Handheld Scanners

[XP503]

Hello everyone,

 

I have a little Maycom hand held scanner and I am wondering if anyone out there knows if i can increase its range, would it be as simple as buying a different (larger) aerial for it and wacking it on?

 

 

[Guest ozzie]

bigger stick may work but remember VHF is 'line of sight'you might have to climb a hill.

 

 

[BigPete]

Shove an aerial on a pole (the higher the better) and run some coax down to the scanner.

 

regards

 

 

[XP503]

Thanks, what's Coax? How would I attach it?

 

 

[jcamp]

Shove an aerial on a pole (the higher the better) and run some coax down to the scanner.regards

Might lose more in the coax than you pick up, generally need a RF amplifier up the pole too to avoid expensive low loss cable. Note for Radio you need 50 ohm coax, amplifier and connectors not 75 ohm TV stuff

 

Alternative is power (up) and earphone (down) cable with the whole scanner up the pole

 

 

[ahlocks]

I was picking up Temora CTAF traffic from 45nm away during Natfly, using a handheld (A24) with a discone base station antenna connected to the BNC fitting.

 

It wouldn't be practical or legal for transmitting, but it was certainly handy to listen in to get a feel for what the traffic was like at Temora before venturing out to the airport.

 

 

[Bidgee]

Hello everyone,I have a little Maycom hand held scanner and I am wondering if anyone out there knows if i can increase its range, would it be as simple as buying a different (larger) aerial for it and wacking it on?

That may help. Make sure the aerial matches the wavelength eg a UHF aerial wont help. Buy a quality brand too. Have a look here - Untitled Document. These guys do a good product and are an Aussie company. All you'll ever want to know about antennas.

 

Scott

 

 

[Guest Cloudsuck]

G'day Dave, you will need a high gain, ground indepentant base station antenna for the 2 metre amateur band and RG213, 50 ohm coax (Dick Smith). Diamond make a good base antenna. Andrews Communications - Diamond Antennas or http://www.strictlyham.com.au/diamond/base-antennas/x-series-base-antennas

 

The 2 metre amateur band is very close to the VHF airband so there is no tuning involved. I can talk to you further about it at the airfield, I'll be out there Fri, Sat, Sun this week.

 

 

[Tomo]

Thanks, what's Coax?

Coax is aerial cable - not trying to get someone to do something!

 

Actually it's called Coaxial cable because it consists of two concentric conductors separated by an insulator.