How well will the Radio Shack 800 MHz antenna perform on 900?

[K2RNI]

I just bought a Pro-91 and am interested in scanning the 902-928 band, would the RS 800 MHz handheld scanner antenna still yield decent performance here or should I just stick to the all-purpose duck included on the scanner?

 

[nd5y]

They work good on 900 MHz.
I have two of them. I checked them on an antenna analyzer and both were resonant around 870 MHz.
For an experiment I cut one to 935 MHz and the other I lenghtened to 856 MHz.
On a scanner you can't tell the difference on either band even after I modified them.

 

[K2RNI]

They work good on 900 MHz.
I have two of them. I checked them on an antenna analyzer and both were resonant around 870 MHz.
For an experiment I cut one to 935 MHz and the other I lenghtened to 856 MHz.
On a scanner you can't tell the difference on either band even after I modified them.

Awesome! Glad to know they'll work good. Thanks for the help. 73

 

[cajunjerry]

What is on the 900 mhz band ? Surely not public safety?

 

[gewecke]

What is on the 900 mhz band ? Surely not public safety?

. Experimental stuff, a few ham repeaters/Simplex depending where you listen. :wink: 73, n9zas

 

[nd5y]

What is on the 900 mhz band ? Surely not public safety?

There are a lot of commercial trunked systems on 935-940 MHz. Also some conventional systems.
A few like this one Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) EDACS Trunking System, Various, Texas - Scanner Frequencies have public safety users.
The elecric distribution utility for almost half of Texas has a large 900 MHz trunked system. Oncor Energy Trunking System, Various, Texas - Scanner Frequencies.
There are some amateur repeaters in the 902-928 band.

 

[ecps92]

Depending on which 900 band.....and where...
Amateur....
Paging...
Business.. Analog Conventional, Analog LTR, Analog Motorola, DMR Conventional, DMR LTR... lots of stuff....and a smattering of Public Safety renting from a Radio Shop or two...

What is on the 900 mhz band ? Surely not public safety?

 

[Haley]

Had a couple of them for years. They work great on 700-900 MHz bands. Actually pretty good in the 450-470 range also. Mike

 

[trp2525]

I just bought a Pro-91 and am interested in scanning the 902-928 band, would the RS 800 MHz handheld scanner antenna still yield decent performance here or should I just stick to the all-purpose duck included on the scanner?

FYI the Radio Shack 800MHz scanner antenna catalog #2000283 (https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-800mhz-scanner-antenna?variant=5717063941) is $24.99 but it is currently out-of-stock online. You can get the same exact antenna under the Remtronix brand for $21.95 from Universal Radio (Remtronix REM-800B, Diamond REM-800S Scanner Antenna). Also the Remtronix 800 MHz antenna is available in either BNC or SMA whereas the Radio Shack is BNC only.

From the product descriptions at Universal Radio: "The Remtronix REM-800B is a very compact flexible antenna providing extremely good reception in the range of 700 to 960 MHz.
It has +6dB minimum gain over a standard antenna.
This 7 inch tall antenna terminates to a male BNC connector.
The new Remtronix REM-800S is the same, but terminates to a male SMA connector.
These high quality antennas are made in Japan."

 

[K2RNI]

FYI the Radio Shack 800MHz scanner antenna catalog #2000283 (https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-800mhz-scanner-antenna?variant=5717063941) is $24.99 but it is currently out-of-stock online. You can get the same exact antenna under the Remtronix brand for $21.95 from Universal Radio (Remtronix REM-800B, Diamond REM-800S Scanner Antenna). Also the Remtronix 800 MHz antenna is available in either BNC or SMA whereas the Radio Shack is BNC only.

From the product descriptions at Universal Radio: "The Remtronix REM-800B is a very compact flexible antenna providing extremely good reception in the range of 700 to 960 MHz.
It has +6dB minimum gain over a standard antenna.
This 7 inch tall antenna terminates to a male BNC connector.
The new Remtronix REM-800S is the same, but terminates to a male SMA connector.
These high quality antennas are made in Japan."

Thanks friend. People were wanting 35 to 40 on ebay for the Radio Shack.

 

[trp2525]

Thanks friend. People were wanting 35 to 40 on ebay for the Radio Shack.

Another buying option for the Remtronix would be from Scanner Master but their price is higher at $24.95 for the Remtronix BNC version (REMTRONIX 800 MHz Portable BNC Antenna | Scanner Master). Also (to my zip code anyway) the lowest available shipping charge from Scanner Master is $8.75 for USPS Priority Mail while the shipping charge from Universal Radio is a flat rate of $6.95 for orders up to $50. YMMV

 

[RayAir]

FWIW a few weeks ago, I walked in my area Radio Shack and they had the 800MHz antennas in stock.

I think I paid around $24-$25 for it.

 

[marksmith]

Shortly after RS went bust I was seeing it on the Internet at up to $65.

I bought 5 of them (all they had) at 70% off, and I figure some others did too and they ended up on the Internet.

I have both BNC and SMA versions of the Remtronix, and it is the same antenna with the same high quality signal performance.

Mark
WS1095/536/436/996P2/HP1e/HP2e/996XT/325P2/396XT/PRO668/PSR800/PRO652

 

[spacellamaman]

so to adjust the resonance, at least some disasssembly must have occurred....

They work good on 900 MHz.
I have two of them. I checked them on an antenna analyzer and both were resonant around 870 MHz.
For an experiment I cut one to 935 MHz and the other I lenghtened to 856 MHz.
On a scanner you can't tell the difference on either band even after I modified them.

so if ya don't mind me asking, when you did the mods did you just pop the tops and cut down one, and add to the other in the convention manner? or perhaps did you more extensively remove the opaque outer sheathing in the process?

i ask because i have always wondered about the internal-construction-magic contained within those puppies. the widespread consensus of their excellent quality and my personal experience testing the three (four? i thought i had four?) that i have under all sorts of conditions with rather improbable and impressive results, repeatedly, force me to think there is something more than a coil of wire and a shiny solder joint up in there.

however, i am cheap, and radio shack can only go out of business so many more times and give me the opportunity to replenish my stock. i even kinda hoped i would accidentally break one one day so i could tear it apart and not feel guilty. and then i did, very accidentally, have the shameful wish, happen.

keeping inline with the disproportionately irony-laden-life a malevolent universe revels in confining me to, improbability struck again. other than making it look ruined, as one would expect 18-48 tires traversing it to do, only the spring/tension capability to the bnc connector was functionally disabled and much to my dismay it works perfectly, taped to a female bnc adapter.

and yes i have done my due diligence prior to asking this, and my extensive googlin has not been satifying, as it seems no one else can destroy one properly either. nor are any daddy warbucks out there willing to do the dirty deed themselves and share it with the world.

now...i REFUSE..... to drive over another one, on the off-chance that i will finally succeed, as accidents tend to happen when antennas are attached to much, much, beloved equipment...... but i have been dying for months to find a way to bring this up....

so to you dear sir, or anyone else for that matter, whats in that thing?!?!?!

thank you in advance.

 

[gewecke]

A closely guarded secret is ... there's actually little rf powered robots which slide up and down the coil under that covering to provide perfect resonance each time you change frequencies! If you take the top cap off you * might * see them! :lol: 73, n9zas

 

[nd5y]

so if ya don't mind me asking, when you did the mods did you just pop the tops and cut down one, and add to the other in the convention manner? or perhaps did you more extensively remove the opaque outer sheathing in the process?

i ask because i have always wondered about the internal-construction-magic contained within those puppies.

I pulled the cap off and cut the whip shorter, replacing the cap and measuring it on the antenna analyzer until I got it resonant where I wanted it.

The other antenna I pulled the cap off and removed only about 1/8 to 1/4 inch of the plastic covering from the end of the whip.
Then I tinned the end of the whip and soldered about 1 inch of copper braid to it.
Then I put heat shrink tubing over the end, found a smaller end cap that would fit, and cut it to resonance the same way I did the first antenna.

I had another older one that I dissasembled to see what was in the base. The BNC center pin is machined out of a piece of metal. It has a wide section that almost touches the inside shell of the connector. This appears to function as a capacitor. The top of the pin assembly had a plastic form with a small inductor wound on it. If I remember it was about 4 or 5 turns of about 18 or 20 gauge enameled magnet wire of the kind commonly used in small tranformers, etc.

I never determined excatly if these are an electrical 1/2 wave or 5/8 wave. I think it's a 5/8 wave but physically shorter than a bare wire because of the outer plastic coating on the whip.

 

[wbswetnam]

In my area, AWIN (Arkansas Wireless Information Network) uses both 700 Mhz and 800 Mhz. The RS 800 Mhz antenna performs equally well with both; much better than any stock antenna.