scanner antennae amplifier

[irishman75]

Does anyone if know if one exists and if so how to get it. I'm using a bc296d handheld. where I'm at (Glen Burnie) it's hard to hear baltimore city. Anyhelp would be greatly appreciated. Even if it means rigging some kind of antennae to the roof or some ****. Thanks

leftydrummer@comcast.net

 

[ka3jjz]

Certainly a better antenna (and coax, if it's a base model) will do the job. Putting an amp on a handheld is simply asking for trouble; in our area, it might just cause you to hear more junk (such as pagers, ect.) or actually cause you to lose sensitivity due to overloading (desense).

What kind of antenna? Base, mobile, handheld? Our scanner antennas wiki has lots of information on this subject.

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Scanner_Antennas

73s Mike

 

[irishman75]

scanner ant.

it's a handheld radio with the factory issued ant. BC296d. Any help would be great, thanks

 

[ChuckWal]

I live in Brooklyn Park and have no problem with Baltimore City on my 396. I as using the 800mhz antenna.

 

[ka3jjz]

If it's a handheld model you're looking for - you didn't answer the question above - RS sells a 800 Mhz duckie - it's a rather inexpensive one, as I recall - that a lot of people seem to really like. It also seems to work reasonably (tho not quite as well) at VHF hi and UHF. I've got to put that one on the Wiki, it's a very popular model. 73s Mike

 

[Gary335]

If it's a handheld model you're looking for - you didn't answer the question above - RS sells a 800 Mhz duckie - it's a rather inexpensive one, as I recall - that a lot of people seem to really like. It also seems to work reasonably (tho not quite as well) at VHF hi and UHF. I've got to put that one on the Wiki, it's a very popular model. 73s Mike

I use the RS 800mhz duckie, and I have to say that I'm pretty satisfied with it. As for cost, yeah it was cheap. When I bought it, it cost $14.99.

 

[marylandterpan]

Try A Discone Antenna, They Have No Name Ones For 40 Or So Dollars At Hamfests, 20 More Than A 800 Mghz Duckie, Is Loads Better Than A Rubber Duckie. I Have The Diamond Discone Which Is Very Good For Reception($120.00) On A Roof Top I Guarantee You Will Hear Very Distant Staions With That Setup.

 

[Gary335]

Try A Discone Antenna, They Have No Name Ones For 40 Or So Dollars At Hamfests, 20 More Than A 800 Mghz Duckie, Is Loads Better Than A Rubber Duckie. I Have The Diamond Discone Which Is Very Good For Reception($120.00) On A Roof Top I Guarantee You Will Hear Very Distant Staions With That Setup.

You shouldn't have to go through all that trouble and spend all that money to hear Baltimore City from AA county. The 800mhz duckie should be good enough. RS also sells a center-loaded telescoping whip antenna for the same price. It doesn't do as well on the 800mhz freqs as the 800mhz antenna does, but since Baltimore City is in the 400mhz band (if I remember correctly) it might do better than the 800mhz would on those freqs.

 

[ka3jjz]

Time to update your knowledge base, there Gary335. The City left 400 mhz many moons ago; they are exclusively now on 800, with some relays of their fire/ems calls on the old 150 mhz system. Other services are now using many of those old frequencies. 73s Mike

[edit] One other thing that should be mentioned - in parts of Glen Burnie - near Empire Towers, and closer to downtown - there are several paging and taxi transmit sites that would cause most any radio to desense. If you are close to that area, I'd think twice before putting up a big outside antenna.

 

[Gary335]

Time to update your knowledge base, there Gary335. The City left 400 mhz many moons ago; they are exclusively now on 800, with some relays of their fire/ems calls on the old 150 mhz system. Other services are now using many of those old frequencies. 73s Mike

Doh!