I took it home and it worked fine.
OK, that means that the radio works, no likely issues there.
Went back down there and no luck. We tried hooking up an old scanner wire that is hooked up to an outside antenna from long ago. No luck.
Could be a lot of things wrong with that. If it's an old installation, the antenna could be damaged, the coaxial cable could be damaged, water may have got into the connections and corroded them.
I was wondering if I need to get a digital antenna for the scanner or does that make a deference
As Dr. Dialtone said, there is no such thing as a "digital antenna". That's a marketing gimmick to get people to pay extra money for a standard antenna. Don't fall for it.
There's a lot of things that could be causing the issues you are experiencing.
-Agency you are trying to listen to moved their antennas and it no longer covers her area.
-Agency changed frequencies.
-Depending on the frequency of the agency you are attempting to receive, if a new cellular tower was built in the area, it can overload the receiver and cause it not to receive correctly.
-Somehow the programming of the scanner was altered.
If it's a weak signal issue, then an outdoor antenna would likely help. All you need is a decent one that is designed to cover the frequencies you are trying to receive. You should install new coaxial cable, too, don't try and reuse the old stuff. Make sure you waterproof the connectors.
Before you do that, though, check the data base here and make sure nothing has changed and check the scanner to make sure the programming didn't get altered.
Letting us know where you are located, what agency you are trying to receive, and what kind of radio it is would help.
