What is a good portable antenna for range I’m talking about up to 50 miles for an sds100 scanner I understand about outside antennas but I doubt my landlord would approve of me sticking something on the side of my roof so any good portable antenna thank
Good portable antenna
- Thread starter lild83
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All depends on what range of freqs your looking to monitor..
Basically the 150-160 mhz and 450-470mhz
I've got a Compactenna Scan III, and it really does a good job using a mag mount sitting on top of my air conditioner in the living room. (It's a thru-wall unit that fits inside of a steel sleeve.) The mag mount is mounted on the steel sleeve, which also forms the ground plane. I've heard of others who have mounted their antenna on a filing cabinet in their office, and have gotten decent reception. It's a bit spendy, but it's light weight, small, relatively unobtrusive, and it really does a good job. The antenna element is mounted inside of a plastic cylinder that's about 1.5" in diameter, and about 9.5" tall. The guy who designed it seems to have a hard time describing the science behind how it works in his videos (he tends to go off on peripherally related tangents...) but nevertheless, it works! HRO has them, check out the link below,
COMPACtenna SCAN-III
9.5 Inch High Performance SCANNER RADIO Antenna (100 - 1500 MHz)
www.hamradio.com
I wanted to add to the above. I'm about 30 miles away from the Mount Tom repeater in Massachusetts, in the Ct. River Valley. I'm in an apartment located at ground level, with several walls towards the direction of Mt. Tom. In spite of all that, and all the additional ground clutter outside, the readability and signal strength of that repeater is about 5 by 5!
Of course, YMMV. Good luck!
Of course, YMMV. Good luck!
I appreciate this input and that antenna is pricey anything that I can take with me meaning that I can replace the stock antenna
tvengr
Well Known Member
Do you have access to an attic?
I've got a Compactenna Scan III, and it really does a good job using a mag mount sitting on top of my air conditioner in the living room. (It's a thru-wall unit that fits inside of a steel sleeve.) The mag mount is mounted on the steel sleeve, which also forms the ground plane. I've heard of others who have mounted their antenna on a filing cabinet in their office, and have gotten decent reception. It's a bit spendy, but it's light weight, small, relatively unobtrusive, and it really does a good job. The antenna element is mounted inside of a plastic cylinder that's about 1.5" in diameter, and about 9.5" tall. The guy who designed it seems to have a hard time describing the science behind how it works in his videos (he tends to go off on peripherally related tangents...) but nevertheless, it works! HRO has them, check out the link below,
COMPACtenna SCAN-III
9.5 Inch High Performance SCANNER RADIO Antenna (100 - 1500 MHz)www.hamradio.com
I guess I missed that you were looking for an antenna for a handheld, so this antenna wouldn't work, except maybe if you put it on the roof of your car.
I don't have a whole lot of space for putting up antennas, and they aren't allowed outside of the building. Because of these restrictions, I first decided to give the Compactenna SW a try as a base antenna for my shortwave rigs, and it exceeded my expectations! This led me to try the Compactenna Scan III to see if it would perform as well, and so far it hasn't disappointed.
There are some who think these antennas are nothing more than scams, especially the shortwave version, saying (correctly) that you can get the same thing looping a wire around the room. However I was intrigued by it, and given that I could take either one with me using the car as the ground plane, that made me even more interested as I like to be able to have easy portable setups when I go out to quiet sites.
Sure, I could have saved some money by stringing up wire, or using a more conventional scanner antenna, but I wasn't thrilled with the mag mount whip I was using for the scanner, and I really don't have the room for a big ole Scantenna, which would be what I'd really like to put up. Nor do I really want to string wires up around the house, or anywhere else for SW. So, while some wouldn't be caught dead using these antennas, for me they fit the bill more than adequately.
Good luck finding a good antenna for your radio!
The Comet W100RX works like a champ for me. Purchased the BNC version to try out on my 15X, now utilizing them on my 996P2 and 260DN as well.
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