Pro-97 loose rubber duck antenna! Need help!

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scannerman200

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I have a rubber ducky antenna on my Pro-97 & the antenna is very wobbly, but the bnc connector is not loose. I tried another rubber ducky & had the same issue. any suggestions?
 

ranger821

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Make sure the connector on the scanner is not loss. I have a couple of ham radio HT's that I have to tighten up the connector on from changing antennas so much. There is NORMALLY a small slip ring that you have to tighten right at the base of the connector.

The Old Ranger
 

SCPD

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I have a rubber ducky antenna on my Pro-97 & the antenna is very wobbly, but the bnc connector is not loose. I tried another rubber ducky & had the same issue. any suggestions?

I also have a PRO-97 with the same "problem." But it's not really a problem, it's just the design of the BNC connector. It's designed with a little give so you can take the antenna off more easily. The fact that you put on another antenna and had the same result is proof of this basic design flaw.

Several years ago I ruined a Uniden Sportcat handheld that had the same wobbly BNC issue. I tightened the O ring so tight that I cracked the casing. Now I know better. As much as I hate this wobble, there's nothing that can be done about it.

Oh for the days of the old Realistic 4-channel pocket scanners with the screw-in rubber duck.

Dave
KA6TJF
 

DonS

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I had the same problem with my PRO-92 and PRO-93. My solution was to put a thin rubber O-ring on the BNC before attaching the antenna. Thick enough to eliminate wobble, but not so thick that I had to work "more than should be normal" to attach the antenna.
 

SCPD

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I had the same problem with my PRO-92 and PRO-93. My solution was to put a thin rubber O-ring on the BNC before attaching the antenna. Thick enough to eliminate wobble, but not so thick that I had to work "more than should be normal" to attach the antenna.

Great solution. Where did you find the O ring, a hardware shop, an electronics store?

Dave
KA6TJF
 

DonS

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Great solution. Where did you find the O ring, a hardware shop, an electronics store?
IIRC, I bought a little (20 pcs?) assortment in a blister pack at RadioShack.

EDIT: I didn't come up with the idea myself. I read about it elsewhere (on StrongSignals, I think, or maybe some place called 'trunkedradio.net').
 
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