Digital antenna in a valley

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pjwilson

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Valmeyer IL.
Purchased a Whistler 1065 scanner for my wife's grandmother sheree lives in a valley. We took the scanner down there in March and it worked fine using there antenna on the back. A couple of months later it stopped recovering any signals. I took it home and it worked fine. 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. I was wondering if I need to get a digital antenna for the scanner or does that make a deference
 
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Antenna

I was wondering if I need to get a digital antenna for the scanner or does that make a deference

There is no such thing as a "digital" antenna.

An antenna is an antenna. Don't be misled by labels.

An antenna, well-located, may help.
 

jaspence

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The best advice is the higher the better, no matter what antenna when you are in a valley. More info on what you want to hear would also make it possible to give more specific help. Is this a single or multiple site system? Is it simulcast or individual towers? How far is the tower from your location?
 

mmckenna

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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.
 

KB3KBR

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We took the scanner down there in March and it worked fine using there antenna on the back. A couple of months later it stopped recovering any signals.

its possible that you might be able to only pick up signals in the winter time due to there being no leaves on the trees!
 

pjwilson

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Mar 27, 2018
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Valmeyer IL.
Thanks for the info

wow thanks everyone for the info. I am very new to scanners. Good to know that there is no such thing as a digital antenna. I took the scanner home and reprogrammed it and still nothing. Will probably just get a new antenna since the one has be sitting on the pole for over 25 years and attach it in a newer location away from the trees. I programmed it for multi agencies to cover different counties (since we border 3 counties). hopefully that will work.
 

buddrousa

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Retired 40 Year Firefighter NW Tenn
#1 Did you look at look at the RR Database to see what is used in the area?
#2 Please post the area you are trying to listen to and an idea of what you entered.
#3 New wire and antenna or just new antenna wire may be your best choice.
#4 You could try to use the scanner at the antenna location using an extension code and see if you hear traffic.
#5 Worst case is the area moved to a system that is not compatible with the WS1065 but that is not likely.
 
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