Park City signal problems solved!

[KSPILOT536]

I bought an 800mhz Yagi antenna off ebay for $13 from China,took about 2 weeks to get to my house,I have it mounted in my bedreoom clamped to a camera tripod for the time being,I have it pointed straight south and my signals are 100% improved,100% more WPD and 100% clearer.
I might not even mount it outside because its working pretty good in the house,I might try it tomorrow in the attic though,this was a last ditch effort to get signal up north here and luckily it's a good fix,I do not know whether its because of other strong signals messing with a omni-direction antenna like in my attic(didn't work) or the yagi just has better gain(11 db) to pull in the weak simulcast signals from Wichita,In any event it works!
I will give an update of the attic test soon.
I might add,these $13 dollar Chinese antennas look like a knock off of a Wilson Yagi,they are very nice for the money!
Hers a link to one of these cheap Yagis
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Outdoor-GSM...ell_Phone_Signal_Boosters&hash=item3f3fc242a5

 

[chekoz77]

I have been looking at those cheap yagis and wondering how well they worked.
Might just have to grab one and try it out.

 

[KSPILOT536]

I might add,I moved the antenna into a different room pointed out a window at 140 degrees.
I'm leaving it in-house,works just fine.

 

[joeuser]

This is good to know, can you be more specific about your purchase?
Glad you got your issues solved, shows how important a proper antenna is!

 

[skyote]

I'm glad to hear this, and I also have one ordered. Now we need to find a mobile solution, huh?

 

[basehorhonda]

I also just ordered one. Figured cant go wrong with 13 bucks. Cant wait to see what its like.

 

[fuzzmanks]

Did you also buy an extension cable? Or is it something you already had on hand?

 

[KSPILOT536]

Did you also buy an extension cable? Or is it something you already had on hand?

Do you mean the coax?
I bought a 5 ft piece of rg8x and put 2 ends on it,one being a BNC and the other an N fitting which screwed onto the factory peice of coax that's on the antenna.
This was for a test type situation,I didn't solder the ends at that point,after I found out the antenna was going to work,I moved it into a different room,ran coax though the wall and into the basement up to my bedroom were the scanner is located(20ft of coax)soldered the ends and now enjoying my scanner!
Scanner is still working like a champ,very happy with this setup!

 

[KSPILOT536]

I'm glad now that I made the decision to buy the 996xt over the 536,the 996 saved me $200 and I didn't need the WiFi feature on the 536.
I have grown to really like this scanner,after a week or so working it,its fairly easy to control.

 

[joeuser]

I'm glad now that I made the decision to buy the 996xt over the 536,the 996 saved me $200 and I didn't need the WiFi feature on the 536.
I have grown to really like this scanner,after a week or so working it,its fairly easy to control.

Its a better radio if you don't need Phase 2 support.

 

[basehorhonda]

My antenna just showed up today. Now I just need to figure out what to do for coax and Ill let you guys know how it works for me.

 

[KSPILOT536]

My antenna just showed up today. Now I just need to figure out what to do for coax and Ill let you guys know how it works for me.

Take it down to Mark at the Derby Radio Shack and have him cut you a 5 ft peice of rg8x coax,get a BNC connector for the scanner end and a N fitting for the antenna side,he will know what to give you.
I put the ends on at home but did NOT solder them,I just taped them on for a temporary try,after I tuned the antenna in(moving it around) ,I soldered the ends on a longer piece of coax so I could have my antenna and scanner in 2 separate rooms for convenience,didn't want the antenna in the bedroom.
Read my other posts.
I had the 5ft price of coax only so I could have the radio next to me as I tuned in the antenna.

 

[joeuser]

Are there any REAL radio shops in Kansas? Rat Shack doesn't count...

 

[mancow]

Associated Radio in Overland Park.

 

[joeuser]

Associated Radio in Overland Park.

You used them? Anyone have experience with this outfit?

 

[mancow]

You used them? Anyone have experience with this outfit?

I go up there all the time. I've bought numerous radios there and have had cables made. They will make any cable you want if you give them a call ahead of time. They will ship it to you too if you can't go there in person.

 

[KSPILOT536]

Are there any REAL radio shops in Kansas? Rat Shack doesn't count...

The RS in Derby is not the typical "rat shack", most of the people that work there are hams and they sell a lot of ham gear and antennas,connectors,coax,scanners.

 

[dgruver911]

I'll second that. They sell some radio shack parts, but they are FAR from your typical radio shack. They sell more non RS antennas and connectors I'm sure. And they are always extremely helpful and last I knew even had a repair shop for ham radios and scanners. Don't put down what you don't know about.

 

[joeuser]

Thanks guys. I went to the associated radio website & checked it out. Good to know we still have a resource like that. As for Radio Shark & all the HAM gears, it must be a rarity among them. Most stores I have been in are pitiful.

 

[dgruver911]

Probably because it's not a "company" store. Mark has always been a franchise store. He can use their name and sell their stock, but he can also sell other products. And he does so, very well.