Antenna Question?

Hello Everybody,

I have a Uniden Bearcat BC60XLT-1 handheld scanner,it works great,I have no complaints.I recently perchased a Hustler antenna for the car,and that works great too!Now,for the house,I need an antenna for the house.I have a 2 year old T.V antenna some 30 feet from the ground,thats no in use right now,I was wondering,because the railroad band is in VHF,and t.v's run in VHF,UHF mode,if i got a BNC connector,would it be possible that it would work just as good as if i were to buy a C.B antenna?
I apperciate any information thats given,Thanks in advance.

Darren

It would work better than a CB antenna which would be very poor for VHF/UHF scanning. There are some problems with the TV antenna for scanner use. TV antennas are horizontally polarized and communications signals are vertically polarized so there would be some signal loss. Most TV antennas are directional which could be a disadvantange unless your desired reception is from the direction the antenna is pointing. They are optimized for the TV frequencies which are higher than the VHF and UHF scanner frequencies so they would be more efficient at receiving TV signals than communications. If you are near a TV transmitter, the scanner can be overloaded by strong TV signals and the use of a TV antenna would make it worse.

For best results, a base scanner antenna like a Radio Shack 20-043 or 20-176 would be best for general VHF/UHF reception. If you want optimum performance on the VHF RR band, check out the Traintenna at this link:

http://eje.railfan.net/dpdp/page_traintenna.html

Having said all this, the TV antenna will still probably work beter than the antenna on the scanner so it is worth a try. Get an adapter and see what happens.

I already looked into the Trainantenna,I just thought I'd see if I can use the T.V antenna,before spending money on the Trainantenna.Thanks alot for your information,I will give it a try,and see.


Darren

there is a lot, and I mean a lot of words on antennas http://forums.railfan.net/forums.cgi?bo ... 1070812348
don't get sucked into the Madison Avenue antenna BS. read... As far as one being better, sure..... and I have this great abridge in bklin fer sale....
EdM

EdM wrote: don't get sucked into the Madison Avenue antenna BS. read... As far as one being better, sure..... and I have this great abridge in bklin fer sale....
EdM

Very good point! Most antenna gain specifications for the hobby market are pure BS.

I have not personally used the Traintenna but it is a well proven design of a type used in commercial antennas that cost $100-300. It appears to be well constructed and the design is "DC grounded" which helps with lightning protection although a lightning arrestor is still recommended. It is designed for use on the 160 MHz RR frequencies so if you want an antenna for general scanner use on all bands, there are other choices that may be more appropriate.

I agree with the post on the coax topic that Grove Electronics is a very reliable dealer for general scanner use antennas, cables etc..

The Grove Scantenna is a good all band scanner antenna. It is a 72 ohm antenna so it uses the Grove recommended RG6 (smaller and more flexible than RG8 but with comparable loss) cable with Type F connectors and includes a BNC adapter for the scanner.

ive been using the traintenna for a few months now and am very happy with the results ive had. much better than any all band antenna ive used in the past. but it was 80$ after tax and shipping so do think twice about it.

Here's an inexpensive test you can try before you spend the big $$$. You may find this will provide you with everything you want to hear for next to no $$$.

Figure the length of the two pieces of wire specific to the railroad frequencies you want to listen to in your neighborhood, (around 15.5 inches is good). Get a simple SO-239 connector from Radio Shack, (maybe $2.50 if that much), and a length of coax to run to your radio. Solder one length of wire to the center lead of the SO-239. The other length of wire gets soldered to the SO-239's case. Hang it vertically in your attic, up among the ridge and rafters, run the coax down to your radio and enjoy!

73 de Don, N2QHV