Monitoring Police in Kona

[HiloScanners]

Thats GREAT news!!! Yay!!! And I was going to PM you about putting up the antenna. Just make sure it is far, far away from power lines. There is a bunch of info on the web about antenna safety. So please be extra, extra safe.

Storm retaining strength and we are now under a hurricane warning. :-(

 

[Jags]

Yes I was amazed that simply moving the antenna location 30 feet from one side of the house to the other made such a difference. My office sits on the third floor of my home with a direct view to the south. This is where I had the scanner and antenna located. The roof slopes down steeply to the second floor on the north side of the house so the metal roof was obstructing the line of site from the antenna to the north where the 154.830 repeater is located. I moved the scanner and antenna to my bedroom which has a direct view to the north and now the 154.830 repeater comes in clear as a bell.

I'm confident that a basic outdoor scanner antenna mounted above the roof line will do the trick. No worries about electrical lines as they are on the opposite end of the house. Next time I'm down in town, probably next week after all the weather, I'll pick one up from Radio Shack. At least now I'll be able to monitor what's happening down in Kailua town during the storm.

I'll keep you all posted and thanks for all the great advice!

 

[Jags]

OK, I purchased the Radio Shack 20-176 antenna which is the same as the AntennaCraft ST3. What a piece of JUNK!!

First when I tried to assemble the unit the three ground plain radial rods are threaded too small for the hub. You screw them in and they barely hold on and can easily be pulled out of the hub. I was able to make them a bit tighter by wrapping some aluminum foil around the threads but I know that it would not take long for them to work free with a little bit of wind.

Second I tested it indoors right next to the ebay antenna I bought which has been working very well. The Radio Shack antenna was a lot weaker and did not pull in the 154.830 repeater good enough to break the squelch and lock on during scanning.

Good thing I didn't actually mount the thing outside before running a test!! This thing is going back to Radio Shack!!

Now any suggestions for a similar antenna that won't fall apart after a week and actually do the job? I may end up just using the ebay antenna. I just need to figure out how to mount it nicely on the 1 inch PVC pipe I plan to use as a mast above my roof.

Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!

 

[Sybex7254]

Surprised you had a bad experience with the Scantenna. I currently use on at my NJ home and it's great...but I did but it at least 6-7 years ago and NOT from Radio Shack. Perhaps they are not using cheaper parts?

I personally would try the Maxx Tenna on eBay that you mentioned. While I have no experience with the PVC type antennas, I would be very curious to know how well they actually work. They seem to be marketed for apartment/condo dwellers who are looking for improved reception above just the basic back of set antenna. I don't think they will perform as good as a ST-2 or Discone Antenna but YMMV.

If they work well I would get one myself for my Waikoloa home as I think the PVC would be much more durable for that weather environment (strong Trade Winds etc.) and less of a eyesore. I'm about 970 ft. ASL so currently have pretty good reception just using the back of set antenna on my BCD996XT but would certainly welcome some improved signal reception but may not need a ST-2 or Discone at my altitude..

I also just saw this PVC type antenna on eBay that is slightly differ in design, not sure which is better but thought it worth mentioning:

The Investigator Scanner Antenna

 

[pepsima1]

OK, I purchased the Radio Shack 20-176 antenna which is the same as the AntennaCraft ST3. What a piece of JUNK!!

First when I tried to assemble the unit the three ground plain radial rods are threaded too small for the hub. You screw them in and they barely hold on and can easily be pulled out of the hub. I was able to make them a bit tighter by wrapping some aluminum foil around the threads but I know that it would not take long for them to work free with a little bit of wind.

Second I tested it indoors right next to the ebay antenna I bought which has been working very well. The Radio Shack antenna was a lot weaker and did not pull in the 154.830 repeater good enough to break the squelch and lock on during scanning.

Good thing I didn't actually mount the thing outside before running a test!! This thing is going back to Radio Shack!!

Now any suggestions for a similar antenna that won't fall apart after a week and actually do the job? I may end up just using the ebay antenna. I just need to figure out how to mount it nicely on the 1 inch PVC pipe I plan to use as a mast above my roof.

Let me know if you have any suggestions. Thanks!

I made my suggestions and you did not take the good advice. So you got the piece of junk. Lessons are sometimes hard a hard pill to swallow

 

[ccs247]

Sounds like the center conductor is shorted to ground at the antenna connector or a break in the cable.

 

[HiloScanners]

Wow, sorry Jags. I've purchased 2 of those antenna from RS and they both performed fine for many years. One is at the Honolulu airport, outside, exposed, and it has been performing excellently for 4 or 5 years now. I have one at home and I have had that outside for 6 or 7 years. The radials for both antennas all screw in tight and the bolts help to keep it in tight. Maybe like Sybex7254 mentioned maybe RS using cheaper parts. I planning to buy another antenna so I will go down and buy one and see how it is. So once again, sorry for the bad experience.

and like ccs247 says, poor reception may be a problem with the cable or antenna connector. What cable are you using? Did you purchase a cable from RS too? I think you mentioned something about using cable that you had?


Here is a good ham radio web site that has user reviews for a ton of equipment.

eHam.net Reviews

And more specifically, here are the reviews for the RS antenna. 4.8 out of 5 but again it could be that the reviews are for antennas purchased a few years back.

Omnidirectional Antennas - scroll down to find the RS antenna

eHam.net Reviews - Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Omnidirectional: verticals, mobile, etc


Directional Antennas -

eHam.net Reviews - Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Directional (Yagi, quad, etc.)

 

[ccs247]

One of the reviews posted by a licensed HAM on the radioshack website mentioned a sliver of metal wedged between the center conductor and the inside of the threaded portion. I use a multimeter to check for continuity on all cables and antennas that I build.

 

[Jags]

Surprised you had a bad experience with the Scantenna. I currently use on at my NJ home and it's great...but I did but it at least 6-7 years ago and NOT from Radio Shack. Perhaps they are not using cheaper parts?

I personally would try the Maxx Tenna on eBay that you mentioned. While I have no experience with the PVC type antennas, I would be very curious to know how well they actually work. They seem to be marketed for apartment/condo dwellers who are looking for improved reception above just the basic back of set antenna. I don't think they will perform as good as a ST-2 or Discone Antenna but YMMV.

Yes the antenna I purchased from ebay is the Maxx-Tenna and it is working very well. Like I mentioned it picks up better than the Radio Shack when tested in the same location with the same cable. I did check for ground shorts on the Radio Shack antenna with a VOM and everything was good. And the cable is the same cable used with the Maxx-Tenna and that checks out fine also. The main reason I'm returning the Radio Shack ST3 is because the ground radials do not thread correctly into the hub. The threads are too small and do not hold causing the ground radials to fall out. Perhaps I got a bad one or they have a quality control issue with their Chinese manufacturer.

Pepsima1, I would have loved to install the AntennaCraft ST2 but like I mentioned it is just too big and nearly impossible to install on my very high and steep roof. The Maxx-Tenna is picking up everything I need but I can't keep it hanging in my bedroom window with 50 feet of coax running across the floor to my office. So a simple install bringing it above my roofline with an "L" shaped mast mounted under the ridge beam is all I really need. That's what I was going to do with the Radio Shack ST3 but since it's defective I'll just do the same with the Maxx-Tenna since I know that is working fine.

I'll keep you all updated as I progress. Thanks again!!

 

[Jags]

OK, Picked up the parts I needed to mount the Maxx-Tenna on to the top of my 1" PVC mast.

This first photo shows the 1 1/4 PVC pipe that will house the Maxx-Tenna, the various fittings, the top of the mast pole, and the Maxx-Tenna itself.

The second photo shows the assembled housing mounted to the top of the mast and the Maxx-Tenna ready to be inserted into the housing.

The third photo shows the completed assembly.

The last photo shows the mast standing in the window for testing. It's working great and it looks real clean.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have the chance to get it mounted so it will stand about 4 feet above the top of my roof ridge. Will post more photos when it's all finished.

Thanks again!