scanner antennae amplifier

Status
Not open for further replies.

irishman75

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
45
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

Wiki Admin Emeritus
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
25,362
Location
Bowie, Md.
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

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 10, 2004
Messages
45
scanner ant.

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

ka3jjz

Wiki Admin Emeritus
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
25,362
Location
Bowie, Md.
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

Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2004
Messages
134
Location
Dundalk
ka3jjz said:
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.
 
Joined
Sep 8, 2006
Messages
46
Location
Md
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

Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2004
Messages
134
Location
Dundalk
marylandterpan said:
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

Wiki Admin Emeritus
Joined
Jul 22, 2002
Messages
25,362
Location
Bowie, Md.
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.
 
Last edited:

Gary335

Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2004
Messages
134
Location
Dundalk
ka3jjz said:
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! :D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top