SDS 100 antenna advice

[rgchristy]

Thanks for the suggestion. I forgot to mention that this antenna will primarily be used for when I'm outside of my home (fire scene, accident, etc.) I purchased a Diamond HC-200B for the purpose of cutting it down.



HC200B: 350 to 520MHz with Cutting Chart
Length:0.19m / Weight:45g
Gain:2.15dBi / Max.power rating:10W / Impedance:50ohms
VSWR:Less than 1.5:1 / Connector:BNCP / Type: 1/4λ,120/150/300/450/800/900MHz receiving only

I have an AEA 140-525 Analyst, so I guess that I should get off my butt and start hacking. At home, I have external antennas.

For general UHF/T, I normally use the RH77CA. If you want to focus specifically on 500-512MHz, I'd pull the cap off the tip, trim as needed, then glue the cap back on.

I use BNC antennas exclusively, and have adapters semi-permanently attached to all my scanners with SMA connectors. It reduces the number of antennas I need to keep in stock, and exponentially reduces wear on the SMA connectors, which are not designed to handle as many connection cycles as BNC.

 

[rgchristy]

I thought that I was the only nut with the ziplock bag, actually bags, full of antennas. You can never have too many antennas. I use the Watson w801. It works well, but it seems that us listeners are always in a never-ending quest for better reception.

It's tough in portable application to find an antenna that stands out over another. There are quite a bit of selections. In addition to reception you're also thinking about portability, length, weight.

Check out Scanner Master they have a wide array of portable scanner antennas. Very difficult to recommend one that is superior on UHF only. Over many years I've tried them all and I have a huge Ziploc bag full of antennas. Some of them don't even come close to meeting their claims and others are slightly better. The Watson offerings w801 and the longer w882 are good antennas. Good reception but I can't say they stand out better than others.

I see the Austin Condor is still for sale. Can't say when I bought mine but it was when my County was still on 46 megahertz for fire service oh, I know it's been decades and I know that we didn't listen to much 800 megahertz then. It was good for VHF low-band and high band. Now I see it claims to be superior in 800 megahertz simulcast, as I say it was a great antenna but one thing I find is it's pretty deaf on 7 - 800 megahertz. It's a very long thick heavy floppy rubber duck to carry around.

If you are unable to put a rooftop on your house then if you want to use your TRX and 436 at home you can always get a tri-band ground plane or small discone, mount it on a broom handle and Gorilla tape it to a floor lamp, hat rack or tripod and use some good low loss coax 10 15 20 feet and that will allow you to move it around and twist it for the best reception possible.

I just saw Jon's post, that sounds like a good idea. Perhaps he would post a picture of his antenna tripod setup.

 

[trentbob]

Haha, I started as a prepubescent LOL and I'm retired on a pension and Social Security Now. Over the years I probably misplaced more antennas than I have now. Back when all the radio stores we're open in the 70s and 80s it was a trap. You would go in on a Saturday and you would always come out with something and it was usually some portable antenna of some type or a couple of crystals of infrequently used frequencies but you bought them... Because they had them LOL.

We also collected antennas from different radios that we bought, especially with all the different brands and the professional stuff that used BNC. I've got antennas from when Bearcat was made by Electra Company in Cumberland Indiana before Uniden bought them in the early 80s.

I'm amazed over the years how many rubber ducks literally disintegrated and crumbled in the bags. The bags do get tossed around from box to box or even in the headboard for a number of years but some antennas just last longer than others.

From the antenna you've chosen, you know what you're doing.

 

[NoClue48]

You would go in on a Saturday and you would always come out with something and it was usually some portable antenna of some type or a couple of crystals of infrequently used frequencies but you bought them...

or, at the very least another free battery from RS...