Looking for an basic indoor antenna to replace the stock BCD996P2 telescopic one

[thisguyneedsabeer]

Searching through the forums, I see this conversation come up from time to time, and the general response is "build off-center fed dipole" antenna found here: Homebrewed Off-Center Fed Dipole - The RadioReference Wiki

The thing is, I don't fully grasp all of those concepts, and quite honestly, I'm looking for a "plug and play" solution.

The stock antenna gets me 99.9% of what I want to hear in my major metro area, I'm just looking to see if I can improve some of the P25 communications. I primarily monitor 460-470MHz, and lots of 800MHz P25. I would like to keep my options open with a wide band antenna.

Is this a viable option? Is there something better maybe a little less expensive (I understand, you get what you pay for)?

AOR MA500 - Receiver Scanner Mobile Antennas

25MHz-1300MHz Wideband Receive Magnetic Mount Mobile Whip Antenna, 28in height w/ 13 Ft of RG-58/U Coax Cable, BNC Male Connector Installed.

theantennafarm.com

Would something like this with an SMA-BNC connector be a noticeable improvement placed high up?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C1T7PC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A2Q49PGT6CNRLQ&psc=1

I'm not a die-hard feed provider, this is for my desk scanner that I keep on while I'm working if I want some background noise.

Any recommendations under $100 are greatly appreciated.

 

[bearcatrp]

I have one of these. Put it on a stripped floor lamp until I was able to put up a outdoor antenna. Worked pretty good.

Amazon.com

Actually have the Diamond version.

Diamond Antenna D220R Diamond Antenna D220R Mobile Scanner Antennas | DX Engineering

Free Shipping - Diamond Antenna D220R Mobile Scanner Antennas with qualifying orders of $99. Shop VHF/UHF Mobile Monitor Antennas at DX Engineering.

www.dxengineering.com

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

I have one of these. Put it on a stripped floor lamp until I was able to put up a outdoor antenna. Worked pretty good.

Amazon.com

Actually have the Diamond version.

Diamond Antenna D220R Diamond Antenna D220R Mobile Scanner Antennas | DX Engineering

Free Shipping - Diamond Antenna D220R Mobile Scanner Antennas with qualifying orders of $99. Shop VHF/UHF Mobile Monitor Antennas at DX Engineering.

www.dxengineering.com

Looks promising, thanks for the recommendation. Would you suggest terminating to BNC into the scanner with: https://a.co/d/dh81jY5 or would it be better to to convert BNC on the scanner to SO239 for the PL259 connector already installed?

 

[bearcatrp]

Better to go with terminating to BNC. If you are going to use a floor lamp to mount, you won’t need much coax so RG 58 will work. No need for thick coax like LMR 400 Until you put an antenna outside.

 

[mmckenna]

Any recommendations under $100 are greatly appreciated.

The AOR and Diamond are kind of overpriced for what they are.

The AOR looks like it's designed mostly for VHF and 800MHz, which might work well, but $150 bucks is a lot of money for an antenna like that. You can do better.

The Diamond is a shrunk down discone. Discone antennas have 0dB gain. It might perform slightly better with that whip on top, but again, you can do better for $116 bucks.

If you are getting pretty good performance with the stock antenna, then you won't need much. I don't see how spending $100 or more dollars on an antenna is a good investment. But, hey, your money, your decision.

For about 75 bucks, you can get a multiband vertical antenna and a mag mount. You can easily drop that on top of a file cabinet, cooking sheet or a piece of aluminum foil to act as a ground plane. The Larsen multiband antenna is a proven good performer and actually has some gain on UHF and 800MHz.
Bonus is that you can always take it on the road with you if traveling. The NMO mount is pretty much the de facto standard in the 2 way radio industry, so the antenna and mount can serve you for decades, even if your direction in the hobby changes, you decide to get your ham license, GMRS, or just try out different antennas.

Anyway, like I said, your money, your choice:

Tri-Band 150-165, 450-470 & 806-940 MHz Mobile Two Way Radio Antenna Scanner

Tri-band antenna covers 150-165, 450-470 & 806-940, 100 Watts, Whip Length 16.5"

theantennafarm.com

Magnet Mount NMO 12' RG-58 BNC Male TE Connectivity GB8BI

Magnet Mount NMO with 12' RG-58 and BNC Male connector installed

theantennafarm.com

 

[thisguyneedsabeer]

The AOR and Diamond are kind of overpriced for what they are.

The AOR looks like it's designed mostly for VHF and 800MHz, which might work well, but $150 bucks is a lot of money for an antenna like that. You can do better.

The Diamond is a shrunk down discone. Discone antennas have 0dB gain. It might perform slightly better with that whip on top, but again, you can do better for $116 bucks.

If you are getting pretty good performance with the stock antenna, then you won't need much. I don't see how spending $100 or more dollars on an antenna is a good investment. But, hey, your money, your decision.

For about 75 bucks, you can get a multiband vertical antenna and a mag mount. You can easily drop that on top of a file cabinet, cooking sheet or a piece of aluminum foil to act as a ground plane. The Larsen multiband antenna is a proven good performer and actually has some gain on UHF and 800MHz.
Bonus is that you can always take it on the road with you if traveling. The NMO mount is pretty much the de facto standard in the 2 way radio industry, so the antenna and mount can serve you for decades, even if your direction in the hobby changes, you decide to get your ham license, GMRS, or just try out different antennas.

Anyway, like I said, your money, your choice:

Tri-Band 150-165, 450-470 & 806-940 MHz Mobile Two Way Radio Antenna Scanner

Tri-band antenna covers 150-165, 450-470 & 806-940, 100 Watts, Whip Length 16.5"

theantennafarm.com

Magnet Mount NMO 12' RG-58 BNC Male TE Connectivity GB8BI

Magnet Mount NMO with 12' RG-58 and BNC Male connector installed

theantennafarm.com

I always hope you will be lurking somewhere to tell me exactly what I need to hear. There should be a big ol' "Theta" symbol we can flash like a bit signal. I think the magnet mount and Larsen antenna are the perfect way to go, and gives me the option to travel as well. I'd like to move my scanner off my desk, and being able to route and run the antenna cable will give me some more flexibility on positioning.

Much appreciated!

 

[Hooligan]

You mentioned the two chunks of spectrum your primarily focus-on are 460-470 & 800MHz. Which of the two do you really need to improve reception-on? For example, some stuff in the 460-470MHz spectrum is simplex, whereas very little in the 800MHz spectrum would be. You could get a mobile antenna centered on 465MHz, and it'd likely pick-up much of your 800MHz targets pretty easily.

Any broad-band/multi-band antenna is likely to be a compromise. There may actually be some VHF stuff of interest in your area that you're just not aware-of/can't currently hear, and/or maybe at some point, you'll develop an interest in the VHF aviation band. While the ability may not present itself just yet, if you stay in & expand your radio hobby interests, eventually you're going to want to use an antenna outside the house, on the roof. Even if it's a low/no-gain antenna, getting it outside the house, with some height will improve the RF line of sight compared to the indoor antenna, and should work better than even an antenna tuned for your RF spectrum of interest that's inside the home.