Damage due to Strong Signals on Uniden BC246T Handheld ?

[user786]

Hi, I have a Uniden BC246T Handheld and I was wondering if the reception of a VERY strong signal could cause damage to a radio ?
I could just be paranoid and over reacting....Yes, I am a NEWBIE scanner enthusiast.
What do I need to know about attenuating strong signals?
If I don't attenuate nearby strong signals could it cause damage to the handheld?
EXACTLY what damage will I notice if any?

Secondly, If I disconnect the rubber duckie and buy 20ft of radio shack rg58 cable with BNC ends and a BNC female/female coupler and mount the rubber duckie out side my bedroom window up on the roof will I get better reception due to it being up high outside on a groundplane (my aluminum roof) or will I get worst reception due to 20ft rg58 cable loss ?

Thanks

 

[DPD1]

Unless you live under the transmitter for a radio station, you don't have much to worry about.

As long as you aren't using 200' of cable or something, you will almost always get improvement moving an antenna outside and up. But you would be better off using an antenna made for ext. use.

Dave
http://www.dpdproductions.com
- Custom Scanner, MURS, GMRS, & Ham Antennas -

 

[hoser147]

Sounds as if you are doing the right thing by attenuating the channel that is giving you the problem, and as DPD stated you will get increased reception by moving to an outside antenna. I just moved mine up on the roof yesterday and man what a difference. Good Scannin.....hoser147

 

[Al42]

What do I need to know about attenuating strong signals?
If I don't attenuate nearby strong signals could it cause damage to the handheld?

The attenuator won't help - if you're standing with the antenna 2 inches from the transmitting antenna of a car running 50 watts, you might damage the scanner - whether the attenuator is on or off.

EXACTLY what damage will I notice if any?

Anywhere from a slight loss of sensitivity to total deafness, depending on how bad the damage is, and to which component.

Secondly, If I disconnect the rubber duckie and buy 20ft of radio shack rg58 cable with BNC ends and a BNC female/female coupler and mount the rubber duckie out side my bedroom window up on the roof will I get better reception due to it being up high outside on a groundplane (my aluminum roof) or will I get worst reception due to 20ft rg58 cable loss?

Since you'll have more than 3db loss at 850 MHz (more than half the signal will be lost in the cable), it depends on exactly how you mount the antenna, what frequency you're listening to and exactly how much higher the antenna will be. 3 or 4 feet won't give you 3db gain - 20 feet might. If you mount the antenna on a metal sheet at least 1/4 wave in radius at the lowest frequency you're going to be listening to, it will help. (Use a bulkhead adapter - a double female with 2 nuts, used to feed the cable through a bulkhead or wall.)

(Radio Shack cable is about the poorest quality cable made, so the normal 3db matched loss figure for RG58 has to be taken with at least a grain of salt, and this isn't a situation in which the load is matched, so the loss will be higher.)