Scantenna directivity

[OceanaRadio]

Hi again,

Here at the Jersey Shore we get violent thunderstorms in summer and are famous for our winter gales, no way in hell would I consider a Scantenna. If you're so concerned with wind damage why bother with something known not to survive and go with something that WILL?

The elements will blow off no matter which way the wind hits them and it gets worse when those vees vibrate like stop signs in a hurricane, the whole idea just blows.

The bottom line is the antenna is a piece of crap and there's no getting away from poor mechanical construction. Well, that is unless you mummify it. (;->)

Warren, I'm going to e-mail you a couple of current AIS screenshots of the scantenna's work from Virginia Beach, VA, right on the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay / Atlantic Ocean, where the wind is as challenging to antennas as any place. You decide from those screenshots if it looks like my scantenna is directional.

I'm still on my first of three scantennas ($9.95ea fm Radio Shack several years ago) and yes I have had to straighten it a bit once or twice. But it is a phenomenol performer, and has consistently equaled or exceeded every other antenna I have compared it to for years.

My only regret is it cannot be used for transmit. And yea, I wish it was a little stronger. But you won't see any storms in 'Jersey that I don't get in spades here, and you would be extremely pleased with it's performance.

Best regards,

Jack

 

[fuzzymoto]

Actually are we talking the same antenna here? I have the ST-2 which I believe is the sturdier Scantenna and NOT the original weaker Scantenna. Time will tell and as I said earlier I'm only a $39 buy it now away from a new one. I guess I also wasn't aware of any comparable model that worked equally well on the bands I listen to for a comparable price. Is there one? I agree on the eBay comments. This is the year 2006. eBay is a marketplace and as such there will be good and bad people. Don't define eBay by the bad people. I guess if you're willing to pay more for your antenna to deal with a phone and a real person then that's the price. For me I'd rather do the 10-second Buy It Now (no bidding) and have my antenna on the way in minutes not days. Either way it's certainly your choice.

 

[OceanaRadio]

Actually are we talking the same antenna here? I have the ST-2 which I believe is the sturdier Scantenna and NOT the original weaker Scantenna. Time will tell and as I said earlier I'm only a $39 buy it now away from a new one. I guess I also wasn't aware of any comparable model that worked equally well on the bands I listen to for a comparable price. Is there one? I agree on the eBay comments. This is the year 2006. eBay is a marketplace and as such there will be good and bad people. Don't define eBay by the bad people. I guess if you're willing to pay more for your antenna to deal with a phone and a real person then that's the price. For me I'd rather do the 10-second Buy It Now (no bidding) and have my antenna on the way in minutes not days. Either way it's certainly your choice.

FM, I have no way of knowing that, sorry. Since mine dates back 5 or more years to when Radio Shack was forced to discontinue them, I think Antenna Warehouse continued to produce them for others including a model under their own name. All I can add is that with the exception of 800mhz where it is a nominal performer, I think the Scantenna is the best all around omni-receive antenna ever made. If it has directionality, I have never noticed it mounted on a 10' steel mast on my second-story roof. I am currently getting surface contacts from multiple directions from over 100 NM and the ducting is evenly distributed due to to very windy conditions. You cannot ask for better than that from a 5+ years old antenna. And it has been through the worst most locations could subject it to.

Cheers,

Jack
Virginia Beach

 

[fuzzymoto]

I agree and mine has been great. I don't monitor much 800Mhz stuff and what I do listen to is VERY close so it's hard for me to say on 800Mhz.

It was my understanding that the ST-2 was the beefeier version of the original Scantenna. I guess we'll see.

 

[n9emz]

I'm 19-26 miles from the main stations I monitor. I recently moved my Scantenna from a 10' mast mounted on one of my chimneys to my tower....an increase of about 12' in height. Not noticing any directionality and am now grabbing the distant UHF mobile units I previously had problems hearing.

 

[sony]

I'm 19-26 miles from the main stations I monitor. I recently moved my Scantenna from a 10' mast mounted on one of my chimneys to my tower....an increase of about 12' in height. Not noticing any directionality and am now grabbing the distant UHF mobile units I previously had problems hearing.

I lowered my antenna 10 ft from a 20 ft. mast can't really tell any difference yet in reception just that with the 10 ft. mast on the chimney mount I don't need any guy wires like I did before 2 levels of them.

 

[n9emz]

I lowered my antenna 10 ft from a 20 ft. mast can't really tell any difference yet in reception just that with the 10 ft. mast on the chimney mount I don't need any guy wires like I did before 2 levels of them.

My antenna was previously buried in the middle of a huge sugar maple and I'm assuming the relocation improved the reception. Also, the antenna was previously ungrounded. The tower has three 6' ground rods lugged together in the soil beneath the tower pad.

There is one problem....occasional intermod on 46.420 ISP statewide channel. I guess I'm catching several stations simultaneously when this happens. Hard to tell....I might realize even more improvement if I replaced the BC178XLT with a more current unit.

 

[sony]

My antenna was previously buried in the middle of a huge sugar maple and I'm assuming the relocation improved the reception. Also, the antenna was previously ungrounded. The tower has three 6' ground rods lugged together in the soil beneath the tower pad.

There is one problem....occasional intermod on 46.420 ISP statewide channel. I guess I'm catching several stations simultaneously when this happens. Hard to tell....I might realize even more improvement if I replaced the BC178XLT with a more current unit.

How much of a difference does grounding effect your reception?

 

[n9emz]

How much of a difference does grounding effect your reception?

I haven't really noticed any significant difference regarding scanner reception, but grounding sure helped cut down noise in my HF gear. It also eliminated static buildup and occasional arcing in one of my transmitters.

 

[sony]

I haven't really noticed any significant difference regarding scanner reception, but grounding sure helped cut down noise in my HF gear. It also eliminated static buildup and occasional arcing in one of my transmitters.

What is the best/easiest way to ground the antenna if it is 10 feet high above the roof and another 10 to 15 feet to the ground so anywhere from 20 to 25 feet + above the ground surface?

 

[n9emz]

Sorry....I'm not getting here often enough as I'm spread pretty thin on time. I honestly don't know the best way. I've always used 00 stranded copper wire from the base of my roof-mounted mast to a standard 6' copperclad ground rod driven into the ground. I also run minimum 4-ga solid copper wire from my equipment chasis to a bus bar which is also connected to the ground rod using 00 stranded copper wire.

In this instance, after digging the hole for my concrete tower pad, I drove three ground rods into the bottom of the hole, lugged them together with 00 stranded copper wire, and lugged that mess to one leg of the tilt up base. All my equipment grounds are bussed and connected to one leg of the tower base.

In the last ten years I've taken direct lightning strikes to two huge sugar maple trees; one within 25' of my antenna system, and the other about 75' away. No equipment was harmed. Considering that the tip of my vertical antenna is higher than the trees, I figure I must have done something right.

Time for someone else who really knows this stuff to comment.

 

[sony]

Sorry....I'm not getting here often enough as I'm spread pretty thin on time. I honestly don't know the best way. I've always used 00 stranded copper wire from the base of my roof-mounted mast to a standard 6' copperclad ground rod driven into the ground. I also run minimum 4-ga solid copper wire from my equipment chasis to a bus bar which is also connected to the ground rod using 00 stranded copper wire.

In this instance, after digging the hole for my concrete tower pad, I drove three ground rods into the bottom of the hole, lugged them together with 00 stranded copper wire, and lugged that mess to one leg of the tilt up base. All my equipment grounds are bussed and connected to one leg of the tower base.

In the last ten years I've taken direct lightning strikes to two huge sugar maple trees; one within 25' of my antenna system, and the other about 75' away. No equipment was harmed. Considering that the tip of my vertical antenna is higher than the trees, I figure I must have done something right.

Do you have any pics of this? It would seem to be that we are looking at least 20 ft. of cooper wire or aluminium wire wrapped around antenna mast (Which part?) to ground spike.

 

[sony]

What are those 2 wires leading to ground for?

I'm 19-26 miles from the main stations I monitor. I recently moved my Scantenna from a 10' mast mounted on one of my chimneys to my tower....an increase of about 12' in height. Not noticing any directionality and am now grabbing the distant UHF mobile units I previously had problems hearing.

Are these the grounding wires?

 

[n9emz]

Are these the grounding wires?

No, those are the feed lines. If it ever quits raining I'll break out the camera.

In the meantime, you can poke around this site for hardware reference:

Grounding Equipment Solutions

Another link that might be helpful: Types of Grounds, Etc.

 

[sony]

No, those are the feed lines. If it ever quits raining I'll break out the camera.

In the meantime, you can poke around this site for hardware reference:

Grounding Equipment Solutions

Thanks!

 

[OceanaRadio]

Another link that might be helpful: Types of Grounds, Etc.

That so-called "Tech Bench Elmer" is among the most clueless of the Amateur community, which taken as a whole, are a danger to themselves and others on the subject of grounding and lightning protection.

It is hard to finish a single paragraph on the entire page that doesn't exhibit a complete lack of understanding of the subject matter. It is basically a collection of dumbest wives-tales on grounding and lightning protection. They have become Ham-tales over the years as they are repeated enough times.

Jack

 

[sony]

That so-called "Tech Bench Elmer" is among the most clueless of the Amateur community, which taken as a whole, are a danger to themselves and others on the subject of grounding and lightning protection.

It is hard to finish a single paragraph on the entire page that doesn't exhibit a complete lack of understanding of the subject matter. It is basically a collection of dumbest wives-tales on grounding and lightning protection. They have become Ham-tales over the years as they are repeated enough times.

Jack

??? ROFLAO.

 

[n9emz]

That so-called "Tech Bench Elmer" is among the most clueless of the Amateur community, which taken as a whole, are a danger to themselves and others on the subject of grounding and lightning protection.

It is hard to finish a single paragraph on the entire page that doesn't exhibit a complete lack of understanding of the subject matter. It is basically a collection of dumbest wives-tales on grounding and lightning protection. They have become Ham-tales over the years as they are repeated enough times.

Jack

I'd appreciate it if you'd be more specific. I'm always open to newer, better, and especially safer ways of doing things.

Thanks and regards,

Sam

 

[OceanaRadio]

Sam, I shouldn't make statements I don't have the time to qualify. You are welcome to examine my findings on the subject at the website below, and make your own conclusions about the safest way to provide lightning protection for your station. This is off-topic for the scantenna thread so if you have any further questions you may write me off-line, or please start a new thread.

See: http://members.cox.net/oceanaradio/grounding.htm

Rgds,

Jack