Is there a good scanner preamp out there? I bought one of those coax
inline jobs from RS and it did nothing at all for my BC 245 or my BC
9000. I didn't notice any change at all. I am out in the country and
miles away from where I want to scan and I am thinking maybe I should
try different antennas now. Preamps just don't seem to help any. There
was an antenna called the condor is that still available?

Jim wrote:

Is there a good scanner preamp out there? I bought one of those coax
inline jobs from RS and it did nothing at all for my BC 245 or my BC
9000. I didn't notice any change at all. I am out in the country and
miles away from where I want to scan and I am thinking maybe I should
try different antennas now. Preamps just don't seem to help any. There
was an antenna called the condor is that still available?

I'm researching this same question myself. The one article I've found
discussing the Radio Shack amplifiers suggests that you should not use
part #15-1170 but either #15-1108 or #15-1109. I'm curious, what model
did you tried?

As I understand it also, these are best at amplifying the VHF, UHF and
FM frequency ranges which may not be what you're wanting. What
frequencies do you need to improve?

As far as antennas go, it seems that a Yagi tuned to your specific
frequency range will provide the best signal (at the cost of having to
point the antenna at your signal source). However, you mentioned the
'condor' which I believe is a handheld antenna so I'm wondering if
you've even tried a base omnidirectional antenna (like a discone) yet?

This page has antenna information and links to pages with specific
measurements for various antennas at various frequencies.

http://www.strongsignals.net/access/...t/antenna.html


--
Richard Kuhler

I've had mixed results with preamps. Ideally, if you could mount a roof-top
antenna, with the preamp close to the antenna, it would then amplify the
signal, and "push" it down the coax, into your scanner. There are some that
work like this. However, most preamps are at the other end of the coax,
next to your radio. The problem here is two fold. Much of the original
signal has already been deluted, due to loss in the coax. Noise has been
picked up, on the coax, then amplified, along with the signal.

Another problem you can encounter when using a preamp is desensitizing the
radio, due to front end overload. Most state-of-the-art scanners, alreay
have sensitive circuits, and preamps can overload these circuits, causing
them to attenuate the signal, overall, therefore negating the benifit of
using the preamp to begin with.

Considering your distance, you would benifit most, from a good outdoor
antenna, mounted resonably high. Keep in mind, the loss in long antenna
cables, can have a negative impact on your end result. I would try to keep
the lenght of your coax to a minimum, 30~50 feet at most. Use high quality,
low loss coax, with high quality connectors, properly attached. Antennas,
and coax, have been discussed countless times, in the groups, so rather than
reterate all that, just do a search on Google.

If you decide to go for another preamp, check he
http://scanner.greamerica.com/amp.html

For antennas, check these links:
http://www.grove-ent.com/scannerantennas.html
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants.html

Bill Crocker



"Jim" wrote in message
om...
Is there a good scanner preamp out there? I bought one of those coax
inline jobs from RS and it did nothing at all for my BC 245 or my BC
9000. I didn't notice any change at all. I am out in the country and
miles away from where I want to scan and I am thinking maybe I should
try different antennas now. Preamps just don't seem to help any. There
was an antenna called the condor is that still available?

Very good information and I thank you. Never considered the loss
factor and where to put preamp in the line. I think my answer is
better antenna and I am thinking of putting a discone on roof and
running coax to my desk. sounds like that is the way to go. Do
discones have gain? I am trying to hear 800mhz system that is approx
30 miles away

"Bill Crocker" wrote in message ...
I've had mixed results with preamps. Ideally, if you could mount a roof-top
antenna, with the preamp close to the antenna, it would then amplify the
signal, and "push" it down the coax, into your scanner. There are some that
work like this. However, most preamps are at the other end of the coax,
next to your radio. The problem here is two fold. Much of the original
signal has already been deluted, due to loss in the coax. Noise has been
picked up, on the coax, then amplified, along with the signal.

Another problem you can encounter when using a preamp is desensitizing the
radio, due to front end overload. Most state-of-the-art scanners, alreay
have sensitive circuits, and preamps can overload these circuits, causing
them to attenuate the signal, overall, therefore negating the benifit of
using the preamp to begin with.

Considering your distance, you would benifit most, from a good outdoor
antenna, mounted resonably high. Keep in mind, the loss in long antenna
cables, can have a negative impact on your end result. I would try to keep
the lenght of your coax to a minimum, 30~50 feet at most. Use high quality,
low loss coax, with high quality connectors, properly attached. Antennas,
and coax, have been discussed countless times, in the groups, so rather than
reterate all that, just do a search on Google.

If you decide to go for another preamp, check he
http://scanner.greamerica.com/amp.html

For antennas, check these links:
http://www.grove-ent.com/scannerantennas.html
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants.html

Bill Crocker



"Jim" wrote in message
om...
Is there a good scanner preamp out there? I bought one of those coax
inline jobs from RS and it did nothing at all for my BC 245 or my BC
9000. I didn't notice any change at all. I am out in the country and
miles away from where I want to scan and I am thinking maybe I should
try different antennas now. Preamps just don't seem to help any. There
was an antenna called the condor is that still available?

I am trying to hear 800mhz system that is approx 30 miles away

Maybe it's been discussed (I just tuned in) but have you considered a
vertical beam antenna, like a TV antenna on it's side with just a slight
tilt.
I suspect you are fighting a loosing battle. My son (a fire fighter) lives
on top of a hill (you can see for miles from his porch) has tried to monitor
the 800 system in the city that he works in ( aprox 30-35 miles as the crow
flies) and can't even get an occasional peep out of the system.

I've never used a preamp on the 800 freq's but have on other freq's (HF and
VHF) and they have all (some homebrew and some store bought kits) been very
disappointing, seem like they raise the noise level more than anything. RM~

The discone has no gain. It is designed to be a very wide band antenna,
not a gain antenna.

Whatever antenna you put up, if you are mainly interested in 800 meg
reception put the BEST coax you can. Stay away from the thin RG-58 like
the plage. As mentioned, there is a loss in the coax. However, there is
considerable variety in the amount of loss with differnt coax. AND the
higher the freq (800 meg espically) the higher the loss using a given
coax. (coax A may be fine for VHF, but terrible for 800 meg, while coax B
may be excellent for VHF, and OK for 800 meg) Also, if you can arrange it
try to make your coax run as short as physically possible to minimise
loss.

Basically, you get what you pay for when it comes to coax.

Richard in Boston, MA, USA

Check out eBay...search on YAGI, you see numerous high-gain antennas in the
800MHz band.

Bill Crocker


"Jim" wrote in message
om...
Very good information and I thank you. Never considered the loss
factor and where to put preamp in the line. I think my answer is
better antenna and I am thinking of putting a discone on roof and
running coax to my desk. sounds like that is the way to go. Do
discones have gain? I am trying to hear 800mhz system that is approx
30 miles away

"Bill Crocker" wrote in message
...
I've had mixed results with preamps. Ideally, if you could mount a
roof-top
antenna, with the preamp close to the antenna, it would then amplify the
signal, and "push" it down the coax, into your scanner. There are some
that
work like this. However, most preamps are at the other end of the coax,
next to your radio. The problem here is two fold. Much of the original
signal has already been deluted, due to loss in the coax. Noise has
been
picked up, on the coax, then amplified, along with the signal.

Another problem you can encounter when using a preamp is desensitizing
the
radio, due to front end overload. Most state-of-the-art scanners,
alreay
have sensitive circuits, and preamps can overload these circuits,
causing
them to attenuate the signal, overall, therefore negating the benifit of
using the preamp to begin with.

Considering your distance, you would benifit most, from a good outdoor
antenna, mounted resonably high. Keep in mind, the loss in long antenna
cables, can have a negative impact on your end result. I would try to
keep
the lenght of your coax to a minimum, 30~50 feet at most. Use high
quality,
low loss coax, with high quality connectors, properly attached.
Antennas,
and coax, have been discussed countless times, in the groups, so rather
than
reterate all that, just do a search on Google.

If you decide to go for another preamp, check he
http://scanner.greamerica.com/amp.html

For antennas, check these links:
http://www.grove-ent.com/scannerantennas.html
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants.html

Bill Crocker



"Jim" wrote in message
om...
Is there a good scanner preamp out there? I bought one of those coax
inline jobs from RS and it did nothing at all for my BC 245 or my BC
9000. I didn't notice any change at all. I am out in the country and
miles away from where I want to scan and I am thinking maybe I should
try different antennas now. Preamps just don't seem to help any. There
was an antenna called the condor is that still available?

On 20 Jan 2004 17:03:46 -0800, (Jim) wrote:

Is there a good scanner preamp out there? I bought one of those coax
inline jobs from RS and it did nothing at all for my BC 245 or my BC
9000.

If you are using RG6 cable and a tv amplifier, you are probably not
even making up for the cable and connector losses with the
added amplifier.

If your antenna is unity gain, you actually have a signal LOSS
by the time it gets to your scanners.

RG6 is a fairly low loss cable, at the extreme of 2.2 GHz it is 9.7 dB loss
per 100 feet. Most preamps are in the order of 10 to 20 dB. Considering that
most of us listen below 1 GHz where the loss is even lower, I would
respectfully disagree with your conclusions.

I use 50 feet of RG6 and a scantenna and have no problem picking up anything
within my radio horizon.

I have never used a preamp.


"The Orchardist" wrote in message
...
On 20 Jan 2004 17:03:46 -0800, (Jim) wrote:

Is there a good scanner preamp out there? I bought one of those coax
inline jobs from RS and it did nothing at all for my BC 245 or my BC
9000.

If you are using RG6 cable and a tv amplifier, you are probably not
even making up for the cable and connector losses with the
added amplifier.

If your antenna is unity gain, you actually have a signal LOSS
by the time it gets to your scanners.

Bill Crocker ...

^ Check out eBay...

That's cruel.


^ ...search on YAGI ...

A Yagi is not difficult to construct, especially if it is for receiving only.
All that are needed are a wire clothes hanger, wire cutters, soldering iron,
and 50-75 ohm coax. Measure the driven element for about 900 MHz and visually
estimate the lengths of the remaining elements.

Frank