Need Antenna Installer

[misterdk]

Hello all. I'm new to the Forum but have spent the last 4 days reading, reading, reading so I'll be somewhat prepared for when my new PSR 500 arrives next week (I hope). I love RR already.
I live in the West Oak Lane section of Philadelphia and I'm looking for someone to install an antenna on my roof. Can anyone recommend an installer in this area? I'd like to find somebody familiar with scanning who can provide the best results possible. Thanks in advance!

 

[CommJunkie]

Just curious, why the roof? Are you looking to drill into the roof of the car?

I have a trunk lip mount scanner antenna hooked up to a Uniden BC780D and have never had a reception problem. It's much easier to install, and there's no holes in the car.

 

[misterdk]

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I'm talking about the roof of my house, not my car.

 

[Audiodave1]

I suspect you mean the roof of your house.
I would say most any TV antenna installer (there's a growing number of them these days) can get the job done IF you have the antenna in hand you want to put up.

If you are just looking to monitor only Philly PD/FD then an outdoor antenna may not be necessary.
If you want to monitor the region I would suggest a Discone antenna as a good starting point to get your feet wet.
With an antenna like a Diamond 130J http://www.universal-radio.com/CATALOG/scanants/2405.html 10' above the roof line on a 2 story house in your area you should be able to receive all of the bordering counties to Philadelphia with no problem.
Just make sure the installer keeps the coax cable run (RG6 coax at the least which is standard for most satellite and TV antenna runs these days) to 50' or less.

This will get you started and provide good results.

Welcome to the hobby and forums.

Dave

 

[misterdk]

Thanks for the reply Dave. I've found that a lot of the TV/cable/satellite installer guys will say that they can do just about anything, regardless of their real life experiences. I've been burned a couple times by these guys since I don't climb ladders and can't check on what they're really doing up there. After having a friend come over and climb up on my roof he saw that one guy had drilled right into my roof instead of using the proper mount in the proper place. But I digress. I'll save the horror stories for another time. I'm sure I'm not the only guy who has some. That's why I'm trying to find someone in my area who is recommended by a RR member.
I purchased the ST 2 Scanner Antenna Package from Scanner Master. I did a ton of reading before making the choice. Read lots of reviews on a lot of different antennas in all price ranges. This is also known as the Scantenna and for the price it sounds like a winner. I have a ten foot mast and chimney mounting hardware ready for the install. This should get me at least 15 feet above the roof of my 2-story house. The cable run will be about 35-45 feet. I have a question about grounding the antenna. I have a grounding block ready to accept the cable. Question is, can I run my copper wire from the grounding block to the pipe on my heating radiator inside the house or is it better to buy a 4 or 8-foot long grounding spike, the kind you drive into the ground and use that?

Thanks to you and all the others who help out the newbies like me.

 

[Audiodave1]

Hello,
I wish I could recommend someone but cannot. Perhaps join the PhillyScanner Yahoo group and someone on there could help.

Good job on the research, The Scantenna will work really well for you.

As for grounding, I would suggest running a dedicated piece of wire in as straight a line as possible from the antenna mast to a couple of 2-3' rods sunk into the ground about 3' apart which all meet at a common point in the middle of them (Referred to as a star ground)

Use as heavy a piece of copper cable as you can afford.

There are a couple of correct VERY expensive ways to do this, there are more elaborate ways and ones that even meet some electrical codes and then there is the way which works acceptable well and keeps the ground potential of your electronics at a matched level despite what might be flying thru or charging up the air. yopu can read a bit about mine here: http://forums.radioreference.com/pi...130989-audiodaves-monitoring-post-2009-a.html
This must all be maintained regularly but I will say that in 3 years I have had no issues.
My shack uses a hybrid approach based on this article: Station Grounding

Regards, Dave

 

[misterdk]

I have joined the PhillyScanner group and have some feelers out there for a good installer. I've also read a lot about the grounding issue and it seems I could go on reading forever as there is a TON of info out there. I'll try to find a middle ground solution (no punn intended) as you have to draw the line somewhere, bite the bullet and get the job done. I thank you for your suggestions. I'll read the links you provided. All the best to you. ~Don