Getting into Lowband VHF & Skip

[GraniteScanner]

Hi Everyone,
VHF Low has been really fascinating to me and its amazing to see what people can pickup over skip on the band. My experience scanning has always been with VHF high, UHF and 800MHz sometimes. I have VHF Low scanners and SDRs but not the proper antenna (highband VHF/UHF dual banders instead).
What would people recommend for a basic beginner Lowband VHF antenna for scanning?
Thanks so much!

 

[enosjones]

Here too cb radio mostly, but some 10 meters and 11 meters

 

[W8UU]

What would people recommend for a basic beginner Lowband VHF antenna for scanning?

Like anything, it depends on what you want to spend and what you are able to install. General rule of thumb: Get the antenna outside and as high as possible. You can use a modified CB ground plane base antenna for a start. Since you're not transmitting, you won't need an exact frequency to tune the antenna but narrow it down if you have preferences. I've found that an antenna cut to 39 MHz does a decent job with the 33 Mhz fire frequencies as well as the 42 and 44 MHz state police channels and the 46-47 MHz fire and special emergency frequencies. Make sure you use RG8 or LMR400 coax and lightning protection is a must.

 

[radionx]

"I've found that an antenna cut to 39 MHz does a decent job "
Could also be interesting to monitor 35MHz DIR-Frequencies of France. It's a 12,5khz spaced trunking system.

Anyone ever heard this in the US?

Catch them while you can.

 

[spongella]

By VHF low I assume you mean 30 - 50 MHz. It can open now and then and I usually check the CB band for skip, then tune 30 - 40 MHz to see if anything interesting's coming in.

I use an existing ham vertical antenna that just happens to be resonant from 27 - 29 MHz and a SDR to look at portions of the VHF low spectrum for any activity. At my location VHF low is a ghost town but I still look for openings a couple of times a week.

W8UU has given you very good advice though. I hope you corral some good DX.

 

[217]

A cheap basic beginner antenna with no $$$. A simple DIY center-fed half-wave dipole from scrap wire. Make the elements 7 feet for 33MHz. Place the antenna 14 feet or more above the earth. RG6 coax will be okay if that is all you have on hand.
Don't forget lightning protection.

This recording is from ten years ago using a RS Pro-51. The antenna was a center fed dipole I hacked up from some scrap Sound King 10 AWG speaker wire cut for 33 MHz and utilizing RG6 coax.

 

[sdrfmradio]

Are there any live streaming sites that include 25 MHz to 55 MHz?

 

[p1879]

These guys are spot on with starter antenna ideas for lowband. I had phenomenal luck using a high mounted I-Max cb antenna, with I think the 9913 coax, last time around with the propagation event. It will get interesting, and lots of military comms are out there to be heard, in addition to the remaining LB Police activity.

Some 20 years back, using a
Regency HX-1200 handheld and a 4' whip--and being on a dock at a big lake-- I was able to hear some transcontinental skip, it was pouring in. It was a very exceptional propagation day, but you can get a big lowband boost on skip down near, or on the water.

The gentleman in this forum that comes up with some of the best skip loggings on lowband uses a 10m dipole, if i remember correctly.

It helps to have an old scanner to dedicate to lowband, plug in some target areas and listen. I suggest Missouri HP, if still on lowband, and put in some CHP. Camp Hood at 30.450 might appear often.

Look to the excellent loggings in this forum for some ideas.

 

[GraniteScanner]

I think I'm going to go with the dipole antenna solution for now. I have a great place I could string it between.
Thanks so much everyone for the advice!

 

[W8UU]

I think I'm going to go with the dipole antenna solution for now. I have a great place I could string it between.
Thanks so much everyone for the advice!

Make sure you experiment between horizontal and vertical polarization with your dipole. Almost all two-way radio base station antennas are vertical polarization.

 

[GraniteScanner]

Make sure you experiment between horizontal and vertical polarization with your dipole. Almost all two-way radio base station antennas are vertical polarization.

Will do, thanks for the tip.

 

[krokus]

Are there any live streaming sites that include 25 MHz to 55 MHz?

Some of the Kiwi SDR sites have low band VHF available.