Does the antenna matter for scanners?

[nocsgn]

This is probably a dumb question, but I'm new to all this so please forgive me. I lost my GRE PSR-282 scanner antenna recently and would like to buy a new one. It's got an okay Rx range but I'm mostly interested in 108-174 MHz AM for airband monitoring. So far I know I'm looking for something with a BNC connector, but I found many options, starting from the standard bare-metal telescopic antennas to those little stubby ones like the SRH805S to long coiled ones to those from brands that I've actually heard of, like Nagoya. The one I lost (presumably the one that came with the scanner) was no longer than 15cm and of the rubber duck kind.

So, my question is, does it matter? Of course the size of the thing will affect the reception (I think?) but is there anything else I should be aware of before I buy one? The range of options suggests that there are functional differences between them and I'd like to know what to look out for.

Thanks

 

[jtwalker]

Yes, which antenna matters. Length is generally related to the frequencies that you want to monitor, not longer is better. Look for an antenna that is rated well by others in your frequency band of interest.

 

[Ensnared]

This is probably a dumb question, but I'm new to all this so please forgive me. I lost my GRE PSR-282 scanner antenna recently and would like to buy a new one. It's got an okay Rx range but I'm mostly interested in 108-174 MHz AM for airband monitoring. So far I know I'm looking for something with a BNC connector, but I found many options, starting from the standard bare-metal telescopic antennas to those little stubby ones like the SRH805S to long coiled ones to those from brands that I've actually heard of, like Nagoya. The one I lost (presumably the one that came with the scanner) was no longer than 15cm and of the rubber duck kind.

So, my question is, does it matter? Of course the size of the thing will affect the reception (I think?) but is there anything else I should be aware of before I buy one? The range of options suggests that there are functional differences between them and I'd like to know what to look out for.

Thanks

Big time! A good antenna is like stereo speakers. You can buy a Pivetta Opera Only, Ultrasound Otello, Rike Audio Edzard, Etheraudio Abbssolute Intuition, Ultrasound Parsec, Denon, Bose stereo amplifier with cheap substandard speakers.

Audiophiles likely know this is insane. The system would likely sound like crap. Buy a REMTronix and be done with it, LOL.

 

[MILCOMM]

This is probably a dumb question, but I'm new to all this so please forgive me. I lost my GRE PSR-282 scanner antenna recently and would like to buy a new one. It's got an okay Rx range but I'm mostly interested in 108-174 MHz AM for airband monitoring. So far I know I'm looking for something with a BNC connector, but I found many options, starting from the standard bare-metal telescopic antennas to those little stubby ones like the SRH805S to long coiled ones to those from brands that I've actually heard of, like Nagoya. The one I lost (presumably the one that came with the scanner) was no longer than 15cm and of the rubber duck kind.

So, my question is, does it matter? Of course the size of the thing will affect the reception (I think?) but is there anything else I should be aware of before I buy one? The range of options suggests that there are functional differences between them and I'd like to know what to look out for.

Thanks

Since you are interested in the VHF air band, the telescopic antenna would be a good choice
if you are going to use your radio outdoors. If using the radio indoors, by all means connect
it to an outside antenna. Air band transmitters are low power so an outside antenna will give
you the best performance. A discone antenna would be a good choice.

 

[ka3aaa]

just make sure the antenna is designed to receive the frequency range you intend to listen to

 

[MILCOMM]

just make sure the antenna is designed to receive the frequency range you intend to listen to

The frequency an antenna is cut for is extremely important for a transmitting antenna
because you are dealing with resonance, VSWR, RF output and other factors.
It is NOT so important for a receiving antenna. Look at the antenna that is included
with your scanner as an example. For your scanner type receivers, just use a broadband
antenna and mount it as high as you can.

 

[CanesFan95]

Not a dumb question. The antenna makes a big difference in how we'll you'll receive stuff. Some antennas have gain, measured in decibels (dB) which helps to increase / improve the signal you receive. Antennas with gain tend to be more band-specific and not covering a wide swath of multiple frequency ranges. Rubber duck / stubby type antennas tend to be the worst and are really meant for portability.

If you can get something up and outside, that would be best. The higher, the better. Height is king (to a point). You can get adapters that let you connect a different connecter like a PL-259 to your BNC with only a small amount of signal loss. Thicker, higher quality coax of a shorter length will have less signal loss. But the VHF air band is a fairly low frequency range which has lower coax and adapter / connecter losses.

The length of the antenna matters. Longer antennas tend to perform better, but for certain frequency ranges, the antenna has to be a certain specific length for best performance depending on the antenna design.