Scanner Antenna

[KevinTheMule]

What would you guys reccomend as a Scanner antenna for primarily VHF-HI (150-174)and 800 public safety bands? I live in a condo so if I can get something small I can put on the balcony or even inside the attic that'd be best. I live on the second (top) floor. Just looking to upgrade the antenna that came with my Uniden BCT15 which is a BNC connection.

By what you've described, the $25 buck Radio Shack sputnik will work great.

I have mine on the uppermost gable of my ranch style house...maybe 25' up. with a run of quad shielded (philips) RG6. As others have described, the Sputnik isn't stellar on 800MHz, but in my case (relatively flat terrain, not dissimilar to the Jersey Shore) I can pick up 4 counties worth of 800MHz with very little noise...~25 miles. On the 150~174 it really shines. I pick up my home county's old-school 150 MHz system like it's next door, and it is now 50 miles as the bird flies (or maybe even a touch more).

For 45 bucks, you can't go wrong with the Sputnik and 25' of quad shield RG6 from Wal Mart...

Best of Luck

-Kev