Home patrol 1 on UHF and vhf

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Jimbnks

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I purchase a HP-1 about a month ago, the county I in Kansas live is still on VHF Analog, one of the counties next to me is still using UHF and both works great here at least at least for me.

Sorry can give any comparison to the 396XT vs HP-1 on it.
 

cpfinlay

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Can't give a comparison, but my HP-1 works fine on VHF and UHF. Very handy when travelling using the GPS. Picks up the small PD/FD agencies like a charm. I also use it to scan 2m/70cm ham radio repeaters and it also does a good job of that.
 

hiegtx

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How is the home patrol on UHF and vhf vs the 396xt?
I have both the HP-1 and the 396XT. Both have the same antenna, the Radio Shack 800MHz. That's because while Dallas (city) PD & FD are predominantly on Uhf, and Dallas County agencies, as well as some of the smaller suburbs and one of the neighboring counties (Ellis) are Vhf-high, the larger suburbs are on 800MHz trunked systems.

Reception on both the HP-1 and 396XT is very comparable. If I had to say which was 'better', I'd say, at least for the pair of units I have, the HP-1 has a very slight edge.
 

1puf

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I have a question.. I am buying a used homepatrol 1.. Haven't received it yet, but I want to try to use my ham antenna (J-pole).. What antenna adaptor do I need to go from HP1 antenna to pl259 male.. Thanks in advance, Bill
 

mitbr

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I have a question.. I am buying a used homepatrol 1.. Haven't received it yet, but I want to try to use my ham antenna (J-pole).. What antenna adaptor do I need to go from HP1 antenna to pl259 male.. Thanks in advance, Bill

SO239 to SMA adaptor
 

hiegtx

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I have a question.. I am buying a used homepatrol 1.. Haven't received it yet, but I want to try to use my ham antenna (J-pole).. What antenna adaptor do I need to go from HP1 antenna to pl259 male.. Thanks in advance, Bill
The scanner has an SMA connector for the antenna.

So, you have a PL259 on the end of your coax. You need an SO239 (the jack or socket) that a PL259 screws onto.

You could get an SMA male to SO239 adapter. Loot at item 2976, the sixth one down on this page. Also check out the cautionary note. Basically, depending on what coax you are using for your J-pole (RG-8, for instance), you want to make sure you don;t put a lot of flex stress on that antenna connector at the scanner side.

I'm using an SMA to BNC adapter instead. It fits snugly against the scanner case for extra support. My ST-2 antenna downlead is RG-6, which takes an F-type connector, same as cable tv. I then use an F to BNC adapter to connect the antenna to the scanner. As most all of my other antennas (various rubber ducks and whips) have BNC connectors, it makes it easier to change. Should you want to look at something like that, check out this other page. Item 0292 is the SMA male to BNC female that screws onto the scanner. Then, on the same page, item 2122 is an SO239 to BNC male that would connect your antenna to the BNC adapter on the scanner. This would also leave you with the BNC on the scanner, for other antennas other than your J-pole, such as the RH789. Buying only the SO239 to SMA adapter would limit you to using only antennas with either an SMA, or PL259, connection.
 

XTS3000

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I find the 396XT's receive on VHF and UHF to be better than the HP-1. Both scanners have a Comet SMA 503 antenna
 

Voyager

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I have a question.. I am buying a used homepatrol 1.. Haven't received it yet, but I want to try to use my ham antenna (J-pole).. What antenna adaptor do I need to go from HP1 antenna to pl259 male.. Thanks in advance, Bill

The HP connector is an SMA. But, there is an SMA to BNC adapter that comes with the HP, and it's very good quality. You could use that then use a very common PL259-to-BNC adapter which you may well have laying around from an HT.
 

Voyager

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I didn't get that adapter in mine

Are you certain? It's pretty small and it should have came with it if yours was new. Maybe I'm wrong and it isn't included in which case you have two options:

1. Get a PL259 to SMA (male) adapter, or

2. Get or find a PL259 to BNC (male) adapter, and buy a BNC (female) to SMA (male) adapter.

If you go with the second route, get a quality adpater that is make from one piece - not the adapters that have the long necks. This will relieve the stress on the HP connector. Here is a good one: #0292
0292.jpg
BNCJ-SMAP SMA male to BNC female adapter. Low profile deluxe, 24k gold plated center conductor. D-BNCJ-SMAP $9.95

Now, that is gold plated and expensive, but you should be able to find that style of adapter for about half the price. I just wanted you to see the style I'm talking about.

Found a third option: A SMA/UHF adapter cable. This too would relieve the stress on the HP connector: Associated Radio ARC109 SO-239 to SMA Male Cable
 
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