OTA TV antenna (Yagi) for scanner use

[danesgs]

I know it is designed for OTA TV channels, but being highly directional, has anyone ever tried to see if they are any good used on a scanner? The 75 ohm coax of course would need a 75 to 50 ohm adapter. Just wondering.

Greg-KJ4DGE

 

[N4DES]

A standard TV antenna is a log-periodic design and not your standard yagi. This keeps it resonant in many frequency bands at the lack of it being super directional and not with a lot of gain, which could be a good thing. Antenna Theory - Log-periodic Antenna (tutorialspoint.com)

 

[popnokick]

Old (and even new) TV antennas work quite well with scanner receivers owing to the fact that the frequency ranges of interest are very close to the TV broadcast bands, and most of the TV antennas are quite broad in their frequency coverage. Since nearly all the stuff you want to hear on the scanner in the VHF / UHF ranges is vertically polarized you'll likely need to mount the TV antenna so it is also vertically oriented (not the usual horizontal mount you'd use for TV reception). All that and much more is explained in this thread here on RR which you have apparently not seen (and many more here on RR as well) -
Old Analog TV Antenna?
Also, regarding the newer tabletop / window mount "leaf" or blade TV antennas -
Best $15 Scanner Antenna - By Accident

 

[sonm10]

Keep in mind, most TV antennas are horizontal. Most LMR signals we monitor will be vertical polarized. You will need to rotate 90°

 

[popnokick]

The 75 ohm coax of course would need a 75 to 50 ohm adapter. Just wondering.
Greg-KJ4DGE

Negative, negative. Your scanner receiver is quite happy with 75 ohm coaxial input. Again, much has been written about this here on RR. Search is your friend, either read it yourself or take the word (and technical knowledge) of many here on RR that it doesn't matter. Use the 75 ohm RG6 (or equivalent) coax with your scanner to your heart's (and budget's) content. No adapter needed.

 

[KC3ECJ]

Old (and even new) TV antennas work quite well with scanner receivers owing to the fact that the frequency ranges of interest are very close to the TV broadcast bands, and most of the TV antennas are quite broad in their frequency coverage. Since nearly all the stuff you want to hear on the scanner in the VHF / UHF ranges is vertically polarized you'll likely need to mount the TV antenna so it is also vertically oriented (not the usual horizontal mount you'd use for TV reception). All that and much more is explained in this thread here on RR which you have apparently not seen (and many more here on RR as well) -
Old Analog TV Antenna?
Also, regarding the newer tabletop / window mount "leaf" or blade TV antennas -
Best $15 Scanner Antenna - By Accident

I have a horizontal dipole that I made for 2m sideband that I also use for TV.
2 welding rods cut for the lower portion of 2m each at 1/4 wavelength.
Picks up VHF high and the UHF TV signals fine.

 

[danesgs]

Thanks all! Best in the New Year.