Yagi Indoor Antenna

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pfd461

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Hey everybody. I constantly read posts about the performance issues with 700/800 P25 Phase 2 reception with both Whistler and Uniden units me included I saw one post saying it's almost like fraud saying these scanners will pick this up when they don't of course if your one of the lucky people that its works for that's great. My question though is I see Scanner Master has a indoor yagi with stand for around $ 140. But is this wishful thinking or does this antenna actually do the job? No I don't believe I will be pulling in traffic 60 miles away. Just stuff that I should get easily. Thanks for any input.
 

dave3825

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What is your current set up? What antenna are you using? Where is it mounted? What scanner do you have?
 

W3DMV

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Most yagi antennas are designed for maximum gain which is fine if
your trying to hear signals that are weak and far from your location.
If your trying to eliminate simocast problems, then you need a yagi
designed for a very clean pattern (low side lobes & high front to back
ratio). Many major antenna companies can supply antenna pattern
graphs so you can see what your getting. It's very difficult to null out
unwanted signals if the antenna pattern is poor,
One of the facts of life is the antenna will be constructed for maximum
gain, or clean pattern. It is extremely difficult to design one that has both.
Try to acquire a graph showing the design pattern of the antenna your
interested in.
The other problem you face when using a indoor yagi is the effects of
both the building and other near-by objects distorting the pattern and de-
tuning the antenna. Also pay attention to the manufacturers specs. Yagi
antennas are normally narrow band devices. Gain can be reasonable over
a area of frequencies but the pattern can change dramatically as you move
away from the center design frequency.
If the seller is unable to supply graphs and specs for the antenna, I would
not make the purchase. I have built many yagi's over the years and I have
a garage ful of them. It's interesting to note that many of the commercial
one's I own are worthless with the exception of the big companies which
sell good units to the two way industry.
Good luck ......
 

sparklehorse

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I'm currently using this Yagi mounted outdoors:

824-960, 13dBi, Terrawave Yagi Base Antenna | Scanner Master

It could of course be used indoors if you have space for it. It's about 4 feet long. It works pretty well on my local P25 Phase I system. Still not perfect, but it's working better than the $15 yagi I got at Amazon a while back which was intended for cell phones. It took some experimenting with direction to find the sweet spot.

The coax is also important. I'm using 12 feet of RG6 I got from Amazon that has BNC connectors at both ends. Most of these Yagis don't have BNC connectors, so you will likely need an adapter or two to make it all work.

.
 

AtlasFBG2

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I just got this antenna this week and have had good results with it.

Can pull in all surrounding counties p25 phase 1 systems and works good on 450-470 MHz dmr systems. Stuff I could never pick up with a rs800 or diamond rh77ca antennas.

Have it sitting on top of a step ladder in a one story house for now. Plan on putting it inside attic with a rotator in the future.

400-960Mhz 7dBi, SpectrumForce Yagi Base Antenna | Scanner Master
 

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an39511

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Cleveland, Ohio
I also use the 824-960, 13dBi, Terrawave Yagi Base Antenna | Scanner Master
Being in the middle of several towers I found it impossible to receive P25 simulcast with any reliability. This Yagi works extremely well once it is aimed properly. Using inline attenuation seems to help quite a bit as well. I don't know how well it will work indoors with the signal being reflected. When I first got it I tried using it indoors and it didn't work well. Once outside though I have no errors in the signal.
 

W3DMV

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Atlasfbg2.... Your antenna is mounted for horizontal polorazation Might want to turn it
90 degrees for vertical signals which should work much better...
 

CycleSycho

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I just got this antenna this week and have had good results with it.

Can pull in all surrounding counties p25 phase 1 systems and works good on 450-470 MHz dmr systems. Stuff I could never pick up with a rs800 or diamond rh77ca antennas.

Have it sitting on top of a step ladder in a one story house for now. Plan on putting it inside attic with a rotator in the future.

400-960Mhz 7dBi, SpectrumForce Yagi Base Antenna | Scanner Master

:confused: Atlas, I believe your antenna is cross-polarized! :confused:

:) I should read the rest of the posts before replying? :)
 
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AtlasFBG2

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It is mounted off to the side of a ladder so it is in the correct position. I just snapped a picture of it when I was moving stuff around.
 

JD21960

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Yagi Indoor antennas

Hey AtlasFBG2 I have that same antenna as an experiment. I already have the 13db increase Yagi from scanner master. It's superior to everything I tried. But it's only for 700/800mhz and I like the 400-520 bands too. So, I bought that to test things with. Aimed it at O'hare Airport to get a 460-478mhz DMR AND I wanted the 800mhz Starcom21 P25 Simulcast I usually use the other antenna for. I tried it the way you have it... like the pic shown at scanner master and yours. No go for 800mhz, great on 400-520mhz. SO ... I unfastened the wing nut for the black transformer and antenna, put it at the BACK where there is a clamp I believe. There's holes there to screw it in behind all the elements instead of the middle of the antenna. There's an arrow on the black transformer for aiming guide for some reason. Since I changed it there, I get the P25 Simulcast in very good AND 400-520mhz. Just changing the element position made it happen instead of the first position I use the main 800mhz Yagi most the time, but now I do have the option of switching to hear everything. That antenna is only 30.00$ I left a review of it on Scanner Master.
 
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jim202

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That black transformer is the pickup element. It needs to be in front of the angled section. That is part of the front to back rejection. But the whole antenna needs to be mounted with all the elements pointing up and down, not horizontal. Mounting the antenna in the horizontal position will cause a 30 db loss of signal due to cross polarization.

You also need to know the direction to the tower your trying to listen to. Point the front of the antenna towards the tower with the angled section (back) of the antenna away from the tower.

Not sure if there are extra holes in the square metal support center boom of the antenna to be able to change the mounting orientation of the beam antenna. If not, you may have to drill some. Just make sure you don't drill near the original hols, but in the other plane to mount the antenna. My comment here is to not to weaken the strength of the boom.

Let the group here know how you make out.
 

JD21960

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@ pfd461 - Is this the one you mean? (link below) If so .. I have it and bought it when it was only $89.00. It got good reviews then they jacked the price up. I even left a review on it back in 2015 and updated it on scanner master in 2016 after use. THAT antenna is great. 13db of gain compared to the cheaper little one I use to experiment with in the photos above. That only has 7db of gain. I DO recommend that more expensive antenna.

Indoor 700/800 MHz Yagi Directional Antenna with Desktop Stand | Scanner Master
 
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pombal

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My simple Yagi setup

WP_20170115_00_37_10_Pro.jpg@pdf461- I have Yagi that Johnnydollar2 mentions, indoors on cheap Walmart tripod.I'm in Southern NH and aim it at MSP and get good and excellent reception. I use HP-1E and BCD996P2 (which currently kicks butt). Stay with it and tweak, you will get good results.:cool:
 
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pfd461

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Thank you everyone for your input with this yagi antenna. And Johnydollar yes that is the one I was looking at. Sounds like it might be a winner. Do you know the length of that antenna?
 

AggieCon

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That's a rip off. I'd pay no more than $30 for those cheap aluminum or stainless steel antennas. Theft.
 

Freqed

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Received my Yagi antenna from SM today, unfortunately it came in more pieces than it was supposed to now I have to deal with that crap. :(
 
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