What antenna to choose?

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ZOU4Life

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I own a Uniden Bearcat BCD396XT MOBILE scanner and only listen to Fire/EMS and police frequencies, which are from 151-155 MHz VHF, and occasionally a 453 MHz channel. I am curious what antenna to get for my portable scanner to pick up one of the dispatch centers around 20 mi away. Also, what gain to get and good antenna brands and type of antenna, as I am relatively new to the scanning world. Thanks!
 

n5ims

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For a mobile antenna with coverage on VHF-Hi and UHF as you indicate you can't go wrong with the Larsen NMO150/450. It's designed for the two bands you're interested in and uses the standard NMO mount so you can find many different antennas for it if your needs ever change.

For a portable, check out one of the dual band (VHF-Hi/UHF) ham antennas designed for portables. They're also designed to cover the bands you're interested in and should give you the best results. Exactly which you select would be based on what type of mount you need (generally BNC or SMA) and how long/flexable you want the antenna to be (longer will give you better range generally). I like these Diamond RH77CA Amateur HT Antenna
 

Rt169Radio

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Also if you want to be able to listen to other stuff you could also look at the Larsen tri-band antenna which covers VHF, UHF, and 800 MHz.

The Diamond antenna brand makes good various HT antennas so you have a wide choice to pick from.

Diamond® Antenna ~ HT Antennas
 
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