"Slinky Antenna"

[KSJ745]

Anybody using one of these for scanner listening? They also have a few other styles. Are they worth it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/30-J-POLE-SCANN...4367175QQihZ017QQcategoryZ14956QQcmdZViewItem

 

[ke5ldo]

Not for scanner listening, but I use a homemade Slinky dipole for HF indoors. works well with a preselector. never had any luck on frequenies above 28 MHZ. My antenna has been in use since 1987.

 

[SAR923]

Unless you've given the wrong link, it's a 30" j-pole, not a slinky. It just happens to be made by the same guys who make the slinky HF antennas. It will work better than the standard rubber duck but not as well as an outdoor antenna up somewhere around 20 feet above ground. If you have no choice about mounting an outdoor antenna, the j-pole is a good choice up to about 500 MHz but it won't perform miracles. In particular, it won't do well at all at 800 MHz. An RS 800 MHz rubber duck beat this antenna on 800 when my friend had both antennas.

 

[kc9neq]

i have the antenna in the picture, its called a stealth. i used it to monitor 155 mhz and 160-161 mhz range and some air freq. i bought it off ebay last year around october. it worked pretty good over the stock antenna of a rs pro 95. i stuck it out a window and it worked better. when inside, i received some interference from a dsl modem. i loaned it to my brother and he has even better reception than i. i would purchase another one if necessary. i would like to see one designed for outside use.

 

[KSJ745]

Thanks to everyone who responded. I'm still undecided on their J Pole antenna. The seller has almost 100% positive feedback so who knows.

I'm in a condo so anything other than the rubber ducks on my handheld's and back of set antenna's on the base radio's might be better.

 

[ka3jjz]

If you are in an upper floor and have access to the attic, put something up there. I have a ScanTenna clone and it works just fine in my attic although it would work a heckuva lot better if it were outside 73s Mike

 

[KSJ745]

No such luck. I'm in a ground floor unit. I have tried a mag mount on a cookie sheet on top of a tall curio cabinet with minimal improvement. I've also attached the mag mount (upside down) on the ceiling's HVAC vent. That wasn't much better. Also have tried a GRE pre-amp that was good at pulling in the noise and junk LOL.

Maybe I'll just cough up the $25 for one and see what happens.