Spider Antenna & Coverage

[orbital]

I was thinking about getting a Spider SP800 outdoor antenna and was wondering if anyone has good or bad things to say about this antenna. I am running a Uniden BC246T and would like to take the factory rubber duck antenna off and use this. Would I get better reception with this idea..... Thanks

Spider SP800

 

[ka3jjz]

Possibly, up to a point - given that you use good quality coax and the right connectors.

A very real possibility is that it might overload the 246 - you see, handhelds aren't really designed to handle the large amounts of signal an outdoor antenna like this might provide, particularly if you live in an urban area. 2 common problems may occur - you may start hearing pagers, TV signals and other junk, or actually hear somewhat less than what you are hearing now.

73s Mike

 

[LarrySC]

Appears to have an SO-239 connector for a PL-259 plug. If so, not rated above UHF. Would require a PL to "F" adp so you could run RG-6 coax. This would be rated to 900 mHz. 5 elements rec and 5 ground or 10 elements rec?????? I cant tell. I built one simular for aircraft and mil-air. Mine works OK for that. All antennas/scanners/coax/connectors is a test. Sometimes it works, sometime it dont. Good Luck anyway.

 

[prcguy]

If you say a PL-259 is not rated above UHF (not necessarily true), then why would a PL-259 to F adaptor be any better?
prcguy

Appears to have an SO-239 connector for a PL-259 plug. If so, not rated above UHF. Would require a PL to "F" adp so you could run RG-6 coax. This would be rated to 900 mHz. 5 elements rec and 5 ground or 10 elements rec?????? I cant tell. I built one simular for aircraft and mil-air. Mine works OK for that. All antennas/scanners/coax/connectors is a test. Sometimes it works, sometime it dont. Good Luck anyway.

 

[amen]

Have one hooked up as a inside ant. works real well for me . I use it when theres storms out and don't want to hook up to the out side ant. in fear of getting zapped.

 

[OpSec]

If you say a PL-259 is not rated above UHF (not necessarily true), then why would a PL-259 to F adaptor be any better?
prcguy

I wondered the same...the whole setup is only as good as the weakest element, in this case the PL259 connector. Using an F adaptor doesn't make the shortcomings of the UHF connector go away.