HomePatrol-1 "I Did It" but....

[bobbyd1018]

Well i did it... i took the plunge and ordered one from Scannermaster... The one thing i like about it is the ease of use that is required to use the Homepatrol, i have a question to ask for those who have been in the hobby a while! I am looking to better my scanning with this little gem and wanted to get the most out of it and i have a 50 foot breakover pole i want to add a antenna to and was wondering what would be the Very Best antanna to get and coax cable, im not going to be listening to just one certain freq... all around antenna, also i am not in a high windzone area! I want to do it right the first time so budget is not a big factor ( i hope my wife doesnt read this after me) Thanks

 

[Viper43]

A discone would work, the scantenna some like falls apart in the wind.

 

[mike_s104]

A discone would work, the scantenna some like falls apart in the wind.

So does the RS discone. I've had the scantenna up for a few weeks and it's fine even though some high winds we're had lately.

 

[Viper43]

So does the RS discone. I've had the scantenna up for a few weeks and it's fine even though some high winds we're had lately.

There are some nice strong discones out there, the RS isn't but it lasted 5 years, the scantenna lasted 6 months. It took a tornado to take out the RS Discone, it took 45mph winds to break the scantenna. Now I have the Discone up at 70' and it's not the whimpy RS version. I also have an Arrow Antenna's Jpole on the house 35' up and it does amazingliy well and it's tough. Arrow Antenna J-Poles

For coax, use LMR400, expensive but low loss. You will pay more for the flexible version but it's much easier to work with.
V

 

[bobbyd1018]

Yeah i was thinking of a good discone also... I have ran LMR 400 coax on a CB basestation before years ago and liked it, but soon upgraded to RG-217 for other reasons, lol ... The wireman has alot of good coax products and have used him for years. I guess i will check out the Diamond line of discone antennas... also have yall had any incounters with the Austin Ferret antenna?

 

[mass-man]

The DJ130 is a superb antenna. I have also had good luck with the DPD Omni X...both would be good in high winds. LMR400 is the way to go, RG213 if the wife reads your post before you place an order. 50ft. and a good antenna and the HP1 should be rocking...

 

[Viper43]

Nope, haven't encountered any Austin Antennas or ferrets.... oh, wait... that antenna.. nope

V

 

[SAR923]

The Arrow J poles are really good antennas for 150/460 reception. If you need low band or 800, they're not so good. The Diamond D-130J is the same antenna as the RS discone, but it's much better built. I think it's worth the extra $20 if you're going to use a discone. The DPD Omni X is the same price as the Diamond, well built, receives as well, and it's smaller and less obtrusive. If you need 30-50 Mhz, it's not the best choice. My own experience is that nothing beats the Scantenna for all around performance...but it's not the best built. There are posts here about reinforcing the Scantenna to make it stand up better to high winds. So, if you want squeeze every last ounce of reception over everything from 30 Mhz to 900 Mhz, the Scantenna can't be beat. If you need low band, the Diamond D-130J is going to hold up a lot better at 50 feet then the RS discone. If you don't need low band, the DPD Omni X would be my choice.

 

[N8TXX]

Well i did it... i took the plunge and ordered one from Scannermaster... The one thing i like about it is the ease of use that is required to use the Homepatrol, i have a question to ask for those who have been in the hobby a while! I am looking to better my scanning with this little gem and wanted to get the most out of it and i have a 50 foot breakover pole i want to add a antenna to and was wondering what would be the Very Best antanna to get and coax cable, im not going to be listening to just one certain freq... all around antenna, also i am not in a high windzone area! I want to do it right the first time so budget is not a big factor ( i hope my wife doesnt read this after me) Thanks

Just today I installed a Diamond D130 NJ discone antenna in my attic. I used LMR-400 Ultra cable. I hooked it to my HomePatrol-1 a few hours ago and it's amazing what I'm picking up now. I'm scanning the whole dadabase at max range just to see what I can get.

 

[bobbyd1018]

Yeah i think that is probably the route im going to take, still thinking about the Austin ferret Antenna and would like to hear what yall think! Butas for now i think im going with the discone with LMR-400

 

[ridgescan]

+3 on the D130J-they last forever and they have a very low wind surface which helps. I have two. The one for my scanners has about 10-12 mile range on 800, 15-20 miles on UHF, 25-30 miles on VHFhi and 5-10 miles VHFlo. This is with lots of hills too.