Antenna for portable use

[frankc]

Hi,

I seem to recall on the old board that the best antenna to replace the stock rubber ducky on the Uniden UBCD396T was the Diamond/Andrews SRH 771.

Is this still the case ? I'm using an Andrews SRH 701S and I'm not that impressed with it on mid band VHF, and I would like to recieve that, VHF High, UHF and of course 80Mhz Trunking .

Any Suggestions ?

Frank

[centralcoastscanman]

you can look at a dedicated antenna tuned to each range if you want the best performance or look at one that covers a few but won't give as good a performance rating.

Panorama antenna's i've found are fairly reasonable in performance as i've got a couple at home and got no complaints yet...

[frankc]

you can look at a dedicated antenna tuned to each range if you want the best performance or look at one that covers a few but won't give as good a performance rating.

Panorama antenna's i've found are fairly reasonable in performance as i've got a couple at home and got no complaints yet...

Hmm, was just looking at Radioreference and the general consensus is the Diamond rh77ca

http://www.rfparts.com/diamond/rh77ca.html

Though I can't seem to find it on the Andrews Website.

Thoughts?

[cokebottle]

I bought a BNC dual band antenna at the last Wyong field day for $20 it is a RH-771 & works great on my AOR Mini scanner, most of my listening is air band & above but, also works well on my dual band handheld.

On Andrews website it says:

RH-771 2m/70cm (2.15db 70cm) 40cm long - best gain for its length!
Receive ranges; 120/150/300/450/800/900MHz bands

They have them for $29 on their website http://www.andrewscom.com.au/site-section-01.htm about 3/4 way down the page under "BNC Handheld Whips"

They also do a 6m & up whip, which is what would suit you I reckon:

RH-999 6m/2m/70cm (2.15dB)/23cm (5.5dB) 51cm long, weighs 65g. Receive ranges; AM/FM BC bands + 120/150/300/450/900MHz bands.

it is $89

They have the SMA version listed on there as well

Michael

[jaskel]

i run both the 701 and the 771, I like the 701 on UHF and GRN and ;like the 771 on airband...

For the price they are pretty good! the 771 is big...when u have the scanner in ur pocket you have to walk like u have a leg splint on..lol

[Scotty]

(Old topic - but no point in creating a new one)

Just received a new 'stubby' antenna for the 396T which I bought on eBay. Found that reception on the GRN is better than the original antenna.

The best part - it cost less than $9.00, delivered to my door.

A search for 'BNC-M UHF Stubby Antenna' on eBay will bring them up. Seller is 'good-helper'. Comes from HK, but mine took less than 7 days.

It uses a BNC plug, so you need to use the SMA to BNC adaptor which comes with the scanner, but it's worth it.

[col05_au]

Unfortunately trying to cover several different bands on the one antenna (esp in a portable) will always be a massive compromise.

If your worried about mid-band I would suggest

http://www.rfi.com.au/downloads/wireles ... tennas.pdf

HPM series,for mid-band is not too bad, also does ok (not great) at high band or UHF if you really interested I will grab some real measurements for UHF (GRN site) later over weekend.

Also keep in mind that antenna efficiency at mid-band (4M wave length) is a challenge even if you get enough wire wound into the antenna, you still need a counterpoise or ground reference, in this case the chassis of your 396 and it does not even come close to a 1/4wave of 4M.

In practice I have found a mid-band portable antenna has a "gain" of around -6 to -10 dB down from a 1/4wave whip, further compromised when you hang it on your belt.
If you comparing any of this to a "base" or 'mobile" type antenna I would not expect much.

UHF is much easier to get an efficient antenna on a portable.

If you were a little closer I would lend you a couple of different types to try.

Col

[Scotty]

Unfortunately trying to cover several different bands on the one antenna (esp in a portable) will always be a massive compromise.

If your worried about mid-band I would suggest

http://www.rfi.com.au/downloads/wireles ... tennas.pdf

I wanted something small and discreet which worked on the GRN - for 9 bucks I got exactly what I was after.

No doubt RFI antennas are the goods, but if people are after a stubby antenna for the GRN then you don't need to spend a lot of money to get somthing that works well.