I have a Uniden handheld scanner but the antenna that comes with it is not picking up much. I am using it in home. what do others use?
Bob C.
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I am not an expert but have read a bit. For railroad listening this one gets good reviews..... Diamond SRH77CA
Being it's not transmitting, you can use just about anything. I have a coat hanger as the antenna on an old desk scanner I have. A simple thing you can do is make a "tiger tail" for it to help reception. If you contact Ham Radio Outlet, they'll help you get the best antenna for it.
Is it in a car? Home?
in home
Bob C.
Outside antenna would help. If you cannot do that, a better rubber duck can help?
There's a center loaded (coil) telescoping whip antenna Radio Shack (I think) still sells. It was #20-006 if I recall (they sold them for years). You can adjust the telescoping sections to get best reception for whatever you are listening to. Probably better than the generic rubber duck that comes with the scanner that's meant to try to receive everything (and as a result doesn't receive anything with optimum performance).
-Dave
I must be in a minority, I have a nearly 20-year-old Radio Shack scanner with the original rubber duck antenna, and it picks up just fine- sometimes 8 miles away. A friend has the telescoping antenna on his scanner and honestly, it doesn't seem to pick up that much farther or more clearly than mine.
I have seen "tuned" rubber antennas for the RR band, though I have no idea whether they're much better or not.
Robert Coniglio posted:I have a Uniden handheld scanner but the antenna that comes with it is not picking up much.
Your problem may not be the antenna, but instead the interior antenna connection to the circuit board. I have 4 Uniden handhelds, and every one suffered the same failure of the center antenna connector wire breaking loose from the PCB due to the BNC connector working loose and wobbling(imperceptibly) over the course of several years.
On each one, I replaced the rigid wire section from the BNC to the board with a piece of similarly gauged stranded wire with a "strain relief" loop inserted into its length. Never a problem after this fix.
To assist in finding this problem, use the WX(weather) search function while manipulating the antenna on the BNC mount to see if it has an effect on the weather band reception. Here in the Finger Lakes, I receive at least 4 weather stations, & up to 7 depending on conditions all 45+ miles away except for the nearby Rochester transmitter at Baker Hill in Victor, with the factory rubber ducky.
+1 to Rob's suggestion! Especially useful since the WX and most railroad activity is around the same frequency range.
-Dave
In this video what is the purpose of the tone frequency. Is it just the beeps? If I do not want to hear the beeps do I just leave them off? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QmG4s0bnbE
TurtleLinez posted:In this video what is the purpose of the tone frequency.
Well scanning is definitely a blast. Well worth the $50. Thanks for all the help.
