Noob question (hardware)

[ltulrich]

Okay so I have a BCT8 and an o.k. center-loaded telescopic antenna. I lose track of the control channels frequently. I have a 9'4" whip that I had on my car. It's a CB antenna. I kind of want to adapt/make a cable to use it as a scanner antenna. Should I bother? I'm pretty sure there's no chance of damaging the scanner since we're not transmitting, but any advice would be appreciated. I'm sure this is a common question. Thanks in advance.

 

[ka3jjz]

It would probably work well for the VHF lo band (30-50 Mhz) but as you get further away from the design frequency the antenna's performance will become more degraded. It may work but certainly not optimally.

Your far better bet is to get an antenna designed for the band(s) you want to hear. We have a scanner antennas wiki article which lists numerous models, many of which have been discussed in the antennas forum (which is where this discussion should be). For example, Larsen sells a scanner antenna for 150/400/800 Mhz bands which many find works just fine in a mobile environment (with the right mount, of course). If you're only interested in 800 mhz trunking, a cell phone antenna will work very well.

73 Mike