What is the best antenna for the BC125AT handheld scanner?
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n5ims
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The "best antenna" is one designed specifically for the band or bands you listen to. A great antenna for the VHF-Hi and UHF antenna (such as the RH77 series) may be one of the worst for other bands such as VHF-Low and the 700/800/900 MHz band. Without knowing where you listen (perhaps both location and system or systems) a recommendation for "best" simply can't be made.
Be aware that many manufactures will list "also works on ..." on their marketing material and packaging. Remember that "works on" and "works well on" are two totally different things. For example, the RH77 clone I have works great on the two bands it's designed to transmit on and will pick up strong signals on the various 800 MHz trunking systems that are nearby. It fails miserably, however, on the 800 MHz trunking systems that are weaker or further away, while my Radio Shack 800 MHz antenna picks them up quite well (but doesn't work nearly as well on the bands the RH77 is designed to transmit on).
Also remember that the bands your scanner receives is quite a different answer than the bands you listen to. Think of it this way, your new truck may work well on the typical roads you drive around your city (city streets and major highways) but may not work well driving the Baja 500 route or those serious dirt hill climb tracks. If all you drive is those city streets and major highways, does it really matter how poorly it performs driving that Baja 500 trail? Is there a truck that will work on both? Absolutely, but it will be way more expensive (both to purchase and to run), less reliable, and much less comfortable to ride in back and forth to work. Your typical truck will probably do a much better job hauling stuff home from Home Depot than that Baja 500 truck to boot!
Be aware that many manufactures will list "also works on ..." on their marketing material and packaging. Remember that "works on" and "works well on" are two totally different things. For example, the RH77 clone I have works great on the two bands it's designed to transmit on and will pick up strong signals on the various 800 MHz trunking systems that are nearby. It fails miserably, however, on the 800 MHz trunking systems that are weaker or further away, while my Radio Shack 800 MHz antenna picks them up quite well (but doesn't work nearly as well on the bands the RH77 is designed to transmit on).
Also remember that the bands your scanner receives is quite a different answer than the bands you listen to. Think of it this way, your new truck may work well on the typical roads you drive around your city (city streets and major highways) but may not work well driving the Baja 500 route or those serious dirt hill climb tracks. If all you drive is those city streets and major highways, does it really matter how poorly it performs driving that Baja 500 trail? Is there a truck that will work on both? Absolutely, but it will be way more expensive (both to purchase and to run), less reliable, and much less comfortable to ride in back and forth to work. Your typical truck will probably do a much better job hauling stuff home from Home Depot than that Baja 500 truck to boot!
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br0adband
Member
The two antennas (for handheld purposes) that have always had the most consistent reviews and recommendations around here (since I've been a member, at least) are what were just mentioned: the Diamond RHC77A (BNC connector) and the Radio Shack 800 MHz model. The Diamond RHC77A is by design an antenna tuned to work best for transmitting at 146 and 435 MHz (the center of the 2M and 440 MHz bands basically) - that doesn't mean it won't work fantastic as a receiving antenna on those bands, and slightly outside of them as well including pretty good/great performance on the 800 MHz bands (I think the RS800 is tuned to 855 MHz or something close to it). The RS800 is not by definition meant for transmitting but it probably could be used for such purposes (maybe someone should do an SWR check on it sometime, not sure I've ever seen such results for the RS800 but it wouldn't hurt to have that info sometime).
There is a company named Remtronix nowadays (not sure about their history) and they're selling what is basically a clone of the RS800 for about the same price, around $27-30, and many people that have purchased it say it works exactly the same as the RS800 has for decades now (think the RS800 first appeared in the late 1980s/very early 1990s). It's a fantastic antenna and I've got one that I've had since about 1995 iirc. I purchased my Diamond RHC77A in 2004 and still have it, no complaints about it in any situations at all.
While I hate using the term "best" in almost any situation, oddly enough, the best antenna in any given situation is one tuned to the frequency you want to monitor as pointed out by n5ims above and that would mean (in practical terms of handheld scanners) a telescopic whip which is adjustable. Diamond makes several models of telescopic whips as noted here:
RH SERIES/DIAMOND ANTENNA CORPORATION
and they all offer a neat feature of having marks engraved in the whip elements so it's easy to adjust them to a given frequency (from about 70 MHz to 1 GHz) and definitely something to have in your antenna toolkit, so to speak. You don't necessarily have to get an actual Diamond antenna as there are some pretty well made clones going around these days but my preference is always get "the real deal" so there's no issues.
It all depends on what you intend to monitor, what frequency or frequencies or bands you'd like to monitor. As the BC-125AT is an analog only scanner you're going to be limited to what you can make use of during reception - technically it can tune in frequencies from 25 to 512 MHz so, there's really no reason to purchase an antenna designed for 800 MHz use like the RS800 or the Remtronix clone.
If I were to make a suggestion for the "best" antenna for that scanner to cover practically it's entire operating reception range, get the Diamond RHC77A or a clone of it, or a telescopic whip you can adjust as required. The RHC77A is like 15" long, flexible, and worth every penny and I don't think I've ever seen anyone really complain about it directly - I've seen complaints comparing it with other tuned antennas from different bands/frequencies, but for what it is it's pretty awesome.
There is a company named Remtronix nowadays (not sure about their history) and they're selling what is basically a clone of the RS800 for about the same price, around $27-30, and many people that have purchased it say it works exactly the same as the RS800 has for decades now (think the RS800 first appeared in the late 1980s/very early 1990s). It's a fantastic antenna and I've got one that I've had since about 1995 iirc. I purchased my Diamond RHC77A in 2004 and still have it, no complaints about it in any situations at all.
While I hate using the term "best" in almost any situation, oddly enough, the best antenna in any given situation is one tuned to the frequency you want to monitor as pointed out by n5ims above and that would mean (in practical terms of handheld scanners) a telescopic whip which is adjustable. Diamond makes several models of telescopic whips as noted here:
RH SERIES/DIAMOND ANTENNA CORPORATION
and they all offer a neat feature of having marks engraved in the whip elements so it's easy to adjust them to a given frequency (from about 70 MHz to 1 GHz) and definitely something to have in your antenna toolkit, so to speak. You don't necessarily have to get an actual Diamond antenna as there are some pretty well made clones going around these days but my preference is always get "the real deal" so there's no issues.
It all depends on what you intend to monitor, what frequency or frequencies or bands you'd like to monitor. As the BC-125AT is an analog only scanner you're going to be limited to what you can make use of during reception - technically it can tune in frequencies from 25 to 512 MHz so, there's really no reason to purchase an antenna designed for 800 MHz use like the RS800 or the Remtronix clone.
If I were to make a suggestion for the "best" antenna for that scanner to cover practically it's entire operating reception range, get the Diamond RHC77A or a clone of it, or a telescopic whip you can adjust as required. The RHC77A is like 15" long, flexible, and worth every penny and I don't think I've ever seen anyone really complain about it directly - I've seen complaints comparing it with other tuned antennas from different bands/frequencies, but for what it is it's pretty awesome.
I_am_Alpha1
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"What is the best antenna"
Are you trying to start a riot like the one in Ferguson?
Are you trying to start a riot like the one in Ferguson?
Is the Diamond RHC77A the same as the Diamond RH77CA?
I cannot find anything under model number Diamond RHC77A.
Was the model number RHC77A at one time or is that a typo?
Thanks for the info,
Any of the types pictured here would work amazingly well with the BC125AT. You'll need an adapter pigtail... the extra weight might damage the connector on the handheld scanner...
http://forums.radioreference.com/scanner-receiver-antennas/338133-big-boy-antennas.html
http://forums.radioreference.com/scanner-receiver-antennas/338133-big-boy-antennas.html
br0adband
Member
Typos on my part, the official part number is RH77CA (looks like I made quite a few of 'em, DOH!!!)
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