joeschmuckatelli
Member
So I bought my father a Whistler scanner WS1095 and he really likes to listen to the Aircraft bands (brings him back to when he use to fly). I know the frequency range is 118 to 137MHz. The cheap telescoping antenna is of course crap.
The new antenna would need to be an indoor unit and it would be next to an exterior wall on the second floor of my house. In my current home I cannot mount an external antenna due to HOA restrictions but I know that would be ideal if I could mount it outside on the roof.
I'd like to either build or purchase an antenna. Building one is of course significantly cheaper and I looked into a J-Pole design using .5" copper tubing (pretty easy build) but I'm unsure if it would be good for the entire frequency range or what might be a better choice.
Additionally we are not close to the airports at all. I live in King George, Virginia and trying to get both DCA and RIC towers which are basically 50 miles away. Yea, I may be too far away but I'd like to hear some possible options. Dad is not a young man and I'd like to make him as happy as I can.
So my questions are:
Is a J-Pole antenna good? I'd build it for center channel of 124MHz since most of the key frequencies are in the lower section of the band (119.1 to 128.125 MHz).
Is there a better design antenna be it something I can build or purchase?
And if you think this is better asked in the Amateur antenna section, let me know and I'll post the question there.
P.S. I'll likely build the J-Pole antenna tomorrow since it's such an easy thing to do and shouldn't cost much at all, but I'd still like to hear opinions from the talented folks here.
Cheers!
-Joe
The new antenna would need to be an indoor unit and it would be next to an exterior wall on the second floor of my house. In my current home I cannot mount an external antenna due to HOA restrictions but I know that would be ideal if I could mount it outside on the roof.
I'd like to either build or purchase an antenna. Building one is of course significantly cheaper and I looked into a J-Pole design using .5" copper tubing (pretty easy build) but I'm unsure if it would be good for the entire frequency range or what might be a better choice.
Additionally we are not close to the airports at all. I live in King George, Virginia and trying to get both DCA and RIC towers which are basically 50 miles away. Yea, I may be too far away but I'd like to hear some possible options. Dad is not a young man and I'd like to make him as happy as I can.
So my questions are:
Is a J-Pole antenna good? I'd build it for center channel of 124MHz since most of the key frequencies are in the lower section of the band (119.1 to 128.125 MHz).
Is there a better design antenna be it something I can build or purchase?
And if you think this is better asked in the Amateur antenna section, let me know and I'll post the question there.
P.S. I'll likely build the J-Pole antenna tomorrow since it's such an easy thing to do and shouldn't cost much at all, but I'd still like to hear opinions from the talented folks here.
Cheers!
-Joe