C-Man
Member
i am placing a scanner in my house now and i was wondering if i should take the time to put a massive one on my roof or if a good ol' 30 inch or so will do the trick?
sizE?
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n4yek
Member
Man that's a big scanner, 30 inches in size. I believe I would put a massive scanner on the roof. :lol:
Sorry, had to do it. You need to explain the question a little better.
Sorry, had to do it. You need to explain the question a little better.
I thought the scanner goes in the house and the antenna goes on the roof?
Eric
Eric
k9rzz
Member
Life is too short for stock whip antennas.
n5usr
Member
On a more serious note...
It all depends on what you want to listen to. If all you are after is your local community's public safety frequencies, and they all use decent repeater systems, you would be just fine with the stock whip on the radio. (I live so close to my city's PD/FD repeaters I can listen with NO antenna.)
If you want to listen to more distant or weak signals, you may need something better. But size isn't the only - for that matter, at VHF and up frequencies, even the most important factor. More significant in that range is height above ground. A simple discone can receive better than a high-gain antenna, if it's sufficiently higher than the high-gain one.
The simple/cheap solution would be to try the indoor antenna first, then if you don't hear what you want to try something outside.
It all depends on what you want to listen to. If all you are after is your local community's public safety frequencies, and they all use decent repeater systems, you would be just fine with the stock whip on the radio. (I live so close to my city's PD/FD repeaters I can listen with NO antenna.)
If you want to listen to more distant or weak signals, you may need something better. But size isn't the only - for that matter, at VHF and up frequencies, even the most important factor. More significant in that range is height above ground. A simple discone can receive better than a high-gain antenna, if it's sufficiently higher than the high-gain one.
The simple/cheap solution would be to try the indoor antenna first, then if you don't hear what you want to try something outside.
N1BHH
Member
A 30 inch scanner ? On the roof? That's gonna get wet, that's expensive equipment. In all seriousness, keep it simple. A decent scanner antenna outdoors, up on the roof on a mast mounted sturdily to a chimney or vent pipe will do excellent. A quarter wave ground plane is simple and easy to put up, and will let you hear VHF, UHF and 800 without much trouble. There are many antennas on the market, just do a web search after you check the wiki: http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Scanner_Antennas
In all seriousness, keep it simple. A decent scanner antenna outdoors, up on the roof on a mast mounted sturdily to a chimney or vent pipe will do excellent. A quarter wave ground plane is simple and easy to put up, and will let you hear VHF, UHF and 800 without much trouble. There are many antennas on the market, just do a web search after you check the wiki: http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Scanner_Antennas- Status
