Will a scanner antenna work with my Baofeng?

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KF0AWL

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I still have a antenna that I had mounted to my house to listen to my scanner years ago.
It was a Radio Shack brand but I cant remember the model.
Will this work for my Baofeng handheld 2way? With the correct adapter of course and I'll get a photo when I get home.
 

Reconrider

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As long as you have the correct antenna connector yes it will work. I don’t know much about the radio but I think I remember watching a video about it becoming overloaded when it gets to much info
 

KF0AWL

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After reading replays I realized I forgot to ask if I could transmit and receive on it lol
 

cmjonesinc

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That will completely depend on the antenna model and what frequencies you plan to transmit on. Also the coax type will matter.
 

KF0AWL

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As a starting tech I'm planning to stay in uhf vhf 2 meter band area when I get my cert.
I was just sitting here thinking about the fact I had it and if I could use it while I decided how much I wanna spend on a better setup.
 

cmjonesinc

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See if you can find a model number on your antenna. If you can't, a picture will definitely help. Also check your coax for a model number as well. A lot of people run tv coax for scanners because they often have it or because of its low cost. Which is fine for just listening a lot of times. But tv coax is 75ohm and will not work with your radio to transmit on as it needs 50ohm.
 

KF0AWL

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See if you can find a model number on your antenna. If you can't, a picture will definitely help. Also check your coax for a model number as well. A lot of people run tv coax for scanners because they often have it or because of its low cost. Which is fine for just listening a lot of times. But tv coax is 75ohm and will not work with your radio to transmit on as it needs 50ohm.
Thanks brother! Y'all here are just excellent at making a new guy feel li
 

KF0AWL

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My coax says
20AWG TYPE (UL) CL2 E249740 75C
Hoping that helps. Been years since I bought it so can't remember all the specs.
 

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Bob1955

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I still have a antenna that I had mounted to my house to listen to my scanner years ago.
It was a Radio Shack brand but I cant remember the model.
Will this work for my Baofeng handheld 2way? With the correct adapter of course and I'll get a photo when I get home.
Baofeng is garbage and will get HUGE overload(RF) on that antenna you showed us plus it is a CHEAP Chinese transceiver. If you don't need digital/trunking, get a Bearcat BC-125 AT that has PL and alpha tagging.
Hope this helps you out. Stay safe.
 

cmjonesinc

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That's rg58 coax so it will work. There are better ones for your application, but there are worse. If it's not a long run you should be alright. I would only worry about its condition if it's been outside for a significant amount of time. Especially if the connections weren't sealed. That antenna however will be fine for listening but i wouldn't transmit on it without knowing exactly what it is. I've got one identical to it sitting in a box beside me right now that someone gave me and there isn't a clue to what model it is on mine either. As others have mentioned that radio is prone to front end overload with an external antenna, especially if you're in a rf busy area. If you're out in the sticks it probably wouldn't be so bad. I would stick to listening with that setup personally.
 

KF0AWL

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Ok thanks.
I'm still debating if I should use it or not yet, not a lot of traffic round here to overload but I have no idea the condition everything is in on it either.
 
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