My 1st time posting to a newsgroup but I would like to throw my 2 cents in
here. I do not, nor am I acquainted with anyone that works for Radio Shack.
I am a novice as well, with the same testing equipment (my ears and what my
scanner can receive). I received a PRO97 as a gift in November and I'm now
hooked, I enjoy scanning more than I thought I ever would, even with the
learning curve required for the trunking AND all of the mis-information
available to newbie's. That said, I agree with alexx1400 100%. I have used
2 other non stock antennas, one being the Radio Shack antenna discussed here
on my PRO97 and on a PRO92 that belongs to a friend. The 800MHz RS antenna
improved the reception a great deal on both scanners in the same frequency
range that alexx states, and in the case of these 2 scanners, the "150
range" reception also improved, so much so my friend also purchased the
identical antenna, however, neither radio has any reception in the lowest
range which neither one of us cares about. Maybe the area I live in (Hudson
Valley, NY) has something to do with the improvement with the antenna, I
don't have any technical spec's one way or the other, but I must say that
neither radio has any signal without the antenna, nada. At this point both
of us are satisfied with the gain in signal strength and clarity that the
RS-800MHz antenna provided over the stock unit and feel the $ was well
spent. Could it be the area that you use your PRO95 in has anything to do
with having such a great signal?

"NeonHomer" wrote in message
...
I have one of those 800MHz antennas on my Pro95 as well.. I get the
same signal w/ the antenna, or w/o it... or w/o any antenna
whatsoever!!

I found the pro95 works better when you leave the first channel
(channel 0) blank on a bank that is trunked... for some reason it
works a whole lot better.. for me anyway... This is with an EDACS
system, not a Motorola... I haven't tried it w/ moto yet.



On Mon, 24 Jan 2005 21:04:16 GMT, "Alex Clayton"
wrote:

First let me start with, I know nothing about radio, and antenna's other
than what I experience. When I mentioned a while back I had found I could
shorten my antenna on a Pro-95 and still get the 800 trunked police calls
the same I got a bunch of e-mails from people who are MUCH more educated
than me, telling me all the reasons it would not work and do not try it. I
already had done it, with an extra antenna and it works just as well as
the
antennas that came with the Pro-79 and Pro-95.
Now it did hinder the county police calls here that come out on the
150's
band, but I seldom listen to them and did not care. Also this involves
Radio
shack. I know a lot of you have an ax to grind with them, again I don't
care
so don't bother e-mailing me to tell me they are the worst place on the
planet to buy anything from. So all that out of the way G:
Since the city here started switching over to 800 trunked I learned to
program the Pro-95 I had bought a couple years ago. I found the reception
on
the 800 band works better than the old 400 band, which the police are
still
using while they up date all their radios, in areas that were hard to
receive before. Such as inside buildings where I work for example. It used
to be hard to pick up calls inside the buildings if the scanner was worn
on
my belt, with the 800 it seems to make no difference, inside, outside, on
my
belt or on my shoulder which was nice. When the weather was bad reception
did get a lot of static on the 800, but you could still hear them. Anyway
I
noticed RS offered an antenna that was supposed to work better on the 800
trunked. I finally decided to give it a try, figured if it did nothing I
would just take it back. Well after trying it, it does work better, than
the
original antennas, at least to my un educated ears. They "claim" it works
twice as well, now to my again un trained ears that's a stretch, but it
does
work better. The new one does also work just as well on the 400 and 150's
band, even though they warned me at the store that it would not. I did not
care, but since the police here are transmitting on both right now it's
easy
to check. So anyway for anyone who is an novice like me, if you are
listening to the 800 and having trouble it may be worth trying one of
these.
You can order them off the RS site, I just went to the local store and
bought one.