Would A Antenna Help???

bcpd0716

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Joined
Feb 27, 2019
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Good Evening - I need some help and am hopeful someone in here will be able to assist me. I live about 30 miles from where I want to pick up a signal. I live in Wicomico County, Maryland and wish to pick up the signal for Ocean City, MD. When I drive about 5 miles east, I can pick up the signal for that location but not from my house (about 5 miles short).

I have both a Unication G5 and a Uniden SDS 100 and have had no luck with the signal on either for Ocean City.

I would buy an antenna but I was told that they are a waste of money, that they don't really do much for reception. Any suggestions?
 

mmckenna

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Jul 27, 2005
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Depends.

Better antennas can help, but they can't pull a signal out of the air when there isn't one to be pulled.

If there are hills in your way, adding a bigger antenna on your home may not be enough.
Adding a bigger antenna on a hand held scanner or pager is absolutely not going to be enough.

For base use, you ~could~ try getting an external antenna up as high as you can, and using very high quality coaxial cable to get that signal down to your radio. However, there's not guarantee that would work. One thing you can try is taking your scanner up on the roof with it's stock antenna and see if you can receive it. If you can, an external antenna would help. If you can't, it may not help.
 

bcpd0716

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Joined
Feb 27, 2019
Messages
5
Depends.

Better antennas can help, but they can't pull a signal out of the air when there isn't one to be pulled.

If there are hills in your way, adding a bigger antenna on your home may not be enough.
Adding a bigger antenna on a hand held scanner or pager is absolutely not going to be enough.

For base use, you ~could~ try getting an external antenna up as high as you can, and using very high quality coaxial cable to get that signal down to your radio. However, there's not guarantee that would work. One thing you can try is taking your scanner up on the roof with it's stock antenna and see if you can receive it. If you can, an external antenna would help. If you can't, it may not help.
Thank you - I'm going to try that with the scanner on the roof. It will give me a base idea if it is worth messing with or if I am wasting my time. Thank you.
 

dave3825

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Suffolk County NY
I would buy an antenna but I was told that they are a waste of money, that they don't really do much for reception.
An antenna tuned for the freqs you are monitoring is always the best option. Wow, Ocean City MD? I have received that system up here on Long Island during some nice band openings.

Anyway, my sds200 barely picks up NYPD from my living room and when it does break squelch, it's all static. I made a Moxon tuned for the 460/470 range and it eliminated most of the static.

Your best bet is find an antenna on amazon, tuned for whichever site is closer to you, and is made for the sds100 that offers free returns.


RFSSSiteNameFreqs
5 (5)005 (5)Ocean Pines856.5375c857.7375c858.2875c858.7375c859.6125c
30 (1E)030 (1E)Simulcast769.26875c770.05625c770.85625c772.10625c772.43125c772.70625c
 

dave3825

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A external outdoor antenna gave my SDS200 life, but that's a different deal than the 100.
Not at all. I use an outdoor antenna on my 436 a good part of the time while home and when I go mobile, I have a mag mount dual band 460 - 800 thingy that does fine for me.
 

Brales60

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Jun 19, 2022
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Punta Gorda, Fl
Interesting to know. Is the SDS200 stronger because it is a base than the mobile?
See below. My house is completely foil insulation wrapped, roof trusses and walls included. My windows are heavy hurricane tint, and really dark. There is metal in this tint..
The 100 and the 200 "should" perform about the same but I'm not certain that holds true. My money would be on the 200.
I kind of think the same just due to the physical size different. What type of antenna connection does the 100 use?
 
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