What to build...

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staulkor

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I got a bunch of 10 gauge solid copper wire sitting around. I have already made 2 j pole antenna for 495Mhz and 850Mhz. I just use my scanner to pick up police/fire/ems and would like to get better signals and signals from further away.

Any suggestions for antennas I can make out of this wire I got?
 

n4yek

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Thats were all of my wire went that was stolen out of my new house. :lol: just kidding.
You could try and build a discone antenna from it if the wire is sturdy enough to not droop.
Sounds like you have a good start on antennas though, keep us informed on what you do make.
 

ka3jjz

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You didn't say anything about what coax you're using to feed these antennas, nor how high they are. Both will increase how much you hear - getting a good quality RG6 or 9913 cable will cut your losses, and increasing your height will get you away from the obstacles around you such as trees, buildings, ect.

If you want to hear something specific that is further away, a beam is the way to go. We have a few of these in our scanner antennas wiki, and I wouldn't doubt that the AC6V site has plans for more.

73 Mike
 

Don_Burke

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I got a bunch of 10 gauge solid copper wire sitting around. I have already made 2 j pole antenna for 495Mhz and 850Mhz. I just use my scanner to pick up police/fire/ems and would like to get better signals and signals from further away.

Any suggestions for antennas I can make out of this wire I got?
Look into rhombics.

I have been wanting to play around with Franklin arrays ever since I saw a description in Paul Lee's vertical antenna book. If you can figure out how to support it, that will get you a bunch of omni gain, although the bandwidth is pretty tight.
 

staulkor

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Laurel, MD
Thanks for the info guys. I always forget about the coax :p I just found some spare RG6-6U and cut it up an used it and I have a F (I think thats the end, its a normal cable box plug) to BNC adapter to use with my scanner.

I know I need some good quality coax :p
 

jon_k

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May 7, 2008
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Fort Worth, Republic of Texas
Thanks for the info guys. I always forget about the coax :p I just found some spare RG6-6U and cut it up an used it and I have a F (I think thats the end, its a normal cable box plug) to BNC adapter to use with my scanner.

I know I need some good quality coax :p

That's the 75 ohm coax right?

For now you're worried about antennas but you've got impedance mismatch. That'll put some attenuation on your signal for sure.

Get some coax then resume building those ants!
 
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