What antenna to use.....

[CrazeeRam]

I recently purchased a PRO-2052. I like the scanner and the features. I am planning on putting up an external antenna. There is about an 8 ft mast on the roof that currently holds an unused tv antenna. I will post a picture later as I am at work.

I was wondering what would be recommended as the best for the freq range on the PRO-2052. I listen to whatever I can hear, but predominantly police/fire and air freqs. (including mil air). I need something that will cover the widest amount of the frequency spectrum on this radio.

Any ideas, thoughts, or comments would be welcome.

 

[CrazeeRam]

I have read through a ton of the posts here and was just trying to figure out how to get the best bang for my buck.

Thanks in advance.

 

[kb5udf]

A really tough one?

Well by design, few things are more broad banded than a discone. But whatever you use, I noted tough b/c I am sure you have serious icing concerns up there, a factor I don't have to contend with in my locale.

It's generally not feasible to have a uni-directional/vertical antenna with gain to cover the hundreds of mhz of bandwidth you require.

I have read a few folks quite happy with a radio shack model, I believe it's the 20-176, reviewed at strongsignals.net.

It's a bit pricey, but I love my comet tri band vertical(GP15), gives gain on 50mhz, 144, and 440 bands. As a result does well on vhf low, aero, decent on mil air, and VG on UHF. It's also reasonably well made.

 

[CrazeeRam]

Considering I currently just have the screw in base antenna, anything would be an improvement. I know a little bit about radio as my father was a ham while I was growing up, and I currently work avionics for the Air Force. I am currently thinking about getting into HAM.

I almost always listen to the PD freqs, and would love to pick up aero and mil aero.

You made a good point bringing up icing. I had totally forgotten about that. Thank god I won't be transmitting from it. Too much SWR from an iced antenna would be a bad thing. We normally get a good bit of snow up here during the winter, and it does get might cold. I think we got down to -58 last year.

These are the reasons I was posting for help in deciding what type of antenna to get.

 

[TeRayCodA]

Can't hardly beat a good Discone!
The radio-shack model is not very durable(the elements are thin-walled stainless tubing,and are crimped onto the threaded stubs for the apex)Lots of folks in this forum were'nt pleased with them.

The Icom,and Diamond models have better reviews.

 

[CrazeeRam]

Thanks for the heads up. There was one I was looking at, cant think of which one it was at the moment. I will pos back later with it.

 

[LukeB]

I just purchased a Diamond D130J after hearing so many good things about it. I have it on a 20 foot mast using 75 feet of microwave cable. I understand there are some shortcomings with discones but I am not overly impressed with the reception I am receiving. I may be expecting too much but I hear UHF transmissions very scratchy. I am pleased with the VHF reception as it is far better then UHF or 800mhz.

Is there any suggestions for me to improve my reception? I heard this antenna is very good but I am not seeing it thusfar.

 

[Al42]

I am not overly impressed with the reception I am receiving. I may be expecting too much but I hear UHF transmissions very scratchy. I am pleased with the VHF reception as it is far better then UHF or 800mhz.

Is there any suggestions for me to improve my reception? I heard this antenna is very good but I am not seeing it thusfar.

Measure the length of the bottom elements (I'm not familiar with the particular antenna). This is 1/4 wavelength on the lowest frequency the antenna will give any decent performance. It will work up to about 4 times that frequency. If UHF isn't in that range, you know why.

Then, again, if you have poor signals on UHF and terrible signals on 800, it could be your cable. "Microwave" cable? Microwave equipment doesn't usually use the kind of cable you'd use for a scanner (read: $$$$). The brand name "Microwave" could be anything, from RG-217 to hardline. What's the number on the cable? RG-58? RG-8? Some other number?

 

[LordJ]

The Radio-Shack 20-176 has given me great results outside in South-Easern Ontario weather for 10 years. I just recently replaced the coax and put it up another 10' and it is a perfect match to my 780xlt for what I listen to. (Mostly 140-160, with some 410-420 traffic) It is not crimped together as stated before, it consists of 3 verticals press fit into a base with 3 horizontal elements that screw into the base with a locking nut to tighten. Mades of all Stainless with a polyethelyne (I think) insulator. Great antenna, great price.

 

[ledscan89]

LordJ-

Does it work with Low Band?
and how well for 400Mhz?

Thanks,
Jake

 

[Al42]

LordJ-

Does it work with Low Band?
and how well for 400Mhz?

Thanks,
Jake

You can't design a discone to cover both 30 MHz and 400 MHz - the highest frequency is 4 times the lowest frequency.

 

[MacombMonitor]

The Radio-Shack 20-176 has given me great results outside in South-Easern Ontario weather for 10 years. I just recently replaced the coax and put it up another 10' and it is a perfect match to my 780xlt for what I listen to. (Mostly 140-160, with some 410-420 traffic) It is not crimped together as stated before, it consists of 3 verticals press fit into a base with 3 horizontal elements that screw into the base with a locking nut to tighten. Mades of all Stainless with a polyethelyne (I think) insulator. Great antenna, great price.

You're antenna is not the Radio Shack discone they talk about. The discone is CAT #20-043. The #20-043 is a cheap copy of the Diamond/Icom discone. Picture below:

 

[LordJ]

Low band is pretty horrible imo. But the 400 comes in well for me.