What frequency range does the stock antenna that comes with the TRX-1 scanner receive the best. I know it is supposed to work on all bands but was curious as to which ones were at the top of the list. Thanks
Without doing any scientific tests on the stock antenna, it seems to work best on the UHF band in the 440-500MHz range. It works just OK on VHF 118-174MHz, and the 800MHz band.
All of the stock rubber ducks are just so-so at best. They're too much of a compromise so that they can get wide-band coverage. I played around with the one that came with my TRX-1 for a little while and saw the same thing you are seeing, then replaced it with one of the RS800 ducks I scored when they were in the process of folding up.
Any antenna of that type is a compromise even if it is designed for only one frequency range. If you take a ham HT and connect it to a decent base antenna, it does far better even with the cable loss on the 4 or 5 watts the radio puts out. Part is due to antenna height, and part to the gain of a base antenna. This frs radio from Radio Shack RadioShack 14-Channel FRS Transceiver 2-Way Radio Model 21-1850 Mobile/Marine for sale online was far more efficient than any handheld FRS could ever hope to be. Even though it ran on 12 volts, the output was the same as a handheld, but with the transmitter and antenna directly connected and car roof for a ground plane it was actually useful.