Best antenna for railfanning in your opinion?

[cbehr91]

Like Danny Harmon's video mentions, a 1/4 wave whip tuned near the rail frequencies on your car roof is as good as it gets, plus it does decent on the UHF EOTD and DPU frequencies. That's important in dark territory, anywhere train crews don't have to call signals, or there aren't talking detectors. It's an age-old argument, but at least for monitoring I've never noticed a huge difference 1/4 vs. 1/2 vs. 5/8 wave for voice.

Smiley makes a telescoping 1/2 wave for the 2m ham band that you can shorten to be closer to the rail channels that does better than a rubber duck since it doesn't need a ground plane, but it's a bit awkward having a 3' antenna on a handheld.

 

[N4DJC]

I’ve been chasing a local shortline, the Pickens Railroad. They are very active Monday through Friday here in town. A lot of switching action, most of it within a ten minute drive. Some funny chatter too. Anyway I put the SMA Diamond on the 436, had the whip set at 17” on the R30. The R30 was RXing nicely when the 436 didn’t break squelch. I had the Road Frequency (161.280) on A band. Very unscientific...I’ll have to do some more testing, but initially the R30 seems to RX better. It RX‘s the NS Road and Dispatch really well from my home.

 

[wa8pyr]

I’ve been chasing a local shortline, the Pickens Railroad. They are very active Monday through Friday here in town. A lot of switching action, most of it within a ten minute drive. Some funny chatter too. Anyway I put the SMA Diamond on the 436, had the whip set at 17” on the R30. The R30 was RXing nicely when the 436 didn’t break squelch. I had the Road Frequency (161.280) on A band. Very unscientific...I’ll have to do some more testing, but initially the R30 seems to RX better. It RX‘s the NS Road and Dispatch really well from my home.

I was up at Alliance (Ohio) yesterday for a couple of hours; with the stock telescoping antenna the R30 was picking up an NS dispatcher on 160.800 while the XTS5000 with a Smiley antenna next to it didn't break squelch on that channel. I'm pretty sure the nearest NS dispatcher on that channel is the Youngstown Line about 30 miles to the east.

That being said, the XTS5000 was picking up stuff miles away on the Fort Wayne Line (161.070) that my friend next to me with a BC125AT wasn't hearing. Of course, my friend with the BC125AT and Smiley antenna was picking up stuff that my BC125AT with stock antenna wasn't even hearing.

So the moral of the story for the OP is that your results can vary depending on the combination of antenna and radio you're using. A Smiley antenna will make a noticeable difference for a run of the mill scanner, while a commercial grade radio will make an even bigger difference. Of course, commercial radios have complications of their own.

 

[N4DJC]

As a follow up the R-30 is doing really well on the rail frequencies. I’m getting over some surgery so will be out soon chasing some trains.

 

[N4DJC]

I finally ordered the Smiley 5/8 slim duck for my BC125AT.

 

[N4DJC]

Got the antenna today and it’s 100% as advertised. Better than the Diamond at my QTH which is saying something. The quality is superior and it’s certainly easier to carry and transport.

 

[JoshuaHufford]

Glad it is working well for you. I think their marketing is a bit over hyped, but they do make a good product.