yagi antenna for a pro-106

[khoelldobler]

GREETINGS ALL, I have a question, I would like to say a qwik question, but I am inexperienced with yagi's, and I guess some of the answers I need are not so simple. I own a Pro-106 scanner, and I have had great luck with VHF using my discone, my discone picks up clear reception up to approx 65 miles. I believe that I want to try a yagi to improve reception on 800 trunking freq's. I already own coax, and a good antenna switch. I think I would like a yagi up on the same mast as the discone. The yagi's I've seen have been designated as cell yagi's, or for 2 meter and ham. A while back I had noticed 2 or 3 yagi's on ebay, and they were being listed as scanner use for 800 mhz. I did some searching of thier model numbers, and found they were listed as UHF 806 to 866 mhz and I would require an adapter for the coax connection. Will this style antenna work for my reception needs for trunking 800 mhz, and would it be worth buying and attempting to direct it at a tower in my town. Keep in mind, the discone does a pretty good job at the 800 freq's in my area, but from all I have read, the 800 yagi might really kick things up a notch, especially when most yagi's have good gain.

 

[iMONITOR]

Looking at the RR database you have three 800MHz systems in your area you may be interested in monitoring:

Marion County Public Safety
Ocala Public Safety
Statewide Law Enforcement Radio System

A Yagi antenna is very directional and offers high gain only in one direction, and attenuates signals off the back and sides. If you're targeting all of the above systems, how does their location relate to yours?

 

[khoelldobler]

The MCSO is APCO 25 common air interface exclusive with a total of 5 towers in the county. The MCSO has an Ocala site tower on S.W. 8th Street, approx 4 to 5 miles from my home. There are no major Bldgs or obstructions between that tower and my home…

New Project 25 TRS now online, for all public safety operations across the county. Currently, there is very little traffic on the system, but that is expected to change dramatically in the coming months. Moreover, this is a five-site simulcast system that uses CQPSK-Phase 1 modulation. The tower sites are located at:
1. Cotton Plant (Four kilometers SW of town).
2. Ocala, 2020 Southwest 8th Street.
3. Ocala, 231st Avenue.
4. Irvine, JCT of I-75 and Hwy 318 West.
5. Welaka, 23561 NE 120th Street.

The Ocala PD is currently on a Motorola smartnet type II trunk 800 system. They are soon going to a system like the MCSO is on… Digital I believe. I think that their tower is towards the same direction, at OPD Headquarters, but approx another 3 to 4 miles past the MCSO tower, in that same direction from my home. I guess that I would have to point the yagi at that direction, or close to it, for best results.

Other than those two systems, I don’t really listen to anything else. The OPD system includes Ocala Fire & Rescue and the MCSO system includes the MC Fire Rescue. On Occasion, I monitor Gainesville on VHF on my discone… and Gainesville also uses some 800 Trunked freq’s which don’t come in that clear. Gainesville is 1 hour north of me, and OPD and MCSO is somewhat north west to west of me.

 

[hoser147]

hey Kevin take a look at these,http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131730

 

[iMONITOR]

301111 Wilson Cellular YAGI Antenna for Nextel LINC

http://cgi.ebay.com/301111-Wilson-C...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:15|39:1|240:1318

 

[khoelldobler]

hey Kevin take a look at these,http://www.radioreference.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131730

hi hoser, I just bought this on ebay about a half hour ago

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=160311045680&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=006

what do ya think... pretty good deal. I am gonna give it a try.

 

[khoelldobler]

301111 Wilson Cellular YAGI Antenna for Nextel LINC

http://cgi.ebay.com/301111-Wilson-C...286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66:2|65:15|39:1|240:1318

yes that looks pretty neat, I just bought a yagi with-in the last 20 to 30 minutes on ebay. A Maxrad MYA 8063 for a good price. I made him an offer of 35.00 and he agreed to my offer.

What I didnt really understand, is how these yagi's are listed for cellular, nextel, iden etc... I didnt know they all could be used for scanners. I guess ya have to watch the freq's they are tuned for. What your saying, is any 800 mhz yagi should work properly as a scanner antenna with the right adapter connectors for my coax.

 

[iMONITOR]

yes that looks pretty neat, I just bought a yagi with-in the last 20 to 30 minutes on ebay. A Maxrad MYA 8063 for a good price. I made him an offer of 35.00 and he agreed to my offer.

What I didnt really understand, is how these yagi's are listed for cellular, nextel, iden etc... I didnt know they all could be used for scanners. I guess ya have to watch the freq's they are tuned for. What your saying, is any 800 mhz yagi should work properly as a scanner antenna with the right adapter connectors for my coax.

The one you purchased should do fine, considering it will be an improvement over the discone. The Nextel/iDEN application is irrelevant, it's all about the frequency range, and gain.

How long will your coax be and what coax are you intending on using?

 

[khoelldobler]

The one you purchased should do fine, considering it will be an improvement over the discone. The Nextel/iDEN application is irrelevant, it's all about the frequency range, and gain.

How long will your coax be and what coax are you intending on using?

My run will be approx 50 feet, and I have a fresh piece of 50 ft length of Times Microwave LMR-400 in the garage. its a drop piece I had left over from another coax project.

 

[hoser147]

Its worth a try, I bought my yagi off ebay, came with a hardline. I like it, just need to get it up with a rotor, its up and fixed now.

 

[iMONITOR]

My run will be approx 50 feet, and I have a fresh piece of 50 ft length of Times Microwave LMR-400 in the garage. its a drop piece I had left over from another coax project.

Perfect!

 

[khoelldobler]

Its worth a try, I bought my yagi off ebay, came with a hardline. I like it, just need to get it up with a rotor, its up and fixed now.

I cant afford a rotor right now, fixed should be good for me, as both towers (MCSO and OPD) are in a straight line from me from what I have found.

 

[khoelldobler]

SIG-INT and HOSER, YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST. You have answered my questions regarding the yagi, and this gives me insight to go ahead with this yagi project. I guess my questions regarding a yagi for a Pro-106 were simple after-all. I will run the discone and yagi thru my antenna switch. I now have the knoweledge to go to the next level. Thanks again, stay well, and good night.

 

[hoser147]

Good Luck Have a good one.