Anyone know a good antenna to pull in mostly UHF 460mhz-ish stuff and maybe if possible some 700mhz traffic with some really good range? I need something that i could use indoors since i cant install anything outside or on the roof. My current setup is able to pull in a repeater transmitting 100W from about 60 miles away but thats about as far as i can get. Im looking to pull in some other repeaters that are about 100 miles away that also transmits at 100W
If you look at the FCC license for the system you want to listen to, you'll see that the mobile frequencies are given a specific area around the repeater where they are permitted to transmit. If you drill down into the license, you'll see something like "30km radius around xxxx. "
When they design/build the system, coverage is expensive. Great pains are put into choosing a repeater location, tower height, antenna type and power level to provide the best coverage in that specific area. Spreading RF outside that area is wasted energy/effort/money.
So, yes, you can very often listen to a system well outside it's intended coverage area, but it is not a guarantee. 100 miles away is -really- stretching it. If topography is in your favor, it's possible, but no amount of indoor antenna is going to overcome 100 miles of hills, mountains, dirt, buildings, curvature of the earth. UHF is more prone to topographical shielding than VHF low or VHF high is, so you've got that working against you also. The tower height needed to overcome 100 miles of earth curvature is pretty extreme. The atmosphere can assist in some situations, but relying on skip/reflections to make it happen isn't reliable.
You can absolutely give it a try, but anyone that tells you that brand X or model X antenna is going to work doesn't understand the realities.
Your best choice would be to try the longest yagi antenna you can fit indoors, but if it doesn't work, you're basically S.O.L.
