Pro-164: Would the antenna I bought have worked?

[Aviation_Scanner]

I bought this antenna from amazon.
Upon receiving it, I plugged it into my scanner and turned it on.

Upon turning on the scanner, it would not pick up any of the NOAA weather frequencies.
I tried scanning my banks of railroad & air traffic control frequencies, but it wouldn't even scan.

I know the description says it is for Icom radios, but should that antenna work with my pro 164?
I am going to return it on any account and get one listed on a previous post in which I asked which antenna to get.

 

[prcguy]

Did your scanner receive anything with the stock antenna? The Amazon antenna is probably tuned for the amateur bands but should receive stuff out of band, although degraded.

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Obvious question to ask: Does any other antenna work with your scanner?

 

[Aviation_Scanner]

Obvious question to ask: Does any other antenna work with your scanner?

Did your scanner receive anything with the stock antenna? The Amazon antenna is probably tuned for the amateur bands but should receive stuff out of band, although degraded.

Yes, the stock antenna worked fine and was able to pick up all the railroad & Air Traffic Control frequencies I programmed in, but it broke and no longer would receive anything.

 

[Aviation_Scanner]

Going to get this antenna instead Whistler 6" replacement antenna

 

[kruser]

Yes, the stock antenna worked fine and was able to pick up all the railroad & Air Traffic Control frequencies I programmed in, but it broke and no longer would receive anything.

What broke?
Did this break possibly cause damage to the BNC jack or knock it loose from the PC board? That would make any antenna not work.

 

[10-43]

I would expect that antenna to receive pretty well out of band considering it's length. As Kruser mentioned, I would be curious if the BNC socket on the radio was damaged. The PRO-164 is easy to service for replacing the antenna connector. That Whistler antenna would be a direct replacement for the original antenna that came with the PRO-164. It looks identical and even has the same numbers imprinted on the bottom. They obviously continued making the same GRE antenna. I had looked at that antenna online before. I have 2 PRO-164 that need original antenna replacements. The rubber on both became hard and brittle and cracked.

 

[tvengr]

I tried scanning my banks of railroad & air traffic control frequencies, but it wouldn't even scan.

Does the display show it is scanning? Did you accidentally turn up the squelch when you put the antenna on?

 

[Aviation_Scanner]

Does the display show it is scanning? Did you accidentally turn up the squelch when you put the antenna on?

I had the squelch turned down, but turned it up and still nothing.
I just ordered the whistler antenna instead, which is similar (if not exactly alike) as the stock one I had.

 

[Aviation_Scanner]

What broke?
Did this break possibly cause damage to the BNC jack or knock it loose from the PC board? That would make any antenna not work.

The antenna itself. The BNC connector on the scanner seems fine, as I was able to plug in the antenna I bought from amazon

 

[tvengr]

What do you see on the scanner display? You may have broken the connection between the BNC connector and the circuit board when you swapped antennas.

 

[Aviation_Scanner]

What do you see on the scanner display? You may have broken the connection between the BNC connector and the circuit board when you swapped antennas.

It would just stay on the last weather channel I had it tuned to. Would not scan other channels and before anyone else asks, I did have the squelch turned up to half way.

The BNC connector is not damaged, as I removed the broken antenna, which was cracked about half way up and it was still securely connected to my scanner and did not break off.

 

[tvengr]

How did the antenna get broken? If the scanner is dropped or any undue stress is put on the antenna, the connection inside the scanner can break without any sign of a problem on the outside. That is a very common problem with handheld scanners.

 

[Aviation_Scanner]

How did the antenna get broken? If the scanner is dropped or any undue stress is put on the antenna, the connection inside the scanner can break without any sign of a problem on the outside. That is a very common problem with handheld scanners.

The scanner itself was not dropped.
It happened when I was trying to take it out of my pants pocket and it some how got wedged in my pocket to where I couldn't just pull it out via the body of the scanner.

So my dumb brain pulled hard on the antenna. While the scanner came out, it was then I realized the damage and that the antenna was broken.
Like I said no one to blame but myself.

 

[tvengr]

If you feel comfortable doing it, you need to remove the covers from the scanner and check the connection from the center pin of the BNC connector to the circuit board. Be very careful not to disturb any coils or any other components inside the scanner.

 

[MiCon]

If the next antenna doesn't work either, you probably have a problem with the BNC connector.

 

[tvengr]

If the next antenna doesn't work either, you probably have a problem with the BNC connector.

Considering the fact that the new antenna does not work at all, it's a safe bet that the problem is a broken connection. The weak link is the connection between the connector and the circuit board. The BNC connectors are pretty rugged. I have seen so many reports of the same results after stress being applied to the antenna. There has been an epidemic of broken connections with handheld scanners.

 

[Aviation_Scanner]

Considering the fact that the new antenna does not work at all, it's a safe bet that the problem is a broken connection. The weak link is the connection between the connector and the circuit board. The BNC connectors are pretty rugged. I have seen so many reports of the same results after stress being applied to the antenna. There has been an epidemic of broken connections with handheld scanners.

I managed to take the back cover off.

The only thing I could see is that small round hole with some sort of coiled copper wire behind it.

Unfortunately, I could not take off the silver cover for further inspection, as it is soldered to the PCB and I do not have the proper tools and knowledge to de-solder and solder the silver cover back on.

 

[tvengr]

It looks like you may be able to hit the center pin with a soldering iron. If you or a friend is able to do that, it is worth a try.

 

[Aviation_Scanner]

It looks like you may be able to hit the center pin with a soldering iron. If you or a friend is able to do that, it is worth a try.

I do not have anyone I know with a soldering iron and as I mentioned, I do not have a soldering iron or the knowledge on how to solder.
At this point, I am just going to wait for the replacement whistler antenna (stock one) I ordered and go from there.