BC250D Antenna

[MetalCarnage]

I am looking for an antenna for my BC250D and was wondering if people could give me a little input into what i should look for, i know my antenna theory well but i dont really know the market. Anyways, to clarify my needs i have two trunked systems which i need the antenna to cover, the first is in the 800Mhz Band, and the second is a P-25 trunked system in the 150's area. I know its easy to go and get an antenna for a specific range, but i need one that will decently cover both bands the best quality possible. Thanks in advance for any tips to help me out in my antenna search.

Metal C

 

[KI4LIV]

Metal,

To be perfectly honest, I use the Radio Shack 800mhz antenna on my BR330T (w/ the BNC to SMA adapter supplied with the scanner) for monitoring 800mhz EDACS public safety and 2 meter ham and I get outstanding reception on both...

For the $18 or so for the antenna, it couldn't hurt to hit Radio Shack... If it doesn't work for you , you can always return it pretty easily.

Jon

 

[hiegtx]

I am looking for an antenna for my BC250D and was wondering if people could give me a little input into what i should look for, i know my antenna theory well but i dont really know the market. Anyways, to clarify my needs i have two trunked systems which i need the antenna to cover, the first is in the 800Mhz Band, and the second is a P-25 trunked system in the 150's area. I know its easy to go and get an antenna for a specific range, but i need one that will decently cover both bands the best quality possible. Thanks in advance for any tips to help me out in my antenna search.

Metal C

That's a pretty wide spread in frequency, 800Mhz & 150Mhz.
You might try the Radio Shack 800Mhz antenna. Does a good job on 800, which is usually the hardest band to get any distance on. The Vhf-high coverage, in my experience, has been decent, when using this antenna. Hearing stations up to 45-50 miles, in some cases. Actual reception will always very, dependent on transmitter height, terrain, etc. But it seems to work well for me as an acceptable compromise.

 

[MetalCarnage]

Now if only my local Radio Shack actually sold Scanners or Scanner accesories, lol

Ordering online would be the only option for me, or hitting up durhamradio.com

 

[MetalCarnage]

Anyone else?

 

[RISC777]

There's one I've been eye-balling for 800 stuff, but no clue about performance down in VHF-land.
http://www.radio-ware.com/products/sek800.htm
That's the aspect of it that's kept from getting one of them already. I figure I'm like most people, the less swapping antennas around the better. Nature of the beast you can't find a 'good' tri-band antenna for a handheld scanner. (Got to find that link to the antenna comparison . . .)

 

[MacombMonitor]

Anyone else?

I don't think you're going to find an antenna for a hand-held that perform excellent on both the 800MHz band, and the 150MHz band.

 

[MetalCarnage]

I don't think you're going to find an antenna for a hand-held that perform excellent on both the 800MHz band, and the 150MHz band.

Guess i am going t have to wait a while and buy another handheld so i can have one for each

EDIT: BTW, as i stated, i am aware i wont be able to find an excellent antenna, but i am just looking for best i can get as i am not gonig to keep switching antenna's over and over again to monitor both bands

 

[SIMON11]

The only one I know of to cover this range well is the radioshack tele supergainer. It is a bit bulky and 105cm long. But it pulls in strong signals on all bands, almost as good as attatching a discone. I take mine everywhere. When I get a weak signal on my Watson W889 on goes my radioshack baby.

 

[car2back]

the radio shack 800mhz works great for me on my UBC-3300 (a 250D); I mostly monitor the Tulsa TRS and a little bit of local VHF-HI stuff; it seems to work fine for repeated VHF traffic within 20 miles.