Scanner RECEIVE only antennas

[4570forever]

I like to experiment with antennas to get the best reception I can on my scanners. analog and digital. I am not a technical person when it comes to the characteristics of antenna design. I've heard many explanations of what makes a good MULTIBAND RECIEVE antenna. The more "stuff', antenna surface area, you put in the air the better, you must match frequency with correct antenna length for the frequencies you want to receive, use a balun to match multiband antenna to receiver, entire system, antenna, cable, receiver must all match the frequencies. I am in an area where 150, 700, 800 are the primary frequencies for emergency services. I think the truth probably lies some where between the 2 extremes. Comments please.

 

[N9JIG]

Multiband scanner antennas usually take one of 2 different forms: the Discone or the multi-element model.


The Discone provides a wide frequency coverage but no gain, it is fairly flat over a wide frequency range. It also provides low SWR for transmitting purposes on the common VHF/UHF ham bands.


The multi-element antenna (such as the Austin Ferret, ST-2, ST-3 etc.) have elements cut for specific band segments like UHF, VHF and 800. They are sized for optimal performance on those bands.



Simpler antennas with single elements will usually provide decent local performance even on ranges they are not specifically cut for, so for most people they will tend to work fine, it is the weak and distant signals that these fall short on.

 

[UPMan]

The single biggest factor for receive is actually height of the antenna. A finely tuned VHF antenna at ground level will not, in general, receive VHF as well as an 800 MHz antenna 40 feet up. If the antenna can't "see" the signal, tuning isn't much of a factor.

 

[4570forever]

Thanks for the responses, they are greatly appreciated.