Indoor Vs. Outdoor Antenna

[whooey]

Obviously Outdoor is better.

I want to know how much better, night and day?

Is it like a punch buggy vs. a Lamborghini?

I am speaking in General, ballpark, average conditions on any band, any terrain USA.

Please don't "what if", or "well it depends" me to death.

I am just wondering if it is worth it to all of us hobbyist who dont have an out door antenna to maybe start thinking about it....

Any Input Appreciated,

Brandon G.

 

[hartgk01]

indoor vs outdoor

Night and day

 

[SAR923]

If you mean a roof mounted base station antenna compared to a rubber duck, night and day doesn't even begin to describe the difference.

 

[JoeyC]

Please don't "what if", or "well it depends" me to death.
Brandon G.

If you're not interested in an accurate answer, why did you ask? Of course, outdoors is better, but indoor antennas are certainly adequate if you are just trying to pick up strong local repeaters.

 

[N_Jay]

Obviously Outdoor is better.

Seems you already know the answer.

I want to know how much better, night and day?

Yes night and day.
Somewhere between night and day on the equator with no moon, and night and day at the poles during the solstices.

Is it like a punch buggy vs. a Lamborghini?

Yes, somewhere between these two.
In top end and in total cost.

I am speaking in General, ballpark, average conditions on any band, any terrain USA.

Hmmm, If I had to put a number on it I would say -6dB to -12dB, with a margin of error of +6dB to -18dB

Of course by definition it is BAND, TERRAIN, and BUILDING specific.

Please don't "what if", or "well it depends" me to death.

The issue is IT DEPPENDS on a lot of factors, you have not provided, so "WHAT IF" has to part of any valid answer.

I am just wondering if it is worth it to all of us hobbyist who dont have an out door antenna to maybe start thinking about it....

AH, now a question I can answer.

YES, . . . . If you need/want it!

NO, . . . . If you do not need/want it!

Any Input Appreciated,

Brandon G.

That is not true, as you specifically asked NOT to have any input that would be valuable.

(Sorry, just having a bit of fun)

All else being the same (especially antenna height), I would say it is 6 to 10 dB, which is enough to clear up weak signals but not enough to get signal you can't get at all.

BUT (BIG BUT)

Antenna height is everything, and IN GENERAL you can get an outside antenna much higher which invalidates any pure dB comparison.

 

[whooey]

Very funny N-Jay :lol: ,

I forgot I wrote this thread after I got home from the bar last night!!! :twisted:

Sorry for sounding like a jerk on my original post!!!

I'm not an angry drunk, I swear!!

 

[loumaag]

I just have to add this bit of information to the topic. An outside antenna, generally will pick up more than an inside antenna. However, since sitting on the roof is generally not the way most people use thier scanners, the feedline becomes an issue. I will say, with some qualification based on use of high dollar feedline, most people will get better results on 800MHz and above, using a rubber duck antenna inside then they will hooking up to an outside omni-directional antenna with a normal run of standard coax of 30+ feet. Just my opinion of course.

 

[MarkMitchell]

Indoor Verses Outdoor antenna

Just to throw my 2 cents in an outside antenna is oblivously a plus...there is one other little problem..you want it up REAL high, However the higher you go the longer the cable..Hence the problem signal loss.
the real question should be how much will I have to spend to get a better signal and how bad do I want it. anyone can get good reception but with the old attage of line of sight you might have to go 20+ feet in the air and adda signal amp. each enthusiast can give you a different answer to that question..due to combining factors.

 

[MIKETECH]

What kind of amp, and where's a good place to get one? I'm new at the scanning scene. Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

[N_Jay]

What kind of amp, and where's a good place to get one? I'm new at the scanning scene. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Unless you are fairly rural, I would hold off on a amp until you learn a bit about what you can here and what you want to hear.

 

[Declared_Hostile]

For me an outside antenna is mandatory. Inside I get interference from all of the other scanners. Some of them really throw out stray RF. My older Unidens especially you can pick up from the other side of the house. I also have trouble with all sorts of home electronics causing problems. My routers, my laptop, my TVs, my Dish Network receivers, my DVD players. A panasonic VCR I have is really bad.

I used an inside antenna for quite a while when I first started scanning but when I got more than 2 scanners I had to go with an outside antenna. Once I even resorted to just leaning a scantenna against a tree outside and it still made a night and day difference. When I put it up on a 30 ft tower I was simply blown away especially with the milcom stuff.

 

[loumaag]

Declared_Hostile, you make some good points. My point earlier was that most people, installing an omni-directional antenna, outside for 800MHz and above will be disappointed. After scanning in a lot of places and under a lot of different conditions, both mobile and fixed; I have found that a gain rubber duck, like the RS 800MHz rubber duck, gives better performance than anything attached at the end of RG58, the most common coax used by newbie scanner users. I am not going to get into a discussion on this topic about coax and what is better or worse, it has been covered in depth on other topics. But I think no one will dispute that 0db loss sure beats any loss in feedline.

Let me add a bit to N_Jay's comment about amplifiers. Remember, an amplifier will only enhance a signal that is already there. And it enhances all signals that are already there. So if you are bothered by interference, add an amp will just make it worse, if you can't hear the target signal already, an amp will not find it for you.

 

[jay427]

Indoor vs. outdoor = night and day, for the most part that is.

Jay

 

[KC2LVC]

I can tell you this... I just moved from a location where I had an antenna outside mounted on the fence, only about 6ft. off the ground. Now I am using that same antenna indoors, and in the middle of the apartment (away from windows) Well, let's just say I seem to be hearing ALOT less than I used to! I am planning on installing the antenna outside the back window, mounted off the side of the fire escape, once I get things situated around here. Then maybe I'll start hearing more than the local PD and repeaters!

 

[MacombMonitor]

I can tell you this... I just moved from a location where I had an antenna outside mounted on the fence, only about 6ft. off the ground. Now I am using that same antenna indoors, and in the middle of the apartment (away from windows) Well, let's just say I seem to be hearing ALOT less than I used to! I am planning on installing the antenna outside the back window, mounted off the side of the fire escape, once I get things situated around here. Then maybe I'll start hearing more than the local PD and repeaters!

Couldn't this be attributed to the fact that you also moved? How far are you from where you used to live, and how does the general terrain compare?

 

[N_Jay]

Indoor vs. outdoor = night and day, for the most part that is.

Jay

Realy?

I always figured "Night" and "Day" were at LEAST 100dB diferent.
Heck even a screen room has to work hard to get to 100 dB of loss.

:twisted: :wink:

 

[Al42]

I can tell you this... I just moved from a location where I had an antenna outside mounted on the fence, only about 6ft. off the ground. Now I am using that same antenna indoors, and in the middle of the apartment (away from windows) Well, let's just say I seem to be hearing ALOT less than I used to! I am planning on installing the antenna outside the back window, mounted off the side of the fire escape, once I get things situated around here. Then maybe I'll start hearing more than the local PD and repeaters!

Couldn't this be attributed to the fact that you also moved? How far are you from where you used to live, and how does the general terrain compare?

From Hoboken, NJ? With the duckie that comes with the scanner, standing outside, he should be able to hear most of NYC's repeaters. (That's a few hundred transmitters on 150, 450 and 800.) That's not counting NJSP and all the more local stuff. The NYC metro area is saturated with RF.

 

[KC2LVC]

I moved two blocks away. So, the area is not the difference. Yes, I can hear NYPD fine. SOD, etc. No problem. Most manhattan repeaters, but difficulty with Brooklyn / Bronx repeaters. Used to be fine. But the building is very old, and maybe the materials are making it more difficult also. I never hear MilAir activity anymore. Very little marineband, airband, etc. I do use a Pro-83 just for local PD and FD. 868mhz / 471mhz. with the stock rubberduck. Works fine. But really, it's no secret, outdoors does help alot. Even moving the antenna right to the window, but still indoors will help.

 

[brandon]

As everyone else said... it's a huge difference having an outdoor antenna.

With an indoor antenna I was only able to hear local stuff in Riverside County and the Orange County TRS.

With an outdoor antenna I can pick up most of the important stuff from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, and San Diego Counties. I can hear CHP for most of SoCal (El Centro, Indio, San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County, etc..).

It also makes airband come to life!
In fact I am sitting here right now listening to LAX approach 124.05/124.9 and can hear the ground side of the transmissions. Never could do that with my indoor antenna