Indoor Antenna Questions

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Interference

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Hey all,

I've been a casual scanner user for while, but I've moved to the outskirts of my city and I'm having trouble picking things up now. I have an old Realistic pro-2026 and a Radio shack Pro-95 handheld, both with stock antennas.

I know the Pro-95 has a BNC connector, but the Realistic has a round hole in the back with a smaller triangular hole inside it for an antenna (the stock one just screws into the top). I don't even know what to use for that one.

I dont want to install an outdoor antenna, just extend my range with a better internal one. Hoping for some suggestions as to what I should use for both these scanners.

Thanks!
 

AJAT

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KD0LDK

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Interference

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ka3jjz

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That preamp is likely to cause more problems than it solves. We have a separate forum for that topic, but I'll say that broadband ones like that are more prone to generate noise and potential intermod.

You would do far and away better if you have an attic to play with; if it's tall enough, a good discone could go in there. The extra height would be beneficial, and with a little investigation using that PRO-95 with no antenna, you can get a rough idea of where the hot spots in the attic are located.

You didn't say what freq range(s) you were interested in - and while you mentioned in your first message that you didn't want to put something outside, this is by far the best solution

best regards..Mike
 

John_S

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The older RadShack radios used a Motorola connector...sounds like what you have there. They have an adapter that will get you to standard PL-259... part# 278-208 And as far as indoor antennas go, you might want to experiment with a good mobile scanner antenna and use some kind of counterpoise/groundplane. I've been using an old Antenna Specialist mobile antenna rigged with a couple of roughly 1/4 wave 12ga solid core wires, so they can be bent to fit, but will stay in place. You don't need to get real fussy with the groundplane. Set up works well....not quite like something bigger and outdoors, but still. One advantage to indoor is short coax. Just try to keep it away from computers, modems, CRT type monitors, etc.
 
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