Using a home antenna to relay to handheld

[Westhills24]

Hello,

New here so don’t roast me too bad. I’ve had various handheld scanners basically my whole life. I currently have the Uniden Bearcat SR30C.

>I’m curious how I might be able to build a more optimized configuration of a home antenna attached to a high fence or building on my property to receive/relay the radio signal to my handheld. But here’s the catch, I don’t want to have to hardline the large antenna directly into my handheld via the BNC for example. is it possible for the handheld to receive signal from the antenna just by being nearby?

What might be some solutions to this?

I want to hear local agencies much more clearly and hear other agencies farther away.

Thanks!

 

[dave3825]

Devices that use antennas will not receive a signal unless the antenna is connected to the device.

 

[mmckenna]

Set up your scanner/antenna where it will work.
Use a Bluetooth or other audio transmitter to send the scanner audio to headphones, etc.

 

[wtp]

there is a thing called a passive repeater.
it is basically one antenna connected to another antenna with good low loss cable.
you would get a better signal with a stock antenna on the radio.
i was going to try this at a commercial setting, but the upper management folks said no.
the cost was going to be only for the cable(30 feet)
but they did not like the "have to try it and see. part".
it was for the security folks to be able to talk from the ground floor the the third floor as it was not the greatest.
i like mmckenna's idea.

 

[nosoup4u]

What about something like running audio from the speaker out of the scanner to a Vox input on a hand held and re-transmitting it over a MURS frequency on low power, then using another scanner or radio parked on that frequency?

 

[CHHTX]

there is a thing called a passive repeater.
it is basically one antenna connected to another antenna with good low loss cable.
you would get a better signal with a stock antenna on the radio.
i was going to try this at a commercial setting, but the upper management folks said no.
the cost was going to be only for the cable(30 feet)
but they did not like the "have to try it and see. part".
it was for the security folks to be able to talk from the ground floor the the third floor as it was not the greatest.
i like mmckenna's idea.

I really like your explanation. The idea & practice of receiving and then repeating signal can be very complicated. Unfortunately, the most economical way is to simply be attached directly to your big (rooftop) antenna. I hate this since often I'd rather be listening to my scanner in my garage shop than my home office where I have my rooftop antenna fed in to.

iirc, wasn't that something that the wireless dongle that was sold with the BCD536HP was supposed to solve? Also, it never worked and Uniden abandoned developing it out didn't they? (Crazy that they still even list it as something that's included with it.)

Now that I think about it, you CAN do that with PROSCAN. I know you can control the unit from the Proscan program. I'm just not sure if you can get audio from the program or not. (I use Proscan in my office to have it visible on a larger screen and to edit favorite lists.)

EDIT TO ADD: with Proscan, yes you can remote control and remote listen to your scanner! This will solve my issue of being in the garage and listening to my scanner that is inside the house. In Proscan, look under Support>Manual and look on pages 6 & 7 to see how to broadcast the audio onto your network.

 

[wtp]

i second proscan...

ProScan

Computer Aided Scanning Software for the Uniden BC125AT BC250D BC296D BC346XT BC346XTC BC780XLT BC785D BC796D BCD160DN BCD260DN BCD325P2 BCD396T BCD396XT BCD436HP BCD536HP BCD996P2 BCD996T BCD996XT BCT15 BCT15X BR330T SDS100 SDS100E SDS200 SDS200E UBCD3600XLT USDS100 RadioFeed Streaming Audio.

www.proscan.org

crap. i do not see the sr30c on the list.

 

[mmckenna]

What about something like running audio from the speaker out of the scanner to a Vox input on a hand held and re-transmitting it over a MURS frequency on low power, then using another scanner or radio parked on that frequency?

Rebroadcasting would likely be a violation of the FCC MURS rules:

Federal Register :: Request Access

Part 15 FM transmitter (low power) would be an option. Feed audio to the low power FM transmitter operating on an unused FM broadcast frequency, would be able to feed audio to a portable FM radio

 

[wtp]

baby monitor...?


i am a dinosaur.

 

[Westhills24]

Really appreciate all the genuinely helpful replies, not something I was expecting in a forum setting. RR must be a special place.

Yeah, the SR30C is one of the starter level scanners. Eventually I will need to just upgrade to one of the top shelf devices as some agencies are moving to digital talk groups in my area soon.

Ok, maybe the wireless portion of the post makes it too complicated.

If I attach an antenna to my roof and run a BNC cable from the antenna to my scanner, is that all there is to it?

I see 20ft, 50ft, and 100ft bnc cables on Amazon. I could run it from the antenna on the roof down to my office which would be nice in theory.

 

[Westhills24]

i second proscan...

ProScan

Computer Aided Scanning Software for the Uniden BC125AT BC250D BC296D BC346XT BC346XTC BC780XLT BC785D BC796D BCD160DN BCD260DN BCD325P2 BCD396T BCD396XT BCD436HP BCD536HP BCD996P2 BCD996T BCD996XT BCT15 BCT15X BR330T SDS100 SDS100E SDS200 SDS200E UBCD3600XLT USDS100 RadioFeed Streaming Audio.

www.proscan.org

crap. i do not see the sr30c on the list.

I really like your explanation. The idea & practice of receiving and then repeating signal can be very complicated. Unfortunately, the most economical way is to simply be attached directly to your big (rooftop) antenna. I hate this since often I'd rather be listening to my scanner in my garage shop than my home office where I have my rooftop antenna fed in to.

iirc, wasn't that something that the wireless dongle that was sold with the BCD536HP was supposed to solve? Also, it never worked and Uniden abandoned developing it out didn't they? (Crazy that they still even list it as something that's included with it.)

Now that I think about it, you CAN do that with PROSCAN. I know you can control the unit from the Proscan program. I'm just not sure if you can get audio from the program or not. (I use Proscan in my office to have it visible on a larger screen and to edit favorite lists.)

EDIT TO ADD: with Proscan, yes you can remote control and remote listen to your scanner! This will solve my issue of being in the garage and listening to my scanner that is inside the house. In Proscan, look under Support>Manual and look on pages 6 & 7 to see how to broadcast the audio onto your network.

Thanks for the time and detail here, I’ll check out proscan when I get a digital capable scanner which is likely sooner than later.

 

[Westhills24]

there is a thing called a passive repeater.
it is basically one antenna connected to another antenna with good low loss cable.
you would get a better signal with a stock antenna on the radio.
i was going to try this at a commercial setting, but the upper management folks said no.
the cost was going to be only for the cable(30 feet)
but they did not like the "have to try it and see. part".
it was for the security folks to be able to talk from the ground floor the the third floor as it was not the greatest.
i like mmckenna's idea.

Thanks for the comment. I think that’s what I’ll likely do when I eventually get a more advanced scanner that’s digital capable.

 

[wtp]

and if you want to listen to the county sheriff there is broadcastify.
what we did here was to use an old computer's bluetooth and send the audio to an old bluetooth speaker and it runs day and night.

 

[Fixitt]

Feed audio to the low power FM transmitter operating on an unused FM broadcast frequency, would be able to feed audio to a portable FM radio

Bought a Retekess TR502 FM transmitter and could listen anywhere in the house with a portable FM radio until I read the FCC rules. This is 15 watt transmitter that has a transmission distance around 2 miles line of sight. It was sitting right next to the scanner causing all sorts of issues.

Now ProScan with Bluetooth earbuds allow me to listen anywhere Internet is available.

 

[mmckenna]

Bought a Retekess TR502 FM transmitter and could listen anywhere in the house with a portable FM radio until I read the FCC rules. This is 15 watt transmitter that has a transmission distance around 2 miles line of sight.e.

Right, which is why I prefaced that with:

Part 15 FM transmitter (low power) would be an option.

One has to be cautious with what they are purchasing and making sure they understand the FCC rules, no matter what the Chinese company wants one to think.

 

[p1879]

Proscan is an optimum solution.

But, thought of something for Y'all to shoot down:
$35 Wyze Cam pointed at scanner display, and mic on. Could be used with old cell phone as wifi device, or old computer out in garage, another level in home, or elsewhere. Audio might not be too great, but my bird-feeder Wyze cam mic, when switched on, can hear the crows calling....

Could use your "good" cellphone away from home for seeing/hearing the Wyze feed. Maybe the scanner display shows ok? As stated though, audio pickup from camera mic, then on via home wifi to a substandard phone speaker could be a bad thing. No idea about using an external speaker with such a "wifi" receiver either.

Admittedly a lame solution....but maybe?

 

[dlwtrunked]

is it possible for the handheld to receive signal from the antenna just by being nearby?

No. I am amazed that none of the responses I read seem to really understand what I believe you desire (an external antenna with no wiring to improve your reception). Such a thing does not exist.

 

[N9JIG]

i second proscan...

ProScan

Computer Aided Scanning Software for the Uniden BC125AT BC250D BC296D BC346XT BC346XTC BC780XLT BC785D BC796D BCD160DN BCD260DN BCD325P2 BCD396T BCD396XT BCD436HP BCD536HP BCD996P2 BCD996T BCD996XT BCT15 BCT15X BR330T SDS100 SDS100E SDS200 SDS200E UBCD3600XLT USDS100 RadioFeed Streaming Audio.

www.proscan.org

crap. i do not see the sr30c on the list.

Try the BC125 setting for the SR30C, they share the same control codes. (You can use ProScan for free for 30 days to see if it will work).