform at 700MHz. You can get a connecting terminal that have screw terminals so that you can cut the RG58 a feet from the anternna and connect to RG6 coax that goes down to the scanner.

/Ubbe

 

[krokus]

Thanks, I do have an old samsung galaxy tab 4 laying around which I can dedicate to the 536. Could you suggest any attic antenna ideas and the best cable to use? I listen mostly 700-800, but sometimes I like to listen to other stuff (aviation/railroad). The attic is empty at this time so room is not an issue and I'll run the cable a short distance to the office below.

If you want to have the 700 & 800 performance, better than a discone would provide, then get something band specific.

If you are up to it, you could also install a discone, and a coax switch, to select the antenna of preference. (Installing a mobile scanner antenna, with a sheet of metal as a ground plane is another option.)

There are plenty of threads about scanner antennas, just read through a few of them.

Sent using Tapatalk

 

[Chief359]

I do like the idea of a discone. I have a smaller one (2x1ft give or take) which I still have that I mounted outside of my last home and it worked great, but then again it was at the top of a mountain. Can you suggest with a link perhaps a larger attic size one with base and mount? magnetic mounted to a 2x2 of sheet metal?

Also, I want to be using RG6 cable? Which is funny because I have been using RG58 in home and vehicle.

I just want to make sure I do this right once, money really isn't the issue, I just want to make sure I have the best equipment so I don't have to do this all over again.

Thanks again everyone for your help.

 

[Ubbe]

Remember that you really need a strong signal at the 700-800MHz range for a discone to work. Usually you use discones when you want to transmit at a wide range of frequencies with a low SWR that doesn't damage the power tranmitter. It has worse reception than a short piece of wire antenna cut to 1/4 wave lenght of the frequency, that's 10 centimeter or 4 inches at 800Mhz.
Discones don't need metal as a groundplane but need some sort of pole to mount it to.

If you can access that attic with ease then go up there with your portable scanner and check out the reception in different frequency bands. Your rubber antenna on the scanner are probably sligthly better than a discone at 800Mhz.

In some charts the RG58 coax are specified up to 500MHz then higher up there's no figures for it regarding the attenuation loss. There are low-loss RG58 that can be used up to 900Mhz that have foam as insulation and the the braid are doubled, often with metal foil, and the center lead consist of four stiff copper wires twisted together. You recognize it by the thicker size and that it is much harder to bend in a curve. Hold out one fot of coax and it doesn't point to the ground as normal RG58 does. RG6 are much more affordable and have less loss than RG58 and you can put connectors on the coax yourself without any special crimp tools or solder work.

/Ubbe

 

[Chief359]

So using the bcd536hp with a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 running the Siren app do you suggest the Tram or the Childs antenna you sent with eBay link? 800-900 range will work fine? But it will also pick up some other stuff? Magnetic mounted with 2x2 sheet metal? RG58 low loss and RG6 look comparable in price. I would only need 20ft max probably 10ft if its mounted directly above the room in the attic.

 

[Ubbe]

With the RG58 coax, that seems to be used with all magnet mounts, you'll loose about half the signal but with RG6 it's undetectable at a 0,5dB loss. It depends on if you can take a hit on the signal level or not. Some antennas migh come with a long enough coax to reach downstairs. If it seems to be too much trouble replacing a coax for a better one, it's at least better to have a less optimum antenna in the attic than non at all.

Both antennas works the same way and have the same concept with a 1/4 at the bottom and the two 5/8 on top of that but one have the coils in the open and one are encapsuled for a more protected outdoor use on a car and it will not bend at high speed as the other will do. They should perform exactly the same when receiving radio signals. You'll be better off reading in the antenna forum if anyone have experiance of that antenna type when it comes to performance at other frequencies than 700-800Mhz. I have nothing in 700-900Mhz range in my country so I have never tested one of those antennas myself. I made a 1090Mhz antenna to recieve aircraft positions with four 1/2 waves on top of each other and that worked fine for most other frequencies, especially the VHF aircraft band. I sit next to a window 10 feet below that antenna and I have no other antenna that I can put directly on a scanner that will do better at any frequency. Hight are the most important thing for antennas.

/Ubbe

 

[Chief359]

Thanks again for your help! So my final question and I think I will be good is can I tie 2 antennas into 1 cable with a splitter? Is there an advantage to cover more wave lengths? Like I said previously, I have my old discone which worked great, if I tie that into the Tram that you sent me the link for will it help?

 

[GrumpyGuard]

I wouldn't use a splitter as the two antennas may not play well together.
Effect on reception (radiation pattern)
What you're doing is building an array antenna. When the signals from the two antennas meet, the waves are summed, and this means there can be either constructive or destructive interference (stronger or weaker resulting signal). Which one you get depends on the phase of the signals.
If your antennas literally saw exactly half the sky, then there would be no problem. But in practice, they will overlap in coverage — a transmitter (repeater) can be in the view of both antennas at once. In this case, if the signals from both antennas are in phase, you will receive a good signal; if they are out of phase (more or less), you will receive a weaker signal than if you had only one of the two antennas.
In order to make sure the signals are in phase in this case, the coax from the two antennas to the combiner must be of equal length, plus or minus complete wavelengths. A wavelength must be adjusted for the velocity factor of the coax, so the easiest thing is to use identical lengths.
If you were building an array antenna in free space, then the antenna will have a highly uneven pattern with many nulls (directions of almost no reception), as the varying distance to the two antennas from the transmitter changes the phase, but insofar as your house blocks the signal from arriving at more than one antenna at a time it will cause a more uniform pattern.
You can in principle use antenna modeling software to determine the pattern to expect and adjust it to be omnidirectional, but it would be very, very hard to create a sufficiently accurate model of your house.

A switch might be a better option. Using the switch will only allow either input "A" or "B" to be used at any time. This will allow you to the antenna that gives you the best signal for the agency you are listening.

 

[Ubbe]

If you use a diplexer that have one input that filters signals below 600MHz and another input that filters signal above 600MHz then you can use a more effective 700-800Mhz antenna together with a discone for the other frequencies. Diplexers usually have almost zero attenuation of the signals. Problem is that it is difficult to find a suitable one but are not that hard to build yourself if you can solder.

I would first try and use a scanner in the attic and try the antennas seperatly to check out the signals strenghts and write them down and then connect them together and compare. You migh have to move one of the antennas around to find a spot where it works best with your favorite frequencies.

/Ubbe

 

[Chief359]

Thank you everyone. I will work on the install this weekend and begin testing. I will be in touch if I have any further questions.