I have a Radio Shack mobile scanner with a short (about six inches) rubber antenna. I also have a magnetic mount antenna for the trunk of my car but it is not always convenient to use when driving. Can anybody suggest a replacement antenna for the scanner (the short kind) that might work better than the original equipment one? Thanks.[:)]
Great Question,
I was also wondering if there is an antenna available for a mobile scanner with a BNC connector that is tuned to the railroad frequencies. The rubber ducks work OK, but there must be something that doesn’t have to attached to the car. Thanks
Keith Schmidt
…I have a Radio-Shack Pro-51 scanner and for some time now I’ve wanted to check if a stronger antenna is avalable for it…I believe I did see in the past of a longer rubber duckey antenna being available but I just never stopped and checked about it yet. This will remind me again and maybe I can stop in at one of our stores to check. For some reason I believe there is one available. [8D]
The rubber duck antenna that came with the scanner is a “one size fits all”
it is not tuned for any particular frequency, go to a two-way radio shop
and see if you can get a antenna that is “cut” for 161.000 MHz, but
keep the original antenna, as reception will fall off the 161 antenna the
farther you get from 161 MHz. also bear in mind a rubber duck antenna
is not very efficient, an outside antenna will always work better. jackflash
I actually used the Radio Shack mobile mount scanner antenna that looks like a cellular antenna for my car. Easy to mount and use. But I also bought a scanner designed to be mounted in the car that fits under the dash. Sweet little Bearcat that is only about 1 inch tall by 5 inches wide. It’s great to have it there any time I want. I wouldn’t invest in some of those other longer extendable antennas that Radio Shack sells for handheld scanners. The short rubber ones work just as well from my experience…
Mark
http://eje.railfan.net/railradioonline/
I’ve heard lots of good things about the traintenna (link above)
Not really for your portable needs, but great for your scanner when at home.
Anyone who wants to listen in on the train radio frequencies but doesn’t have a scanner (like me) can check out
http://www.railroadradio.net/index.php
You can listen to a bunch of different frequencies over the internet.
As long as we are on the subject, I have a Radio Shack pro-79. I’m happy with the antenna, but am curious how far railroad radio signals will travel away from the tracks. Most crew mobile radios are very low power, and won’t work beyond a mile or two (something like double max train length). I’m guessing that dipatcher and train radios are more powerful, but again as I move away from the rails I lose the signal. There must be repeaters along the line confining the signal to almost a linear path along the tracks.
I just recently purchased a RadioShack Pro-89 scanner and it seems to pick up quite well. Our work sits right beside NS tracks 20 miles south of Cincinnati and I have been getting some of the yard chatter. About 5 miles more south of our work NS crosses over CSX and I get some from them also. Always here the defect detector.
My house sits about 3/4 miles from the rails in town and I get quite a bit from NS also.
I also noticed that there are some on this thread to this point from MN, MO, IN, ILL, and even Canada. What does each of your states say about carrying a scanner in your vehicle? I believe in KY it is illegal but I am not sure.
Brian (KY)
I use a radio shack pro93 scanner with a bnc145 antenna from scanner world and this antenna does very well to my scanner,but not as good as the moble railcom whip.
but am curious how far railroad radio signals will travel away from the tracks. Most crew mobile radios are very low power, and won’t work beyond a mile or two (something like double max train length).
Railroads use remote base stations every 20 or so miles and these remote
bases use directional antennas that focus the transmitted and received
signals up and down the right of way, with very little signal going into areas
away from the ROW, Locomotive radios do not use directional antennas
but the antenna is not high up in the air either so the signal wont travel
as far, but the high up directional remote base will pick it up a long distance
away. jackflash
Scanners are legal here in British Columbia.
I know for a fact you can’t carry them in KY . There are only a few US states where you can’t, I think New York is another one…
Chances are as long as you keep your scanner low-profile nothing will happen.
Thanks Jackflash, that’s kind of what I thought was going on, I just wasn’t sure how they were doing it. As a matter of fact, I think one of the sheds that houses some of the UP’s radio equipment is near my house, about 3 miles away. Two problems though, not much traffic to listen to, and I’m not in the directional path. Oh well.
As far as whether scanners are legal in Minnesota, I’m guessing that they are. Mine is a hand held, and I’m not chasing police, fire, and ambulance, just trains, though the radio can pick up all of that too. I bought it in Minnesota, usually if something isn’t legal stores in that state won’t sell it, though that isn’t ALWAYS the case.[swg]
I think Indiana is also in the no mobile scanner group. I know MI and NY are. If you can justify it (not easy), MI will give you a permit.
The appropriate length for a high band antenna is about 18" (for quarter wave). You may see these on many utility vehicles, buses, even police and fire, depending on a number of factors. There are also base loaded antennas, which resemble CB antennas. Either will be an improvement over your rubber duck.
A good communications equipment company (one that handles commercial and public safety radios) will gladly sell you the appropriate antenna, even cut to length and with the right connector for the radio. It won’t necessarily be cheap, unless you happen into one they have sitting around. A magnetic mount is most versatile, but there are body mounts that fasten into the fender by the hood or trunk, or if you are a real diehard, you could have it actually mounted on your roof or trunk deck. Not recommended for dad’s car…
I have a 36" whip that serves to receive several bands in my truck. I can hear the DS for a pretty good distance, trains and other mobiles much less.
I’m beginning to wonder here what advantage a different antenna would give. The problem may not be with your ability to listen, but the railroads ability to transmit. In other words no length of antenna will help the problem if you are not in the path of the transmission. The solution may be skip the antenna, and get closer to the tracks.
the type of antenna that you want for your scanner will make or break the radio transmissions that you get plus the radio’s sensitivity or whats called microvolts the lower the microvolt(s) the more sensitive the scanner is to pick up radio transmissions! also i had to try so many ant(s) before i finely got one that realy works and thank god i did! for example,i can hear the hotbox dector at mo.valley.at m.p.332.0 to my home at blair m.p.343.25 a distance of 11.25 miles.and can the train crews & the omaha dispatcher really good with just my hand held scanner radio,the bnc145 antenna i use does realy well on my scanner,so i hope this helps,mrlove.
Mrlove, the transmission may be coming from the detector miles away, but the question that I raised, and Jackflash answered, has more to do with how close you are to the tracks, and not necessarily the transmission source. Because the transmission is directional, it is strong near the rails, but weakens quickly the further away you get.
My point here is, what you might think is a fancy high powered antenna, may be nothing more than good proximity to the transmission’s signal path along the rails. How far are you from the nearest tracks? I am not trying to give you a hard time, just trying to undrestand better how the radio system works, and if changing the antenna has any real effect on range of reception.
How Much does one cost.
DOGGY
A professional quality antenna, with cable and connector would probably be in the $50 range, but I haven’t gotten any lately, so can’t say for sure. Look up radio in the yellow pages and give your local Motorola, GE, etc, dealer a call.
Tell them you need an antenna for 160 Mhz.
Might be more, might be less. If you’re willing to settle for second hand, you might be able to get a deal. Don’t forget you need to mount it – magnetic, trunk clip, angle bracket - lots of choices.
I have an aged Radio Shack PRO-28 scanner that I can’t seem to kill. Came equipped with a “rubber ducky” antenna.
A generic magnetic base car roof antenna (also purchased from Radio Shack) I’ve used for some time receives transmissions roughly four times the distance that the rubber ducky antenna will.
A few months ago I purchased a replacement for the rubber ducky from a ham radio outlet, optimised for the 160MHz bandwidth. Pulls in stations roughly three times more distant than the rubber ducky- a major improvement. Wish I had purchased the better on-scanner antenna years ago.
As has been pointed out in previous posts, many conditions affect reception range.
In this area, BNSF uses dipole or folded dipole (figure-of-eight radiation/reception) antennas for many of their repeaters, with the dipole radiation pattern pointing along the tracks. My home is a couple of miles from a nearby repeater, but I receive no transmissions from it- I’m situated at a prefect right angle to the repeater antenna, in the null of the dipole.
Scanners are legal in this area. Subjectively, it seems to me that many railroad employees assume you are a serious (and hopefully safe and courteous) railfan if you have a scanner, and not some wacko that has happened along.
I have a Bearcat BC 100XL scanner with a “Rubber Ducky” antenna which does reasonably well in pulling in transmissions in flat territory. I use the scanner with the “Rubber Ducky” antenna when I am trackside I recently got a MaxRad antenna with a magnetic base which I mount on the roof of my station wagon. It is tuned to the 161MHz carrier frequency which allows my scanner to pick up train and defect detector transmissions 25 miles away.
As far as I know there are very few restrictions on the use of scanners. Kentucky and Indiana forbid both the portable (at trackside or in public places) and the mobile use of scanners without a permit. Florida, New York, Michigan, and Minnesota forbid the use of scanners in cars without a permit. The best advice I herd was to be discreet when using a scanner.