m,ore scaner help

raggie33

*the raggedier*
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
13,451
i picked up a scaner at goodwill it needed a atena which i had adn the battery contacts needed cleaned. but i cant figure it out thanks to a link a felow cpfer gave me i found out my city police dept useing a trunking system..so i look up how to program my pro 94 for trunking but when i turn on trunking it dont get no action at all soon as i turn it off i get talking.id sure aprechate some one to explain this to me in simple simple words lol all the stuff i read so far confuses me more ..lol so far i did here cool stuff..
 

raggie33

*the raggedier*
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
13,451
i figured it out .kinda cool. but it has all kinda other stuff i dont wanna here lol. but man this city is crazy and its still early lol. do you know how far a scaner can recive?with the atena thats on the hand held?
 

redcar

Enlightened
Joined
Jul 9, 2004
Messages
250
Glad you got the trunking figured out...

As far as distance goes, 10-50 miles from the repeater.

Worst case: You're in a basement, with the small antenna, your house is in a valley, behind a mountain from the repeater sites and there are trees and bushes everywhere and they are soaking wet from a hard rain - 5 miles.

Best case: You're in tent, on top of a mountian, clear air, no trees or bushes between you and the horizon - 90 miles.

Your mileage WILL vary.
 

raggie33

*the raggedier*
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
13,451
im trunking3 cities now i still can t figure out how to ignore the people who share the same chanels .i dont think ya can.the ems is kinda boreing lol.so far i can reach colombus ga
id guess its like 50 miles from me im in lagrasnge ga i wish it came in cleared though but my city comes in great this was a 5 bucxks well spent lol.i love thrift store
 

raggie33

*the raggedier*
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
13,451
i forgot whats the cheapest way to get better reception are there any very cheap atenas or ones that can be made easly?
 

redcar

Enlightened
Joined
Jul 9, 2004
Messages
250
I agree with Lasernerd, Radio Snack will get you started.

Don't feel required to put up an outside antenna, many times an indoor antenna, especially in the attic, can work pretty good. Of course I'm talking single dwelling, wood construction, fiberglass shingles. I've had as many as 35 antennas in the attic, though I am down to about a dozen now. I do have a 'few' outside as well.

I used to live in a mobile home some years ago. And later lived in a farm house with a tin roof. Absolutely great places for radios. I would just stick mobile mag mounts up there on the roof. A tremendous ground plane, especially for VHF/UHF/800.

I have friends who live in apartments/condos who get by on antennas inside the house. Move them around and try different setups. Part of the fun of it.

Try to keep the coax short, very short, and of as high a quality as will not bust your wallet. Cheap, thin, long runs will eat a lot of signal at 800Mhz. Really doesn't matter what coax you use on the Low bands on Shortwave.

You might also try this site

Grove Enterprises

They have antennas and lots of other stuff too.
 

raggie33

*the raggedier*
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Messages
13,451
the chanles i want to recive are all in 800 range. i have a very old around 100 year old house huge atic .lolspecaily since chimey fell down.. man this is adictive listening to all that goes on.. but id love to get atl lol i can only imagine what goes on in atl at night.
 

redcar

Enlightened
Joined
Jul 9, 2004
Messages
250
Check out the 800Mhz antennas at Grove. Just don't poke your eye out with the handheld model!
 

chmsam

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 26, 2004
Messages
2,241
Location
3rd Stone
Regular antennas for TV's will work for some frequencies but not the 800 MHz stuff. I think your scanner uses BNC antenna connectors. So, if you use a TV antenna and it has the F connector type (like for cable TV), just get an F to BNC adapter. Radio Shack has them. If the TV antenna has twin leads (the two wires with the flat, U-shaped things on each end), that will require a different adapter, but Radio Shack should have those, too.

There are lots of "rubber duckie" antennas to use on the portable, too. Take a look at grove-ent.com -- their prices are usually OK (other dealer might beat them) but they have a wide variety to choose from. They publish Monitoring Times magazine and that has a fair amount of information each month.
 
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