The Ferret Scantenna

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Zylo

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Hello,

has anyone had any experience with The Ferret? (Austin Antenna)

I'm looking for a low-profile (read:aesthetically pleasing) antenna to mount on my chimney, and this seems to be a perfect fit. However, before jumping in, are there any competitors I can look at? Trying to stay away from a base-discone. This is for a Uniden BCD796D scanner (soon to be 996... I hope!!)

Also, I don't mind an active antenna, but I do want to get the best range I can, I'd love to hear the east-side of Columbus ~ 20 miles away and I am pretty sure this is impossible without a 600ft antenna so i'll just keep dreaming. :)

So throw any suggestions out there, please!

Thanks,

Rocky
 

ka3jjz

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From everything I've read, the word is junk

A discone is certainly not low-profile, but both a NilJon and a ScanTenna are only a bit better in that department. And watch what coax you use - by and large, if you're near a metro area, amplifiers should be considered as a last resort. Improve the antenna and coax first. 73s Mike

[edit] From our scanner antennas wiki homebrew section - why didn't I think of this before? If you're kinda handy with handling tubing, ect. this ought to be right up your alley

http://wiki.radioreference.com/index.php/Homebrewed_Off-Center_Fed_Dipole
 
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RISC777

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Zylo,

Only speaking from personal experience - So long as you get a number of feet above roof level, not just yours but also the buildings around you, any omni directional that suits your aesthetic requirements should do you fine for the distance you stated.

To me, a discone is less noticeable than the Scantenna since the Scantenna looks like an old VHF/UHF TV antenna to a large degree. Although, it is pretty inexpensive and ships with 50' of cable (and mounting hardware for a mast).

Things to not forget: higher the antenna the better, ground the mast to earth, shortest cable run the better (less loss), the better the cable quality the better.
 

Zylo

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Ok, scratch that.

I found a few others i'm interested in buying, and thank God, they are from a local retailer!!

1) Dressler ARA2000LL
Cons: EXPENSIVE! May require power (DC?)
Pro: REALLY low profile

2) AOR DS3000A

3) AOR SA7000
Cons: slightly pricey, but not bad.
Pro: Low Profile

Any word on these three?

Is the active one snake oil as well?
 

ka3jjz

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There's some brief comments on the AOR antennas on the Grove website. The scanner antennas wiki has it linked in the technical and reviews section.

There's a really good rule of thumb - before you even think of amplification (either with an active antenna, or putting an amplifier on the antenna), get the best antenna and coax you can. Using active antennas (or putting an amplifier on the antenna) may actually reduce the amount of signal you hear; the scanner would be so swamped that a condition known as desense occurs. Either that, or you may start hearing pagers, images and other junk where you don't want them.

Since both of those AORs are over USD100, I'd look at other more inexpensive options. Personally speaking, if I were looking at something that needed to be fairly stealthy, that offset dipole link would get serious consideration. And if memory serves, Grove sells something like that for far less than the AORs

73s Mike
 

trooperdude

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Zylo said:
Hello,

has anyone had any experience with The Ferret? (Austin Antenna)

Overpriced, under-performing.
I'm looking for a low-profile (read:aesthetically pleasing) antenna to mount on my chimney, and this seems to be a perfect fit.

It ALL depends on what frequency range(s) you intend to monitor.

Also, I don't mind an active antenna, but I do want to get the best range I can

Active antennas SUCK in urban areas.

You are MUCH better off getting a frequency-specific antenna, high quality coax, and some notch filters.
 

RocketMan1

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Location
NW Indiana
Zylo said:
Hello,

has anyone had any experience with The Ferret? (Austin Antenna)

I'm looking for a low-profile (read:aesthetically pleasing) antenna to mount on my chimney, and this seems to be a perfect fit. However, before jumping in, are there any competitors I can look at? Trying to stay away from a base-discone. This is for a Uniden BCD796D scanner (soon to be 996... I hope!!)

Also, I don't mind an active antenna, but I do want to get the best range I can, I'd love to hear the east-side of Columbus ~ 20 miles away and I am pretty sure this is impossible without a 600ft antenna so i'll just keep dreaming. :)

So throw any suggestions out there, please!

Thanks,
Rocky

I've tried several antenna's before settling on the RS 20-176 (aka:Sputnik) and I found this to work VERY well for me, and not very noticiable. You mention you want to hear 20 miles away. I have my antenna mounted 6 feet over my roof peak, and I can easily pick up Gary, In. 32 miles away, I can pick up many other PD's and FD's even further. I can't remember off hand, but I think I only paid like $25.00 for it, find a RS close by thats going out of buisness and you might get it cheaper.
 

negahertz7

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ferret

the ferret is the best by far. i have 2 for 10 years.
the best well made /tuned/antenna for comm use around. read eham reviews.

joe
 

iMONITOR

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the ferret is the best by far. i have 2 for 10 years.
the best well made /tuned/antenna for comm use around. read eham reviews.

joe

It depends a lot on what band you want to monitor. For the popular 800 MHz band, it's probably the worst choice. It's more like a giant noise magnet!
 
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