Attic antenna
 

Any recommendations for an antenna to put in the attic for use with a
bc895xlt scanner. Will be for general scanning and not on any particular
frequency. Dimensions would be helpful if anyone has this.

Bob

"Bob" wrote in message ...
Any recommendations for an antenna to put in the attic for use with a
bc895xlt scanner. Will be for general scanning and not on any particular
frequency. Dimensions would be helpful if anyone has this.

Bob

Radio shack discone? Fairly broadbanded...A simple ground plane will
work fairly well for most freq's. Depends on the range you want to
cover. A GP cut for hi-band VHF will do a passable job on UHF as a
psuedo 5/8 wave of sorts. Most public service signals are fairly
strong unless you are in the sticks, so it should't be real critical.
MK

I second the notion for a Radio Shack discone antenna. It's just what
you're asking for unless you want directivity & gain to focus on areas. In
that case, I recommend a log-periodic dipole for VHF/UHF.
In the latter case, it depends on your geographic position and interests.
If you're in the burbs and interests lay in the town 10 miles away, then
you'd turn the LPD array toward town at it'd be better. Just food for
thought.
Maybe if you're very serious, you could eventually put both in the attic.
An antenna switch and a rotator... Bam! The best of both worlds.
o_o_o_o
Best Regards, /| ,[_____],
Jim, WP3JQ |¯¯¯L --O|||||||O-
()_)¯()_) ¯¯¯¯¯ )_)
EM60qk 30.447439N 086.628959W

The stock indoor seems fine for local VHF but not too good on the 800 mhz
trunked system. How does the dicone work on the 800 mhz band?


"Mark Keith" wrote in message
om...
"Bob" wrote in message
...
Any recommendations for an antenna to put in the attic for use with a
bc895xlt scanner. Will be for general scanning and not on any particular
frequency. Dimensions would be helpful if anyone has this.

Bob

Radio shack discone? Fairly broadbanded...A simple ground plane will
work fairly well for most freq's. Depends on the range you want to
cover. A GP cut for hi-band VHF will do a passable job on UHF as a
psuedo 5/8 wave of sorts. Most public service signals are fairly
strong unless you are in the sticks, so it should't be real critical.
MK

"Bob" wrote in message ...
The stock indoor seems fine for local VHF but not too good on the 800 mhz
trunked system. How does the dicone work on the 800 mhz band?

Dunno. Never tried one. If it's outdoors or in the attic, it should be
better than a whip on a radio. It's kind of hard to get real good
performance from a vertical through that large a frequency range. You
might want to get a separate 800 mhz antenna. I've been trying
different antennas to try to improve cell phone signals. I made a
little 3 el yagi for cell phones out of 1/4 inch copper tubing.
"silver soldered plumbers delight" I bent the copper boom into an L,
so it can be held and pointed. I may try other antennas like corner
reflectors, bowties, etc, turned vertical for cell phone use. If you
are listening to trunked systems , you may need a fairly omni antenna.
Maybe a collinear vertical or something. You could make one from coax
sections and stick it in a tube of thin PVC. MK

The stock indoor seems fine for local VHF but not too good on the 800 mhz
trunked system. How does the dicone work on the 800 mhz band?

Bob-

A basic discone has about a ten to one frequency range. The latest version of
Radio Shack's discone has a vertical element added so it can be used to
transmit on the Six Meter Ham Band. The earlier version without the vertical
element, was good from about 100 MHz to 1000 MHz.

The discone is intended for use with scanners. Even with the Six Meter
element, it is probably the best choice readily available to cover all
frequencies up to the 900 MHz Ham Band. You may be able to remove the element
and see if it makes any difference at the higher frequency.

73, Fred, K4DII

All,
Thanks for the input....I guess I will try out the RS dicone.

Bob

"Fred McKenzie" wrote in message
...

The stock indoor seems fine for local VHF but not too good on the 800 mhz
trunked system. How does the dicone work on the 800 mhz band?

Bob-

A basic discone has about a ten to one frequency range. The latest
version of
Radio Shack's discone has a vertical element added so it can be used to
transmit on the Six Meter Ham Band. The earlier version without the
vertical
element, was good from about 100 MHz to 1000 MHz.

The discone is intended for use with scanners. Even with the Six Meter
element, it is probably the best choice readily available to cover all
frequencies up to the 900 MHz Ham Band. You may be able to remove the
element
and see if it makes any difference at the higher frequency.

73, Fred, K4DII

Thanks Jim...Just starting in the hobby so I'm sure I will go through some
different types of equipment.

"Drink" wrote in message
...
I second the notion for a Radio Shack discone antenna. It's just what
you're asking for unless you want directivity & gain to focus on areas.
In
that case, I recommend a log-periodic dipole for VHF/UHF.
In the latter case, it depends on your geographic position and
interests.
If you're in the burbs and interests lay in the town 10 miles away, then
you'd turn the LPD array toward town at it'd be better. Just food for
thought.
Maybe if you're very serious, you could eventually put both in the
attic.
An antenna switch and a rotator... Bam! The best of both worlds.
o_o_o_o
Best Regards, /| ,[_____],
Jim, WP3JQ |¯¯¯L --O|||||||O-
()_)¯()_) ¯¯¯¯¯ )_)
EM60qk 30.447439N 086.628959W

On Sat, 30 Aug 2003 20:03:40 -0400, "Bob" wrotF:

The stock indoor seems fine for local VHF but not too good on the 800 mhz
trunked system. How does the dicone work on the 800 mhz band?

One thing to be aware of for the 800 MHz band. Transmission line
losses can defeat the advantage of a better antenna in a better
location. Use low loss coax and keep the length as short as possible.

I'd be inclined toward some type of 800 MHz collinear gain antenna not
too far from the receiver. You might be able to find gain cell phone
mobile antennas that could be adapted at a good price. I picked up a
couple trunk lid mount cell phone antennas at a dollar store for $2
each. I wish I would have bought more, but I didn't realize they were
NMO mounts until much later.