Antenna for my Scanner?

Ted

Ted

The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
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Oct 9, 2007
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iFlyNothing
I have a Uniden BearTracker. In my younger days, I kept it in my cars to supplement the Valentine One. Once I started flying, I started using it to scan the aviation frequencies while driving and listen in. Now, it's been sitting in a box for the past 3 years or so.

I now have it sitting in my garage, and I'd like to hook it up to an antenna so that I can scan aviation frequencies again when I'm turning wrenches. I have no idea what's a good antenna. The unit is located around 30 ft from the garage door, which is on the basement level of the house (two floors above it).

I'm curious if anyone has a suggestion for an antenna to get that has good reception, and the best way to attach it to my house.
 
When I set up my puter to broadcast LiveATC had Dave sell me a scanner. Told my buddy, the radio nerd what I was up to.. he does all the radio work for the control tower here and offered me a good used antenna... Seems the FAA made an inspection a couple of years ago, saw some bird crap on the one that sat at the top of the tower and told them the needed a NEW one..

He ordered a new one, installed it and gave me the old one.. It is on the roof now and it is covered with snow so there ain't no way I am gonna go up to see the brand .. But the box the new one came in still had the invoice attached... The sucker was about 2 grand...:hairraise::hairraise::hairraise:..

It is gray, about 4 feet long and about 2" in diameter.... and receives planes from 100+ miles away.. I am Impressed...:yes::yes:..

Ted... if ya find a decent antenna, maybe you can upload your area feed to LIVE ATC..:dunno::dunno:
 
Since I'm a licensed ham radio operator, I get a kick outa messing with antennas when I have time. Hope you enjoy listening to aeronautical frequencies as much as I do.....

I would suggest looking at a discone antenna since you would use it for just listening. It'll cover everything the scanner can hear. Go to www.mfjenterprises.com and look at the MFJ-1866 or MFJ-1868 antennas for VHF- built well at a decent price.

As far as mounting it, antennas can be mounted on chimneys, roof vent pipes, on the eave, or against the side of the house with the right mounts. Look at www.hygain.com and look at the EVE-48 or the WMD-12. Next question would be where to run the coax. Probably across the roof and down a gutter/downspout to the basement. Use a good quality coax (RG8X for less line loss for the 40-60' you may have to run)

There may be some cheaper and lighter duty equipment out there, and Radio Slack may still sell some of that stuff. Any TV antenna mounting scheme will usually suffice for this, too. If you get the bug, you may want to get your ham license sometime in the future, and if so, the discone antennas mentioned above will get you on the air since they're transmit-capable. With a roof mount, you'll have a Big Signal!
 
I've thinking about hooking up a scanner to listen in as well. What scanner would you guys recommend? I have an old Uniden Bearcat BC350 that I've tried using with just the basic antenna that came with it but didn't have much success. Do you think adding a better antenna would work or should I get a new scanner?
 
The scanner I am using for the LiveATC feed is a Uniden BC350C... Seems to work great.....
 
DaveA said:
Since I'm a licensed ham radio operator, I get a kick outa messing with antennas when I have time. Hope you enjoy listening to aeronautical frequencies as much as I do.....

I would suggest looking at a discone antenna since you would use it for just listening. It'll cover everything the scanner can hear. Go to www.mfjenterprises.com and look at the MFJ-1866 or MFJ-1868 antennas for VHF- built well at a decent price.

As far as mounting it, antennas can be mounted on chimneys, roof vent pipes, on the eave, or against the side of the house with the right mounts. Look at www.hygain.com and look at the EVE-48 or the WMD-12. Next question would be where to run the coax. Probably across the roof and down a gutter/downspout to the basement. Use a good quality coax (RG8X for less line loss for the 40-60' you may have to run)

There may be some cheaper and lighter duty equipment out there, and Radio Slack may still sell some of that stuff. Any TV antenna mounting scheme will usually suffice for this, too. If you get the bug, you may want to get your ham license sometime in the future, and if so, the discone antennas mentioned above will get you on the air since they're transmit-capable. With a roof mount, you'll have a Big Signal!
Click to expand...


Thanks for posting this!
 
Pittdog said:
I've thinking about hooking up a scanner to listen in as well. What scanner would you guys recommend? I have an old Uniden Bearcat BC350 that I've tried using with just the basic antenna that came with it but didn't have much success. Do you think adding a better antenna would work or should I get a new scanner?
Click to expand...

The BearCat is an excellent scanner, it just depends on the antenna you have, hence my question. I actually got good results from a RadioShack antenna on my Excursion. The busy frequencies ended up being the high altitude ones for the airliners.
 
N801BH said:
When I set up my puter to broadcast LiveATC had Dave sell me a scanner. Told my buddy, the radio nerd what I was up to.. he does all the radio work for the control tower here and offered me a good used antenna... Seems the FAA made an inspection a couple of years ago, saw some bird crap on the one that sat at the top of the tower and told them the needed a NEW one..

He ordered a new one, installed it and gave me the old one.. It is on the roof now and it is covered with snow so there ain't no way I am gonna go up to see the brand .. But the box the new one came in still had the invoice attached... The sucker was about 2 grand...:hairraise::hairraise::hairraise:..

It is gray, about 4 feet long and about 2" in diameter.... and receives planes from 100+ miles away.. I am Impressed...:yes::yes:..

Ted... if ya find a decent antenna, maybe you can upload your area feed to LIVE ATC..:dunno::dunno:
Click to expand...

I'd be glad to do a LiveATC upload, but I ain't spending $2 grand on an antenna! :no: But I'd gladly take one that was free! :yes::yes::yes:
 
Dave, thanks for such a detailed post.

I'd rather not put something that looks too much like a piece of alien hardware on the house, especially since the easiest mounting point would end up being the front of the house where it will be easily visible from the street. Do you have a recommendation on an antenna that might be a little more discreet? I was thinking just a standard antenna that's a single pole. For the moment, let's assume that all I care about is receiving on aviation frequencies, and I'd change antennas if I was ever interested in expanding.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Dave, thanks for such a detailed post.

I'd rather not put something that looks too much like a piece of alien hardware on the house, especially since the easiest mounting point would end up being the front of the house where it will be easily visible from the street. Do you have a recommendation on an antenna that might be a little more discreet? I was thinking just a standard antenna that's a single pole. For the moment, let's assume that all I care about is receiving on aviation frequencies, and I'd change antennas if I was ever interested in expanding.
Click to expand...

Ok-understand. This stuff often times needs to be XYL approved (XYL=ex-young lady aka wife, in ham speak and Morse Code) so discreet is good. Perhaps a simple ground plane antenna is the ticket. It's about 2' tall and has 3-4 horizontal radial elements sticking out of the base about the same dimension. I've made a few over the years using this plan: http://www.hamuniverse.com/kc0ynr2metergppvc.html more info: http://www.ccars.org/projects/2mgp/tech_2mgp.htm

In order to get the dimensions closer to what band/freqs you want to hear, use this calculator to learn what they should be. I'd say that if you use 125.0 MHz as your 'midpoint' frequency you'll be AOK: http://www.csgnetwork.com/antennagpcalc.html

Once this little antenna is finished, instead if putting it out in front of the house simply mount it in the attic, if you have one. Unless you have a metal roof it will happily collect signals unimpeded. That also means you can put a little loop in the top end of the vertical element and hang it from the rafter with a small screw in hook. Drape the coax either thru the house and down to the basement or sneak it thru the eave and down the outside wall of the house.

Once this is accomplished, enjoy the results and then let LiveATC hear what's going on at Butler Co/KHAO. Inquiring minds want to know.....
 
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DaveA said:
Since I'm a licensed ham radio operator, I get a kick outa messing with antennas when I have time. Hope you enjoy listening to aeronautical frequencies as much as I do.....

I would suggest looking at a discone antenna since you would use it for just listening. It'll cover everything the scanner can hear. Go to www.mfjenterprises.com and look at the MFJ-1866 or MFJ-1868 antennas for VHF- built well at a decent price.

As far as mounting it, antennas can be mounted on chimneys, roof vent pipes, on the eave, or against the side of the house with the right mounts. Look at www.hygain.com and look at the EVE-48 or the WMD-12. Next question would be where to run the coax. Probably across the roof and down a gutter/downspout to the basement. Use a good quality coax (RG8X for less line loss for the 40-60' you may have to run)

There may be some cheaper and lighter duty equipment out there, and Radio Slack may still sell some of that stuff. Any TV antenna mounting scheme will usually suffice for this, too. If you get the bug, you may want to get your ham license sometime in the future, and if so, the discone antennas mentioned above will get you on the air since they're transmit-capable. With a roof mount, you'll have a Big Signal!
Click to expand...

DaveA said:
Ok-understand. This stuff often times needs to be XYL approved (XYL=ex-young lady aka wife, in ham speak and Morse Code) so discreet is good. Perhaps a simple ground plane antenna is the ticket. It's about 2' tall and has 3-4 horizontal radial elements sticking out of the base about the same dimension. I've made a few over the years using this plan: http://www.hamuniverse.com/kc0ynr2metergppvc.html more info: http://www.ccars.org/projects/2mgp/tech_2mgp.htm

In order to get the dimensions closer to what band/freqs you want to hear, use this calculator to learn what they should be. I'd say that if you use 125.0 MHz as your 'midpoint' frequency you'll be AOK: http://www.csgnetwork.com/antennagpcalc.html

Once this little antenna is finished, instead if putting it out in front of the house simply mount it in the attic, if you have one. Unless you have a metal roof it will happily collect signals unimpeded. That also means you can put a little loop in the top end of the vertical element and hang it from the rafter with a small screw in hook. Drape the coax either thru the house and down to the basement or sneak it thru the eave and down the outside wall of the house.

Once this is accomplished, enjoy the results and then let LiveATC hear what's going on at Butler Co/KHAO. Inquiring minds want to know.....
Click to expand...

My XYL thinks "stupidradio" is one word. Needless to say, my station antennas are "stealth" mode.

If you have an attic in your house you can always put the antenna there. Nobody sees it. Then all you need is creative routing of the coax. I remember doing this years ago in a house that had hall closets above each other. I just ran the coax through them (and the solar heat installer ran the pipes for the rooftop collector there, as well). No muss, no fuss. Just mount the antenna as high as you can as these frequencies are basically line of sight. The higher the antenna, the farther it can "see".

73

Ghery, N6TPT
 
the antenna I am using for the LiveATC feed....
 

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Resurrecting an old thread.

New house, new garage, new state, still want an antenna for my scanner. :)

Going based on what Ben had and going to the website Dave recommended, this is what I'm looking at: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-1521

But I really have no idea what cable or mount I then need to go with it. Suggestions?
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Resurrecting an old thread.



New house, new garage, new state, still want an antenna for my scanner. :)



Going based on what Ben had and going to the website Dave recommended, this is what I'm looking at: http://www.mfjenterprises.com/Product.php?productid=MFJ-1521



But I really have no idea what cable or mount I then need to go with it. Suggestions?
Click to expand...


Not really tuned to the aviation portion of VHF if that's what you're shooting for listening to. No real reason to even have the UHF dual band thing, but it'd work "fine". (NASA's favorite term "nominal" comes to mind.)

But MFJ is "fine". They've always been a discount manufacturer of popular stuff. Nicknamed "Mississippi's Finest Junk" but really they're not awful and they keep costs down on their stuff.

A few important questions that maybe I've forgotten... What are you most interested in receiving and how far away is it? (Checking to see if that antenna will be right.)

How far do you need to run the cable? (Need to know for cable loss...)

You know if you're just going for a single band quarter wave antenna, you can make one of those from a completely free dry cleaning style metal coat hanger straightened out for a nice stiff piece of "wire" soldered into the center pin of a bulkhead female coax connector, and then four downward sloping "ground" (really impedance matching, but call them what you like) radials soldered into the screw holes, right?
 
A simple half-wave "flower-pot" antenna can be made out of about $20 worth of hardware from Lowe's.

http://vk2zoi.com/articles/half-wave-flower-pot/

Here's a link for a 2 meter band antenna that should work pretty well for your purpose. It probably won't receive airplanes from 100 miles away. But, it'll work pretty well unless your house is blanked by terrain. And, its not some giant piece of hardware that'll draw the attention of your neighbors.

-----Added----

Like denverpilot posted above, a 2 meter antenna is nominally tuned for 144Mhz - 148Mz. That's more so because of the ham frequencies that are contained within the 2 meter band than anything else. But, the airband is just below ham 2 meter freqs. And, for a receive-only scanner, it really shouldn't make a noticeable difference.
 
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I'm looking to receive aviation frequencies, so yeah, probably not optimally tuned. I'm open to suggestions.

I don't have any particular airport I'm trying to listen for, just all aviation traffic. At this house, I could have the antenna as close as, say, 30 ft worth of wire.

This is sending only, no transmitting (duh). Since it's just for fun, cheap takes priority over "good".
 
The closer to the radio the better. You loose more signal the longer cable run you do. Have you tried setting the scanner on top of a cabinet or refrigerator in the garage and see what you can hear with the stock antenna? Outside antenna is always going to be better but if you could hear what you wanted without all of the extra work of putting up an external antenna?
 
Right now I have no antenna on it. I've owned this thing about 14 years, had it in several vehicles and it never came with a stock antenna. So, I have to buy something to use it at all.
 
Simple ground-plane like this: http://www.amazon.com/Centerfire-Ai...8-1&keywords=vhf+ground+plane+antenna+Receive

If it's a long run from the antenna to radio, See if you can get some good transmission line like LMR-240 as RG 58 that's usually used has higher loss. And get the antenna as high as you can.

If there is a Radio Shack near you that hasn't sold off all the old discontinued stock, you might see if they still had ground plane scanner antennas. One of the shops near me had a couple on clearance at $12.99 each. That's a good deal compared to the amount that Amazon wants for a similar antenna.

Or build your own with 5 long welding rods/8 gauge wire and a chassis-mount SO-239 connector.
 
wsuffa said:
Simple ground-plane like this: http://www.amazon.com/Centerfire-Ai...8-1&keywords=vhf+ground+plane+antenna+Receive

If it's a long run from the antenna to radio, See if you can get some good transmission line like LMR-240 as RG 58 that's usually used has higher loss. And get the antenna as high as you can.

If there is a Radio Shack near you that hasn't sold off all the old discontinued stock, you might see if they still had ground plane scanner antennas. One of the shops near me had a couple on clearance at $12.99 each. That's a good deal compared to the amount that Amazon wants for a similar antenna.

Or build your own with 5 long welding rods/8 gauge wire and a chassis-mount SO-239 connector.
Click to expand...

That's what I'd do. Five pieces of wire about 22 1/8 inches long (one for the vertical and four for the radials) should do it. That would be a quarter-wave at about 127 MHz. Tilt the radials down 30 degrees from the horizontal plane (120 degrees to the vertical).

Rich
 
Here's a pic of what the VK2Z01 Half-Wave VHF antenna looks like;

40681d1363208592-half-wave-coaxial-flowerpot-vertical-portant1.jpg
 
denverpilot said:
But MFJ is "fine". They've always been a discount manufacturer of popular stuff. Nicknamed "Mississippi's Finest Junk" but really they're not awful and they keep costs down on their stuff.
Click to expand...

I thought MFJ stood for "Mighty Fine Junk". :)

However, I will say that I have more than one piece of their gear in my shack and it all works fine. I have nothing against their stuff.
 
The cheapest way to go and works just fine in our house is split some coax to an average of 123.0 mhz wavelenth and then add a connector to fit the radio. You can cut it to 1/4, 1/2, 5/8 or full wavelenth if you have room. We use 5/8 WL which takes up little room. We simply measured the desired wavelength, (60" for 5/8) seperate the ground from the center, stretch it out in opposite directions and staple it down, hang it from the ceiling or whatever. Presto, instant antenna!
 
So using that method, I'd want 60" each direction (for 5/8WL) or 30" each direction for 60" total?
 
yeah, 60" each way.
- measure down 60" from the end
- trim the case around and slide it off
- make a small notch (hole) in the ground braid
- use a small probe to work the conductor thru the hole
- pull it all the way out
- you now have 60" of conductor and ground to be spread opposite
- it crude but works.
 
Since cheap is what I want, that sounds good. I'd just need to find a BNC connector for the end of it.
 
I have PVC sitting around, so I could do that.
 
I love this stuff!

--

While we're "at it," has anyone a suggestion for a glass-mount antenna air band for my truck? I'd like to have an installed transceiver, and would like to avoid drilling holes.

It need not be awesome, will be transmitting only to the tower (ground) when going into movement areas.
 
SCCutler said:
I love this stuff!

--

While we're "at it," has anyone a suggestion for a glass-mount antenna air band for my truck? I'd like to have an installed transceiver, and would like to avoid drilling holes.

It need not be awesome, will be transmitting only to the tower (ground) when going into movement areas.
Click to expand...

Check with HRO (Ham Radio Outlet). They have glass mount ham antennas (I use one) and I wouldn't be surprised to see that air band antennas are also available. If HRO can't help, check with Larsen Antennas directly. I'm sure they have what you need.
 
Ghery said:
Check with HRO (Ham Radio Outlet). They have glass mount ham antennas (I use one) and I wouldn't be surprised to see that air band antennas are also available. If HRO can't help, check with Larsen Antennas directly. I'm sure they have what you need.
Click to expand...

$$$. $$. For mediocre performance.

Spike, if it's just for receive (NOT transmit), get a splitter for the car radio antenna. FM band is close enough that it will work. (I once worked for an organization that used "disguise" antennas that were really replacements for the car antenna. They provided receive for the car radio and transmit/receive in the 170 MHz band.)

Look here for Larsen glass-mount antennas: http://www.pulseelectronics.com/products/antennas/larsen_antenna_products/public_safety_applications

You might think about magnetic mount if you have a place to put it where it won't get "whacked" in a parking garage.
 
wsuffa said:
$$$. $$. For mediocre performance.

Spike, if it's just for receive (NOT transmit), get a splitter for the car radio antenna. FM band is close enough that it will work. (I once worked for an organization that used "disguise" antennas that were really replacements for the car antenna. They provided receive for the car radio and transmit/receive in the 170 MHz band.)

Look here for Larsen glass-mount antennas: http://www.pulseelectronics.com/products/antennas/larsen_antenna_products/public_safety_applications

You might think about magnetic mount if you have a place to put it where it won't get "whacked" in a parking garage.
Click to expand...

HRO would simply be a source for Larsen, among others.

I like the idea of a splitter. All he wants to do is receive, so VSWR isn't so critical.
 
Ghery said:
HRO would simply be a source for Larsen, among others.

I like the idea of a splitter. All he wants to do is receive, so VSWR isn't so critical.
Click to expand...

Agree. Though I find with HRO that knowing the model number that you want makes life much, much easier.....
 
Spike said it would transmit and receive, but it could be a relatively poor transmission.
 
Definitely transmit, as well as receive; longest distance required: maybe 5,000', with a 5-watt transmitter. Might could do that sticking a bobby-pin in the back...
 
SCCutler said:
Definitely transmit, as well as receive; longest distance required: maybe 5,000', with a 5-watt transmitter. Might could do that sticking a bobby-pin in the back...
Click to expand...

Heck, a handheld will do just fine.

I'd do a mag mount, but that's just me.
 
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