RH3 STUBBY BULLET ANTENNA

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boricuapatrol

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Good day,i have a pro106 digital scanner,i seen a rh3 144/430/1200mhz&120/150/300/450/800/900 mhz stubby bullet antenna on sale,i was wondering if that would be a good antenna for my 106,or is it to short,or should i get the radio shack version of the 800/900 mhz upgrade antenna.
 

lep

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I use the Diamond RH3 short antenna on my Uniden 396 (I do not have any RS scanners) and it works fine for picking up my local 700 MHz P-25 system. Of course I am only 5 miles from the site but it is full quieting. According to Diamond (the manufacturer) it has a -2 db gain, that is, a negative gain compared to the reference, the RS 800 MHz antenna which is very popular with users on these forums actually has a Zero gain despite the false labeling by RS.
 

IowaGuy1603

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How would this work on a psr800? Multiple P25 systems and some conventional in Cleveland area. Currently use RS800.

The answer is -----who knows for sure unless you have tried it in your area.

I live in an area where I get great reception on multiple p25 systems mixed with conventional systems in 155, 460, 700, 800 & 900 mhz with almost anything I connect to the PSR800.

I have used ham radio dual band duckys, my 2mt/70 cm collinear base antenna, the Radio Shack 800 duck, a radio shack base scanner antenna, and the stock antenna that came with the scanner and found little to no difference in reception.

I guess it all depends on how picky you are...............................a friend of mine has to use a paperclip to get his Uniden to pick up one particular P25 simulcast system.............anything else has too much going in the front end
 

KC8ESL

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Steve, my opinion of our area is: less is more. Less simulcast disruption if you can only hear one single tower. The way the marcs-ip and cleve p25 systems are here, you should have no problems.

MARCS might be another story...
 

Steveofcleve

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I appreciate the input. There are not many talkgroups in the MARCS system that I follow. Outside of the P25 systems in the Cleveland area there are a number of conventional freqs in Cuyahoga County. Where might I buy the RH3 Stubby?
 

lep

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I bought mine in person from the HamStation of Indiana. Of course it was in person at a "show" [Hamfest] where they had a booth and no shipping (I just put it in my pocket) and those were the good old days when no one bothered to charge sales tax either. Most amateur radio mail order dealers list it in their catalog or online. Of course that does usually mean, shipping plus tax which seems a bother for such a small item. I don't think RS carries it. RF parts which I believe is the official importer of Diamond products carries it on their web site.
 

questnz

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I must agree with KC8ESL, like most stubby antennas RH3 is next to useless. I have Diamond, Watson and Optoelectronic stubby antennas in the past and they only have any marginal use in close environment eg shopping malls for discrete monitoring. My pick would be Watson WSMA 801 and RS 800 due to short length. Don't buy it.
 

KC8ESL

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Actually questnz, my thoughts are that as a ham radio antenna, a dummy load would resonate better but as a scanner antenna with several simulcast systems in the immediate vicinity, it would seem to be an lsm distortion cure. The only better option I've seen/heard is the paperclip antenna. Low gain or lossy antennae are the poor man's cure. Isolate to one tower without needing a yagi (overkill).
 

questnz

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Absolutely, not sure for Ham, as he like to use stubby with Pro 106 scanner there are better options with better results. I am looking from scanning point of view. Obviously it will work but other two antennas I referred to will work much better.
 

KC8ESL

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Questnz, you're missing the point of this thread. The object is to attenuate incoming signals as much as possible. The crappier antenna the better off the scanner user will be.

Northeast Ohio is a very bad spot for simulcast distortion. People can mention cqpsk demod methods in comparison to how uniden and gre went wrong in their scanner designs and all sorts of other fancy terms but the reality no one wants to face or hear is that degrading the incoming signal into your scanner (in an rf rich environment) is a quick fix to a seemingly major problem. I don't see it as big an issue as everyone makes it out to be.

Everyone seems to think a diamond rh77ca(I think??) Is the answer. For single site systems or rural areas, it is a great antenna. I own one and use it on my 2m 70cm ht and for when I want to scan I pop it on my 396xt or pro96 and am very happy. The second I scan a simulcast system and can rx 2 or 3 towers things go foul quickly and all I hear is a garbled disaster.

I fear we are focusing too hard on a specific geographic area for where this thread is located.
 

lep

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As a radio engineer by profession and a senior member of IEEE, I already stated this antenna has a gain of about -2 db, that is a negative gain. So what? It maybe exactly what the OP needs for his application.

The RS rubber duck comes with a claimed gain which is an outright lie but it has more gain than the RH but that is not what is needed in this case seemingly.
 
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