Two Antenna one scanner

[Jimbnks]

Has anyone used these to combine two antennas into one scanner?

SP-1300 Combiner/Splitter | Scanner Master or a

BNC Male to BNC Female T Connector | Scanner Master

What I want to monitor is in the 850 MHz range.

I’m looking to use a yagi as one of my antennas.

Thoughts?

 

[jaspence]

Do you intend to have both feed the radio at the same time, or do you want to use each antenna separately? If you want one active at a time, an A-B switch is the easiest solution.

 

[mmckenna]

Combining antennas isn't as simple as 1+1=2.
Two antennas can interact and at times, cancel each other out.
You can do it with some tuned lengths of coax, but random lengths plus a T-splitter isn't likely to work the way you want.

What is the other antenna besides the Yagi? Is it another band? Are you trying to do all this just for 850MHz?

 

[Jimbnks]

I'm planning on running both at the same time.

Yes, it would just be 850 Mhz, specify the KSICS System only I live about 12 miles from one tower, and I get it solid signal using a Wilson antenna my problem is the other tower I want to get is about 22 miles in the opposite direction, with my current set-up is I barely get it, and it hard to keep enough of signal to decode it.

I've been pondering a number of different set-ups.

 

[mmckenna]

The two antennas can cancel each other out. It's better to use one or the other.
Or, just switch to a higher gain 800MHz vertical.

 

[Tech21]

Running two receive antennas into one scanner is just gonna cause the scanner to get confused especially if they are in the same band. Your best bet would be two separate scanners.

 

[wtp]

two antennas, so....why not get another radio ?
i am always in favor of more radios.

 

[Ronnierozier2]

Has anyone used these to combine two antennas into one scanner?

SP-1300 Combiner/Splitter | Scanner Master or a

BNC Male to BNC Female T Connector | Scanner Master

What I want to monitor is in the 850 MHz range.

I’m looking to use a yagi as one of my antennas.

Thoughts?

get two yagi’s and find you a phasing harness and it will work. I have an Omni monitoring 3 sites and one recently got weak enough that it doesn’t decode half the time. Luckily 2 sites are basically in the same direction. Going to split the difference with a hi gain yagi and the third site is in the opposite direction about 135 degrees. The sites are far enough away that I can’t find an Omni with enough gain to rectify the problem. I’m sure in the winter it will work but right now in Mississippi all the foliage is dampening the signal. Plus I have a good amount of loss from having to use about 115’ of LMR400 to get the Omni high enough so it will work.

do a little research into antenna phasing harness with two yagi’s

 

[AM909]

Relatively expensive and kinda big (~9 ft), but how about an 8-bay dipole array like this one (at 800 MHz though), with two dipoles oriented for the closer site and the other six for the more distant site? I think this would provide about 7 dB gain toward the near site and 10 dB gain toward the far site. It also gives you the flexibility to play with the exact directions and number of elements towards each, as needed.

 

[buddrousa]

A good omni antenna will work over 20 miles I get mare than 20 miles 800 on a mobile antenna.

 

[buddrousa]

Relatively expensive and kinda big (~9 ft), but how about an 8-bay dipole array like this one (at 800 MHz though), with two dipoles oriented for the closer site and the other six for the more distant site? I think this would provide about 7 dB gain toward the near site and 10 dB gain toward the far site. It also gives you the flexibility to play with the exact directions and number of elements towards each, as needed.

If you look at the antenna PDF the patterns are for the way the dipoles are in the picture when you start moving the dipoles to other than designed positions you are going to screw up the pattern bigtime I know this from my climbing and commercial antenna days.

 

[markclark]

Has anyone used these to combine two antennas into one scanner?

SP-1300 Combiner/Splitter | Scanner Master or a

BNC Male to BNC Female T Connector | Scanner Master

What I want to monitor is in the 850 MHz range.

I’m looking to use a yagi as one of my antennas.

Thoughts?

You will lose a lot of signal with that splitter. 5db is a lot of signal that is an expensive power trade-off. You want a Diplexer. Diamond Antenna and others make those units.

Diamond® Antenna ~ Duplexers & Triplexers

 

[Jimbnks]

two antennas, so....why not get another radio ?
i am always in favor of more radios.

I use 4 scanners.

I got a 536 for KHP only
I got a 536 for my county only (LEO, EMS, FD)
I got a 436 for the regional interop channels
And HP-1 doing wold search for new TG

 

[sonm10]

Try a single antenna fed to a 4 port multicoupler.


My personal setup: (3) band specific antennas fed to a triplexer, fed to a LNA, fed to a splitter.
The only reason to use multiple antennas is to utilize high gain, band specific antennas.

 

[wbloss]

FWIW have you tried pointing the yagi at the further site and ALSO seeing what signal strength you get from the near site with it pointed at the far site? (Even tho it is in a different direction) It may surprise you!