Pre Amps

[GrayWolfSA58]

anyone know of a good preamp?

 

[Jeffn8wb]

What frequency?

 

[GrayWolfSA58]

800 and 900

 

[Swipesy]

I use a Hamtronics preamp for base and GRE for mobile on a Pro 96. They both work fine but you have to be careful on the mobile because of front end overload. The base is in a rural area so not much interference.

 

[MB]

Advanced Receiver preamps are the best I have ever used..

http://www.advancedreceiver.com/page2.html

 

[thom]

I'm using a CATV amp I found on ebay. Works fine out here where there is little RF

 

[Mark01]

Ditto to MB's post about Advanced Receiver Preamps.I use the 800mhz - 890mhz special frequencie broad tune model and it has worked well on a beam antenna bringing in longer distanced trunking systems.The CS is very good also as I had it repaired under warranty once.I've aso used the Stridsberg A8020
800 MHz Low Noise Pre-Amplifier with good results,these amps are more costly than a standard CATV amp but the quality and performance are much improved IMO.

Mark

 

[kb2vxa]

Let's clear one thing up, a "CATV amp" can be a line amplifier (LA) or distribution amplifier (DA) and in both cases has greater than 50dB gain, far in excess of a scanner's front end signal handling ability. Consider the fact that they amplify VOLTS, not microvolts, if nothing else the internally generated noise cannot be buried in signal as it is in true CATV applications. Because they amplify "DC to light" like any wide band amp overload and intermod from both in band and out of band signals is a common problem unless you live out in nowhere land with no transmitters around for miles.

Gee, I wish Rat Shack and others wouldn't mislead you with inappropriate terms, you can't buy a CATV amp over the counter being that ordinarily they're only sold to cable TV companies by specialized wholesale distributors. Don't nit pick now, I had a special order CATV diplexer made up by a manufacturer in Canada so they DO sell one unit lots to individuals but you have to know where and how to order them. The word was "ordinarily", people have misread me before.

Last but not least, if you want the REALLY GOOD stuff you MUST do your own research and know what you're looking for. Like I said in so many words, you won't find it at Rat Shack, Grove or any other distributor catering to the casual hobbyist.