Which direction to go?

[WeBeCinYa]

Bought a new 200 end of December to monitor a local P2 Simulcast system I enjoy listening to. I recently moved 34 miles away to a new home we have been building and discovered that none of my scanners will pick up the system. Well my 100 will if I stand upstairs with my mouth just right, on sunny days.

The new area I live in has local systems on the NC VIPER platform and all my equipment picks it up fine (100, 200, 536). But now I find I’m bored with listening as it’s just not the same. The excitement of the 200 is lost now that my 536 essentially does the same thing and the whole reason I bought it was to hopefully pick up the former system.

I’ve thought about putting up an external antenna but every time I get serious I lose interest in building the components, how it will mount, cost and what if it doesn’t work.

I’ve also considered buying a Unication in hopes it would pick up 34 miles away. But $700 to test this for a 50/50 chance it works sounds dumb.

Which direction to go?

 

[buddrousa]

I would spend money for a antenna system if it was me.

 

[WeBeCinYa]

I would spend money for a antenna system if it was me.

I am the least educated on these and opinions are everywhere from discone to cheap yogi cell phone to TV antennas. Last thing I want to do is build out 3 antennas. The system I’m interested in is shown on pic vs where I live. Red dot is new home and blue is the closest tower.
It’s an 850MHz system.

 

[darkness975]

That distance is going to be hard without some serious external equipment to bring in the signal.

 

[n2pqq]

Maybe try a preamp

 

[MisterLongwire]

Maybe try a preamp

Ummm...no...I don't think so. Smart thing to do is put up an external antenna

 

[jonwienke]

An outdoor antenna on a mast is going to give you the best bang for the buck.

 

[joncleve]

You might try aiming for the Benns Knob site. With the increased elevation, you will probably get a better signal than Shelby or Kings Mountain.

 

[Kaleier1]

I’ve thought about putting up an external antenna but every time I get serious I lose interest in building the components, how it will mount, cost and what if it doesn’t work.

I bought a 800-960Mh 9 element 13dbi yagi $15.62 from Aliexpress shipped free. Got it in about 14 days. You can buy them with an N connector but I went with an F connector because RG6 is cheap and has lower loss at the higher 800,900 MHz frequencies than RG58 and am using it only to receive and not transmit so the 75 ohm impedance wasn't a concern. Just add the coax and you are good to go. If your SDS100 is picking up the system when you stand upstairs in a certain way on sunny days, this antenna on your roof pointed in the direction of the system should do very well.

I couldn't receive a system of interest at all in my house with various antennas. I bought this antenna and was able to pick up the trunked channels but the control channel was too weak to be reliable. I put it on my roof pointed at the system and even with the 20 db antenuator turned on on my SDS200 I could pick it up fine. In fact I put a TV spllitter in line with it and use the antenna for my SDS200 and SDR# on my laptop.

 

[LukeB]

Don't forget the good LMR cable if you decide to go with an external setup.

 

[scanmanmi]

I have a 15 element beam and can pick up 60 miles (it's downhill all the way though). You'd be surprised how you could make something up out of copper wire just to test. If you buy something from China expect long delays and disinfect everything.

 

[Xray]

I have a range of around 60 miles with my discone 15 ft over a 2 story house strapped to the chimney with a 50 ft wire run, you could do as good or better with that or a directional antenna pointed towards your objective.

By all means don't attempt to mount it if you are not confidant in your ability to do it, hire someone out to do it and be done with it. I wouldn't expect much more than $100 to mount it, hell I'd do it for that, really not that much to it but I realize can be tough to get motivated to do such things.

 

[gcopter1]

And...have you tried the filters at your new location?
Perhaps there are other stronger systems nearby hindering your reception?

 

[TailGator911]

Antenna, antenna, antenna! Outdoors and as high as possible. Go for either a discone (multi-band) or a directional yagi, depending on the system you are targeting. I have both antennas and am very satisfied with their overall performance. As someone previously mentioned, try dialing in the difficult system by trying different filters as well. You might get a pleasant surprise.

 

[WeBeCinYa]

I messed with the filters, and also added the site Benn's Knob. I did pick up signal off of Benn's Knob but there was no Cleveland County traffic whatsoever.
I just had someone loan me a G5 pager and I will be testing that, if no luck I may go the route of external antenna, not sure.
Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[scanmanmi]

Please let us know what happens with the G5!

 

[greggk]

Here's what I would do. Buy antenna from Amazon, call handyman, and that's it. You're done. Greg Of course he has to be paid, I Guess