The best antenna for me is...

[k1mri]

On my new BCT15 I've tried 5 antennas. From the Diamond RH77CA, RS800, 2 meter HAM, 800Mhz 'cell phone' and the stock antenna that came with the radio.

The one that works the best, hands down is the Uniden stock antenna. THE RS800 came in a close 2nd. I monitor mostly the 470Mhz band, all receive from 3 to 5 bars. None of the others come close. BTW, my radio is located down in the basement about 6 feet below grade.

 

[KC0QNB]

Antenna inside or outside?

 

[radiopro52]

That's odd. The stock antenna has performed poorly for me.

 

[trixwagen]

Yeah... try hooking it up to a ST2/Scantenna or a Yagi and get back to us with the results.

 

[blueangel-eric]

that's odd that the RH77CA doesn't work as good as the uniden duck. I have't found an antenna that beats the RH77CA at UHF.

Eric Burris

 

[iMONITOR]

that's odd that the RH77CA doesn't work as good as the uniden duck. I have't found an antenna that beats the RH77CA at UHF.

Eric Burris

+1 for the RH77CA!

 

[conve36]

On my new BCT15 I've tried 5 antennas. From the Diamond RH77CA, RS800, 2 meter HAM, 800Mhz 'cell phone' and the stock antenna that came with the radio.

The one that works the best, hands down is the Uniden stock antenna. THE RS800 came in a close 2nd. I monitor mostly the 470Mhz band, all receive from 3 to 5 bars. None of the others come close. BTW, my radio is located down in the basement about 6 feet below grade.

Wierd...

I found also that my stock Uniden antenna (for my BC246T) works quite a bit better than any others I have tried. (As in clear reception on ALL freqs)

Uniden did something right with there antennas!

 

[freqhunter]

RH77CAis one of the best all around. RS800 seems to be the best on 800mhz. RH707 works best on UHF.

 

[KC0QNB]

Anyone else notice the OP never came back?, at least not by the same user name.
Another one of those drive by postings.

 

[SAR923]

The BCT-15 comes with a simple telescopic metal antenna. Just like the ones Uniden has been providing with their base models for years. There's no reason to think it would work any better than a gain antenna, especially 6 feet below grade. There's certainly no logical reason that an RS 800 antenna would beat a Diamond RH77CA at 470 MHz. Don't know why some of these drive-by's like to do this but it's just a troll attempt.

 

[ERICMYERS]

Why not...i've got a quiet saturday to tinker..

OP being a troll or not, it got met thinking. I"ve been having a lot of problems decoding Illinois Starcom21, a P25 system. I have the issue of simulcast interference, I think. I've got a lot of antennas, but NONE of my 'better' antennas will give me reliable reception on my 996 on this band. The tower I listen to is a 700 mhz CC and I am wanting to receive Plainfield PD, one of the very few municipalities on this Starcom network.

So, this weekend, I pulled out the (never been used) telescoping cheapo stock antenna that came w/ the 996. To date, this is the ONLY antenna so far that reliably will receive what I want to hear. I have it tilted back about 30 degrees from vertical, it's only extended about 4 inches from the fully collapsed position, and I have the attenuator for this site on and oddly enough it is working halfway decently. This configuration was a result of a LOT of trial and error.

I have to believe that the signal was overloading the receiver. The signal on this tower, according to the signal meter anyway, oscillates from nothing to 3/2/1 bars and back and forth with a 'good antenna', but not in a uniform pattern. That's pretty odd. With my cheapie antenna and the attenuator on, I have either NO bars or 1 bar of signal per the meter, but pretty reliable reception.

I also listen to Joliet PD on the same radio, and now with this antenna setup, I get a pretty lousy but usable reception. That is a traditional MOT 800mhz trunk system. I can't hear ANYTHING else for the most part with this rig, but I can hear what I like to listen to the most. My other scanner I can use at 60+ miles with my Sputnik on a tripod indoors setup when I want to hear Chicago or Kankakee, Bolingbrook, etc. Most of my listening is done at night with headphones, so running multiple scanners at the same time is sort of unrealistic and I can accept the tradeoff for the benefit of hearing what I bought this radio specifically for.

My takeaway: Do what works and don't discount the things that shouldn't work without trying them.

Cheers,
Eric

 

[kenisned]

The last post was very interesting....

I was searching for thread that discussed what scanner mounted antenna people would suggest in place of the telescoping one that is provided.

I travel a lot with my 996 and I have this telescoping antenna (don't know what you call it, but it has a plastic spacer half way up). The antenna is about 24" long and is connected to a 90 degree bnc adapter directly to the scanner.

I get the sense that it doesn't work that well, but have not tried the telescoping antenna that was provided (I will after reading this thread).

But does anyone have a suggestion on a portable (that I can put in my suitcase) scanner mounted antenna for the 996?

Thanks

 

[digitalanalog]

My takeaway: Do what works and don't discount the things that shouldn't work without trying them.

Cheers,
Eric

Nicely said.
Thank You.

 

[k1mri]

OP my reply

Yeah... try hooking it up to a ST2/Scantenna or a Yagi and get back to us with the results.

Being the OP I thought I'd reply to some of the guys who replied to my post.

Why would I want to spend the $$$ for a ST2/Scantenna and buy the 'good' coax'?

I'm 5 miles from Boston and almost in line of sight of the tallest buildings in Boston where most of the antenna's that transmit are mounted for what I want to listen too. I don't care to listen to little town's in my area as nothing goes on out in the rural areas.

Like I said I tried several antenna's and the stock antenna from Uniden works the best on all bands. Sorry, RH77CA, Radio Shack 800 they are just not as good as the Uniden one.

...... Don't know why some of these drive-by's like to do this but it's just a troll attempt.

No, I'm not a troll. I admit I'm no expert when it comes to antennas. I've been listening to scanners since the days when you had to buy crystals for the old Bearcat 8 (I think) and most Regency scanners.

The RS800 does work great on both my BC246T's however.

 

[KC0QNB]

k1mri, your original post was nearly a month ago, this is your first reply. Ok so is your antenna inside or outside? reference my first post, we can't help anyone if they don't follow the thread.

 

[k1mri]

k1mri, your original post was nearly a month ago, this is your first reply. Ok so is your antenna inside or outside? reference my first post, we can't help anyone if they don't follow the thread.

Well let's see. My post said:
\On my new BCT15 I've tried 5 antennas. From the Diamond RH77CA, RS800, 2 meter HAM, 800Mhz 'cell phone' and the stock antenna that came with the radio.

The one that works the best, hands down is the Uniden stock antenna. THE RS800 came in a close 2nd. I monitor mostly the 470Mhz band, all receive from 3 to 5 bars. None of the others come close. BTW, my radio is located down in the basement about 6 feet below grade.

Down in the basement so I guess it's inside. It came with the radio and plugs into the back, so, it must also be inside. I wasn't looking for help, just stating what works best for me.

 

[KC0QNB]

And you are happy with an antenna in the basement? OK My radios are also in the basement but my antennas are out side on the roof, for me and a ton of others it just works better.

 

[Dubbin]

I'm 5 miles from Boston and almost in line of sight of the tallest buildings in Boston where most of the antenna's that transmit are mounted for what I want to listen too.

Hell at only 5 miles you almost don't even need an antenna, its no surprise that the stock one works just fine. Thats something you should have mentioned in your first post

Also at only 5 miles, I don't how you can even tell a difference from all the antennas you have tried.

 

[mw44070]

BCT15 in door antenna recommendation

I just got a BCT15. I live on the first floor of a condo. The scanner is next to patio door. Can anyone recommend a better antenna than the one that comes with the scanner?

Thanks

 

[Don_Burke]

Hell at only 5 miles you almost don't even need an antenna, its no surprise that the stock one works just fine. Thats something you should have mentioned in your first post

Also at only 5 miles, I don't how you can even tell a difference from all the antennas you have tried.

He might be getting overload with some of those other antennas.