What is considered the best base station antenna for for listening to 150 to 900 Mhz?
base antenna
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MTScannerNut
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I'm happy with my Diamond discone antenna.
doctordialtone
Member
+1 on the Discone.👍
Keep in mind you're not going to get equal coverage across all the bands you've specified using one antenna & all bands do not propagate equally. With that said my vote goes to the Austin Spectra
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Yeah, really depends on your budget. Do you have $30, $300, or $3000 to spend?
I have a $3000 Telewave discone at one of my high sites and it works well.
I also have a Diamond DJ-130N I scored for free that's been up at my house for 10 or so years now, and it works well.
I have a $3000 Telewave discone at one of my high sites and it works well.
I also have a Diamond DJ-130N I scored for free that's been up at my house for 10 or so years now, and it works well.
Most of my listening is 155-162 and 440-480. I'm not as concerned in the 855Mhz area as much. I have RG58 right now and switching to the LMR 400 cable, so I want a complete face lift.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
You might do well with a commercial dual band antenna. Larsen and Laird make NMO mount dual band antennas for these frequencies. Add a base NMO adapter and it'll work better than an NMO. You'll get some level of performance on 800MHz.
You can also purchase Larsen NMO-150/450/800 mobile antennas. Put on the NMO base adapter and you'll have a good setup. It'll have some gain on UHF and 800, and will outperform the discone.
Replacing the RG-58 is probably a good idea, unless the coax run is really short (<20 feet). If your run is much longer than that, you'll see some improvement by upgrading the cable. Which cable you should upgrade to will depend on the length you need. LMR-400 isn't where improvement stops. If you have a really long run, you may need something better.
I have about a 45' run. I want to purchase a high quality base station antenna. I wish the scanners had dual antenna inputs on the radio so I could have two separate antennas feeding the radio. I'm not exactly sure why you recommend NMO unless there's something I don't know.
I have BC 996p2. I wish they'd come out with a dual antenna input radio equal to the 996p2 with a remote so you could lower/raise volume and playback. Am I asking for too much???
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
LMR-400 would be about the minimum grade I'd run. If you are serious about performance, LMR-600 might be a better choice. Consider the losses on the frequency of interest, and how far off those systems are.
What is your budget? High quality can mean different things to different people. There are some that consider a Baofeng to be a "high quality" radio….
That's what diplexers will do. Which one you use will depend on where you want the frequency split to happen.
Many reputable manufacturers make an NMO base station adapter. It is an NMO mount with an N connector on the bottom. It'll often have ground radials attached. You thread the NMO antenna on top, your coax cable to the bottom and mount it on your mast. It can be a good option for some. An antenna like the Larsen NMO-150/450/800 can perform better than a discone when set up this way.
iMONITOR
Silent Key
OmniX Scanner Base Antenna
OmniX Scanner Base Antenna
Specs Gain: 3 VHF 4 UHF dBi Pattern: Omni-directional Wavelength: 1/2 Elements: 3 Tuned: 118-137, 148-175 & 225-900 MHz Band: UHF & VHF Connector: N Female Cable: RG8X Cable Length: 16 Inches Height: 45" Width: 30" Weight: 2 lb Features Multi Band-Wide Coverage: The uniquely...
dpdproductions.com
Multi Band-Wide Coverage: The uniquely designed OmniX is tuned to multiple bands, giving it wide frequency coverage. Unlike antennas that were originally designed for the ham bands and then marketed as a scanner antenna, the OmniX was specifically designed for scanner radio use and tuned to popular commercial and civil service bands. Elements are specifically tuned for 118-137 MHz, 148-175 MHz and 225-900 MHz, but other bands can be received as well. This antenna can be quite aesthetically pleasing compared to discones and it's also more efficient.
lu81fitter
Member
I have an NMO base adapter with the Larsen tri-band antenna on it. Also, about a 50 foot run of LMR 400. VHF-Hi, UHF, and 7/800 all come in very well.
It's very interesting to hear the different input on this subject. I've heard good things about the OmniX antenna. I live in New England so I do need an antenna to fight the elements. I need to make the change soon because winter will be here before you know it. I want to do this once and price is secondary when it comes to picking up the signals I want. Winters are too long and I only want good quality stuff that works superior. I appreciate all the input & ideas you listeners are giving me. I have tried the Moonraker M100 for Sht's & giggles. It made reception worse. Waste of money. Anybody else like the OmniX or equivalent?
lu81fitter
Member
I've never used an OMNI-X. I've never heard bad things about them though. I will say this, if you're want a good antenna to survive the elements with little maintenance, go with a good professional grade antenna. Take a wander through here ----> Commercial Radio Antennas
Some good info from good people.
Some good info from good people.
I have been thinking about trying out an OmniX. I currently have a Diamond Discone, and wonder how the OmniX would compare.
vagrant
ker-muhj-uhn
I use the Larsen on my vehicle and it does work well for the identified frequencies it handles. That Larsen above your roof line with a ground plane should perform and handle the elements well.
Also, better for me to quote than paraphrase his comment comparing that Larsen to a discone.
Also, better for me to quote than paraphrase his comment comparing that Larsen to a discone.
I had that Channel Master antenna that looked like pitchforks on it, and that antenna worked mint, but it's long been discontinued.
I have been using an OMNI X for almost a year now. VERY pleased with it. The construction is very good and all stainless steel hardware. I have it up on a 16' mast (four 4' sections) bracketed to back of my garage. Withstood many heavy winds. Running LMR 400. I am in central Rhode Island and can hear stations way out in Mass. Full scale too. I guess it depends on location as far as monitoring 800mhz. I can receive one or two sites from the state P25 simulcast system. But my yagi antennas outperform the Omni X for 800 mhz. simulcast.
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iMONITOR
Silent Key
Actually it is constructed with aluminum and made very robust! Also for those not familiar with DPD Productions antenna products it's important to note there is two versions of the Omni. One is the "Miltenna" Omni (Dual Band for VHF/UHF aircraft) and the OmniX Scanner for general wide-band scanning.
Ubbe
Member
Do you need omni coverage or some extra gain in one direction that will result in lesser gain in other directions?
For VHF the RG58 might still be usable, depending of the length. A RG6 coax can always be used to reduce loss and would probably be needed for UHF. A diplexer for VHF/UHF are $25. Then you can use a separate VHF omni antenna like a Diamond F23 that comes with a cutting chart to adjust it to a suitable frequency. For UHF you can use a suitable vertical amateur 70cm band gain antenna that will have several elements in it connected with phase shifting coils. Just shorten each element by some 5% to raise the frequency 20MHz. If you use a dualband antenna like a Diamond X510 and shorten each 70cm element by 5% you will automatically also raise the VHF 2m band 5% from 145MHz to 152MHz, or use the diplexer and F23 for VHF. If you can use directional antennas you can use a 3 element VHF yagi and a 6 element UHF.
Using an antenna amplifier that can handle strong signals are usually a good choice as you then do not need to bother with any kind of coax losses. Attenuation at the receiver end are necessary to bring the signal down to get to a more 0dB gain from antenna to receiver.
It all depends of how much more signal you will need. Raising the antenna will usually also give a better signal strength. Perhaps your current antenna will be sufficient with a better coax and/or an antenna amplifier and a 20ft pole.
/Ubbe
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