Portable vs. Base Station and Reception

[fmalloy]

Hi,

New to scanning - well, at least since 1980 when I had a 10-channel with LEDs and crystals.

Looking at the brand-new BC346XT (portable) or a BC898T (base station). I'd like the portable since it is compact, can carry from the kitchen to the family room to the bedroom and of course in the car and outdoors, but I have heard that you cannot really expect to hear much as the portable receivers and rubber duck antennas won't pull in the signals. True? Most listening will be done at home, but i would rather not have to leave it in one room or carry around a larger base station from room to room.

How can I tell if the portable will let me hear good signals? I am in the SF south bay San Jose/Santa Clara area. I am not in a remote area. I know I need a trunking scanner.

Thanks for any input and recommendations!

 

[ERICMYERS]

Hi,

New to scanning - well, at least since 1980 when I had a 10-channel with LEDs and crystals.

Looking at the brand-new BC346XT (portable) or a BC898T (base station). I'd like the portable since it is compact, can carry from the kitchen to the family room to the bedroom and of course in the car and outdoors, but I have heard that you cannot really expect to hear much as the portable receivers and rubber duck antennas won't pull in the signals. True? Most listening will be done at home, but i would rather not have to leave it in one room or carry around a larger base station from room to room.

How can I tell if the portable will let me hear good signals? I am in the SF south bay San Jose/Santa Clara area. I am not in a remote area. I know I need a trunking scanner.

Thanks for any input and recommendations!

Welcome to the hobby and the forum.
Portable will get fine signal for a lot of things, and you'll probably end up with a few antennas before you find which one optimizes for what you want to hear. You can use a portable with an external antenna if you like, just like you can use a base radio with a rubberduck (I do sometimes, both ways). The radio form factor has little to do with 'pulling in' signals, that's all to do with antennas. Outside is better, higher is better, but short answer, you'll probably hear a lot with a handheld and the rubberduck that comes with your scanner, certainly no different than a base unit with a 'back of set' antenna.

Ask in the CA forum for more local answers.

 

[fmalloy]

Thanks Eric!

I ordered a BC346XT from ScannerMaster. They also have a 2.5dB gain portable antenna for 800MHz signals. The main city trunk in my area is 800MHz. Do you think this is worth the extra cost to gain better 800MHz reception? What does it do for the other frequencies?

Perhaps I should wait to receive the radio (should be shipped today) and try it out at home and see what kind of reception I'm receiving...

 

[ERICMYERS]

Lots of folks have great luck with the Radioshack 800mhz antenna. It works very well on 800 for me and not bad at all on the other bands I listen to. Antennas are relatively cheap and thus low risk investments and having a few is part of the fun.