Solarcon A99
- Thread starter Rt169Radio
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It performs ok on the frequency it's tuned to and degrades when you go away from that frequency. Its not a broad band antenna and if tuned for CB will give lousy performance in parts of the VHF lo band.
Sure if you scan the 30 to 50MHz range you will pick up something but it can be 10 or 20dB lower in level than an antenna made for a specific lo band freq or compared to some of the broad band mil antennas rated for 30-76 or 30-90MHz.
prcguy
Sure if you scan the 30 to 50MHz range you will pick up something but it can be 10 or 20dB lower in level than an antenna made for a specific lo band freq or compared to some of the broad band mil antennas rated for 30-76 or 30-90MHz.
prcguy
Makes perfect sense that it would great anywhere from 27 -50mhz.
If you like vhf low band, that would be a winner!
73,
n9zas
Well you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I've used old cb antennas to scan 30-50 mhz. since 1974 and they work quite well at that range to receive with, obviously transmitting would be another story! Old shakespeare, hustler, and hy gain cb antennas work great and solarcon isn't any different than what I've used.
73,
n9zas
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Its not an opinion, its a result of research. I've tested quite a few VHF lo band antennas across the entire 30-50MHz frequency range on the same mounting structure and feedline using a spectrum analyzer to record levels to a tenth of a dB. There can easily be 10-20dB drop in receive levels using narrow band antennas out of range. There are also some neat military antennas that are not quite as good as an A99 on CB but are much better with consistent performance over the entire VHF lo band range.
How did you measure differences between your antennas?
prcguy
How did you measure differences between your antennas?
prcguy
Well you're certainly entitled to your opinion, but I've used old cb antennas to scan 30-50 mhz. since 1974 and they work quite well at that range to receive with, obviously transmitting would be another story! Old shakespeare, hustler, and hy gain cb antennas work great and solarcon isn't any different than what I've used.
73,
n9zas
Can that antenna be used just for listening to a wide range of frequencies? Sure. How well it 'hears' is going to be variable to a very large degree. Too many variables to predict how 'well' it would do on any particular frequency range. Try it and see. Would I rush out and buy one for just listening with a scanner? No, I'm too cheap. I'd try a length of plain wire first...
- 'Doc
- 'Doc
Could you actually use plain wire for scanning?
N1BHH
Member
Opinions and actual results of experimentation are two different things in many cases. You can use most any antenna for scanner listening and there will be degradation over a large range of frequencies, such as 33 to 800 Megahertz. There will be somewhat of a difference in the received signal between a purpose built antenna versus a 'single band" antenna.
My experience with antennas goes back to my beginning days of listening to radio, that goes back to the 1960's in my early youth. I have used all kinds of antennas and discovered some do remarkably well as scanner antennas despite the design frequency. I once used a rooftop mounted CB half wave ground plane hooked to a scanner and it really worked well for Low Band and pretty good for VHF. In those early days there weren't many using UHF, but it was in it's infancy and I experimented with quarter wave ground plane antennas on UHF and they did well on UHF but obviously they did very poor on VHF.
A compromise antenna is what you have when you use the CB antenna, when attempting to listen to something at UHF ranges, but it will work, just not as well as a purpose built antenna. Go ahead and use that antenna and figure out for yourself what it will hear, you may be pleasantly surprised at how it performs for you.
My experience with antennas goes back to my beginning days of listening to radio, that goes back to the 1960's in my early youth. I have used all kinds of antennas and discovered some do remarkably well as scanner antennas despite the design frequency. I once used a rooftop mounted CB half wave ground plane hooked to a scanner and it really worked well for Low Band and pretty good for VHF. In those early days there weren't many using UHF, but it was in it's infancy and I experimented with quarter wave ground plane antennas on UHF and they did well on UHF but obviously they did very poor on VHF.
A compromise antenna is what you have when you use the CB antenna, when attempting to listen to something at UHF ranges, but it will work, just not as well as a purpose built antenna. Go ahead and use that antenna and figure out for yourself what it will hear, you may be pleasantly surprised at how it performs for you.
Thanks to all for the info.
Can you use just plain old wire as a scanner antenna? Sure. Results will vary, that means that it can range from just 'fabulous' to totally worthless. Receiving antennas just aren't that exacting. Or rather, receivers just aren't that 'picky' about antennas, not like transmitters are. Scanners typically deal with VHF/UHF ranges rather than HF ranges. Those two types of 'ranges' have different characteristics for antennas. HF signals are typically found 'everywhere'. VHF/UHF signals have 'dark spots' where they just won't normally be found. They can be 'hidden' by things getting in the way. One of the characteristics for VHF/UHF antenna requirements is height. The higher the better to some absolutely ridiculous extent. That means that the antenna would do better at the top of a tall tree than laying on the ground. (Howz that for an exaggeration? Not as silly as it sounds.)
Just for grins, try it, see what happens.
- 'Doc
Just for grins, try it, see what happens.
- 'Doc
I have similar experiences to N1BHH dating back to about the same time and agree with his statements. However, some people are touting CB antennas as good VHF lo band scanner antennas without pointing out at some frequencies you may not hear much due to electrical limitations. In those cases you don't know what you are missing because unless you've mapped out the antennas deficiencies you just don't know.
I like to know so I test in a makeshift antenna range type environment, experiment, post results and personally avoid recommending something without actually knowing all the facts about an antenna.
From that testing I've found without exception, all VHF lo (and CB) antennas designed for and tuned to a specific frequency really suck at some important frequency ranges across the 30-50MHz band and I would not recommend them for serious VHF lo scanning. If you already have a CB antenna and it picks up your local thing of interest, great, but it also might be a wet noodle where you need it most.
If you want to play VHF lo band in a serious way I would recommend a mil surplus OE-254 Bicone or its replacement, the current issue Cobham COM201B. I see the main component of the OE-254 (the center hub) on Ebay all the time for very reasonable prices and you can assemble a rockin hot VHF lo band antenna from this and also have a pretty good transmitting antenna for CB, 10m and 6m.
The COM201Bs are very scarce and expensive even surplus but are very portable and work great. The OE-254 is a little better on CB and 10m but otherwise the COM201B is very good in a fairly small package. End of my VHF lo band rant ._,_,_
prcguy
I like to know so I test in a makeshift antenna range type environment, experiment, post results and personally avoid recommending something without actually knowing all the facts about an antenna.
From that testing I've found without exception, all VHF lo (and CB) antennas designed for and tuned to a specific frequency really suck at some important frequency ranges across the 30-50MHz band and I would not recommend them for serious VHF lo scanning. If you already have a CB antenna and it picks up your local thing of interest, great, but it also might be a wet noodle where you need it most.
If you want to play VHF lo band in a serious way I would recommend a mil surplus OE-254 Bicone or its replacement, the current issue Cobham COM201B. I see the main component of the OE-254 (the center hub) on Ebay all the time for very reasonable prices and you can assemble a rockin hot VHF lo band antenna from this and also have a pretty good transmitting antenna for CB, 10m and 6m.
The COM201Bs are very scarce and expensive even surplus but are very portable and work great. The OE-254 is a little better on CB and 10m but otherwise the COM201B is very good in a fairly small package. End of my VHF lo band rant ._,_,_
prcguy
pjtnascar
Member
I used one of those on and off for years with my scanner. If you already have one, give it a try. I found it works better than a rubber duck.
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