Milair Scanning

[fd71022004]

I'm trying to pick-up milair in Florida.
I live in the Tampabay area, central part on the west coast.
1st area I want is McDill AFB (about 50 Miles)
2nd area is Avon bombing range (about 110 miles)

I'm now using
A TV antenna mounted vertical up 30 feet, 40 feet of good grade RG-6 and a TV drop amp, Pro-2006 scanner and

A discone, up 30 feet, same coax and amp. Pro-433 scanner

Both work but not as well as I would like.

Any suggestions for an antenna up-grades? Thinking of maybe the milair or scanner antennas from DPD Prod.
Would they work well at these distances?

 

[dbox1]

Determine the desired frequency you are seeking to pickup long range, purchase a yagi with high gain/high rejection qualities for that given frequency range, add a combiner to your coax and point that baby up! 100 miles is a long haul by anyones standard. Good luck.

 

[trainman111]

Just keep in mind yagi's are directional so don't expect much from anything besides from the direction the antenna is pointing. Since Florida is relatively flat, with the right setup, 110 miles away should be doable. I live in Richmond, VA and I can usually hear milair comms within a 150 mile radius or so. Take a look in the Military Monitoring forum because if I recall, there were some discussions in there about good milair monitoring antennas. The antenna and coax definately make a huge difference. I went from a 3-element yagi tuned to 160 MHz with 50 feet of RG-58 coax to a Diamond D-130J discone with 50 feet of LMR-400 coax and I went from no comes to comms all the time. It takes some adjusting but eventually you'll find what works best for your situation.

Nick

 

[JackTV]

I have both of Daves(DPD Productions) LPA's>225-400 & 118-1000mhz
Both of these are really good performers. The 225-400 has a bit more gain on UHF then the 118-1000...Then on the other hand the 118-1000 has better gain on VHF.
Like the other posters are saying..use good quality coax,minimal connectors,and get it as high in the air SAFELY.

Good Luck,
Jack

 

[zz0468]

I'd be wondering about the preamp. If the noise figure of the drop amp is higher than the noise figure of the receiver, it's actually HURTING your ability to hear weak signals, in spite of the fact that stronger signals appear stronger still. Drop amps are not low noise amps intended to pluck weak signals off the air, they are intended to overcome line loss and signal splitters.

A discone at 30 feet is probably ideal for reception of aircraft, and that tv antenna is probably fine, too. I'd suggest that you try keeping the antennas and using a REAL low noise preamp and better coax.

 

[fd71022004]

Thanks for the ideas.
As to the amp noise issue, I have tried it without the amp and I pick up much more with it.
Any suggestions for a better amp? I don't want to spend big bucks now, as several posters say stridburg (not spelled right) don't work much better. The drop amps I'm using :
http://www.maspro.co.jp/en/rev04/pagef/pdf_f/p28.pdf

The antenna is about equal to this one:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...nnas&kw=outside+tv+antennas&parentPage=search

I'm going to look for a used one like below:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...nnas&kw=outside+tv+antennas&parentPage=search

Comments please

 

[gcgrotz]

I'd be wondering about the preamp. If the noise figure of the drop amp is higher than the noise figure of the receiver, it's actually HURTING your ability to hear weak signals, in spite of the fact that stronger signals appear stronger still. Drop amps are not low noise amps intended to pluck weak signals off the air, they are intended to overcome line loss and signal splitters.

A discone at 30 feet is probably ideal for reception of aircraft, and that tv antenna is probably fine, too. I'd suggest that you try keeping the antennas and using a REAL low noise preamp and better coax.

I'd second that opinion. You have to be careful with TV pre-amps. If you need it, get a good one designed for communications, not entertainment.

 

[nycrich]

I live in New Tampa, Tampa, FL 33613 and I use a Dressler ARA 500 which is an amplified active antenna mounted at 5ft . I can pick up McDill Tower 123.7/294.7
McDill Ground 118.575/275.8
Lightening Ops 311.0/321.0/
CGAS St Petersburg 345.0
All very clear.Using amplifiers on the VHF freqs causes more problems/loss signal.
Make sure you have correct azimuth to McDill. I can also use a discone. I have a log periodic DPP Miltenna & Create log that is better, but the apartment complex does not allow it. I found that the UHF freq comes in better than VHF. There are more interference/images on VHF range in the Tampa Bay area.
I can hear all airborne activity in Avon Park( south) , no ground comms
All activity at Pinecastle Range ( north) no ground comms.
Recommend you join yahoo groups for Florida scan & Milradios were their is daily postings of mil activity.Also McDill is very quiet, so don't expect to hear constant comms when checking out your antenna. Tower traffic usually starts at 8:00am up to 4:00pm, then it gets very quiet.

 

[fd71022004]

Good info,

Thanks