I started thinking I was just going to have to live with it. Tried adjustment in the scanner to no avail. Then the lightbulb flashed when I heard about using a 4G antenna. Hmmm...seems like a small yagi might work. $25 later....and like magic, so is the garbled distortion. I'm only about a 1/4 mile from the closest node, so gain isn't an issue. Just being able to narrow down where the signal was coming from was huge...even for a little "baby" antenna like this one.
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I bought one of those for my SDS-200. It works pretty well. I am on the fringe of the system I like to listen to, and this antenna improves reception enough to make it work better. I would have to check, but if I remember correctly, there is an improvement in RSSI by about 10.
The scanner is in a bedroom on the second floor of my two story house, for better reception, and I listen with my laptop (notebook?) running Proscan. The antenna is indoors, on a camera tripod, pointed in the direction of the strongest signal. It actually works. Well worth $25. I should order another, for portable use.
