TV antenna

[michaeljp86]

I got a adapter fron radio shack to hook my scanner up to tv coaxal and used the TV antenna. I just though I would let you guys know that is works OK but I get a little better reception off the stock little extendable. I havent had time to play with it but it may be better in one direction.

 

[kc4jgc]

Things to consider

Yeah, It should work OK but would work BETTER (I think) if two things were done:

1- Turn the antenna vertical. TV is transmitted on the horizontal plane as land mobile is transmitted on the vertical plane.

2- TV coax is 75 ohm cable, whereas what your scanner is most likely designed for 50 ohms. You'll need something at the back of the scanner to convert that 75 ohm into a 50 ohm input.

Assuming your antenna is UHF & your band of interest is 800-900 MHz and in the same general direction, you should be in good shape. The UHF elements are designed for TV channels 14-83 (70-83 no longer allocated for TV). If your interest is on the VHF bands (& you have a VHF antenna) you may not have as much luck as the elements are not designed for anything but channels 2-13.