Best 700mhz antenna ws1080

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MichaelBhere

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There is one on the Whistler website and it works very well

I picked up a protective case while I was there.
 

Whiskey3JMC

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I've had good luck with the various Remtronix I owned. But whenever anyone asks for an antenna upgrade for 700/800 mhz, my first question to them is simply"are you trying to monitor a simulcast trunked radio system?" If so, an antenna upgrade probably won't do you much good if you aren't using a radio designed to handle simulcast distortion
 

Swipesy

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Whiskey3JMC's response is the correct response. On my WS1080 I use a Larsen Mag Mount on a metal plate inside my home and sometimes use my RS/Remtronix rubber duck on 700/800 Mhz systems. Most days the reception is excellent. But As Whiskey stated, there are times that LSM steps in and reception is not so good. Without going to a Uniden SDS or Unication Pager I live with what it is.
 

tvengr

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I recommend the Remtronix REM-800B antenna. I use the REM-820S on my SDS100. I could not receive the adjacent county until I upgraded to that antenna. It is far better than the stock antenna on 700 & 800 MHz frequencies. The REM-800B is the same antenna except that it has a BNC connector for your WS1080..
 

Cbman417

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There is one on the Whistler website and it works very well

I picked up a protective case while I was there.
Whistler, $10.00 more than the Rems 800 mhz.
 

MichaelBhere

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Do not be fooled by the exterior, I have tested many antennas including a Watson model that all were similar in appearance but all performed quite differently.
 

sallen07

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Do not be fooled by the exterior, I have tested many antennas including a Watson model that all were similar in appearance but all performed quite differently.
So you have tested the Remtronix antenna and the Whistler lookalike? What were the results? Please post the comparison. Which do you recommend?

It's difficult to determine based on just a picture, but this antenna looks just like the Remtronix one with a Whistler logo. Kind of like the Radio Shack RS-800.
 

MichaelBhere

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I do not have any fancy graphs, my testing was empirical and involved a scanner, a sweeper rf source, a log periodic antenna, and a few similar looking 800MHz antennas. The Remtronix, Watson and Whistler antennas were tested as the looked alike.

The Watson and Remtronix were a bit longer than the Whistler antenna so while they may look similar in solo pictures, there were some differences that could be seen if all were placed next to each other. To see if there was a difference in reception, I tested from 100MHz, 200MHz, 300MHz, 400MHz, 500MHz, 600MHz, 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, and 1000MHz

Adjusted the sweeper attenuation until the scanner broke squelch and a 1KHz tone was heard.

I found the Whistler 800MHz antenna to perform significantly better on the scanner at 100MHz, 300MHz, 400MHz, 600MHz, 800MHz, and 900MHz.

At 500MHz, 700MHz and 1000MHz, the Whistler and Watson performed within a db or two of each other with the 500MHz favoring the Watson, the 700MHz a tie, and the 1000MHz favoring the Whistler.

At 200Mhz the Watson was the better of the bunch.

Remtronix was the last in all test results, maybe I had a bad antenna but I only had one for testing.

If anyone else tested these antennas, I would like to know if your results were similar to mine.
 

Cbman417

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I do not have any fancy graphs, my testing was empirical and involved a scanner, a sweeper rf source, a log periodic antenna, and a few similar looking 800MHz antennas. The Remtronix, Watson and Whistler antennas were tested as the looked alike.

The Watson and Remtronix were a bit longer than the Whistler antenna so while they may look similar in solo pictures, there were some differences that could be seen if all were placed next to each other. To see if there was a difference in reception, I tested from 100MHz, 200MHz, 300MHz, 400MHz, 500MHz, 600MHz, 700MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, and 1000MHz

Adjusted the sweeper attenuation until the scanner broke squelch and a 1KHz tone was heard.

I found the Whistler 800MHz antenna to perform significantly better on the scanner at 100MHz, 300MHz, 400MHz, 600MHz, 800MHz, and 900MHz.

At 500MHz, 700MHz and 1000MHz, the Whistler and Watson performed within a db or two of each other with the 500MHz favoring the Watson, the 700MHz a tie, and the 1000MHz favoring the Whistler.

At 200Mhz the Watson was the better of the bunch.

Remtronix was the last in all test results, maybe I had a bad antenna but I only had one for testing.

If anyone else tested these antennas, I would like to know if your results were similar to mine.
i have heard the radio shack 800 mhz ant receives 700 mhz the best.
 

MichaelBhere

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I did not have a Radio Shack antenna to test so I cannot comment.

Users are going to like what they like, dislike what they dislike but whatever their opinion, it should relate only to the antenna they actually used.
I guess the moral of the story is not to judge the performance of an antenna simply because it look the same in a picture.
 
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