The Antenna Challenge

This FAQ is maintained by Anthony W. Haukap

The current version of this FAQ document can always be found on my website at:

http://www.cyberspace.org/~awh/

While every attempt is made to present accurate data it should be noted that the author makes no guarantee as to the accuracy of any information provided in this document, and is not responsible for any consequences of its use.

All items listed here may be subject to change at any time.

The antenna - without it, or with the wrong one, even the best scanners are worthless!

The antennas gathered for this challenge are shown and listed below.

Note: All antennas were measured from the bottom of either the BNC or Motorola or SMA connector to the tip of antenna and rounded to the nearest 1/8" (0.125"). Antenna pictures shown below are only relative size -- not to scale.

1. Antenex DEXE821BNX
2. AR8200 Stock
3. BC200XLT Stock
4. Centurion EXB150BN
5. Centurion EXG806BN
6. Centurion H150BN
7. Comet BNC24
8. Comet CH-32 Miracle Baby
9. Comet SMA-501
10. Comet SMA-503

11. Diamond RH77CA
12. Ericsson Helical Stub
13. IC-R2 Stock Antenna
14. Maldol MH-209SMA Active Hunter
15. Maxon Duck
16. Pryme RD-98
17. RS 800MHz
18. RS Center-Loaded Telescoping Whip
19. RS Deluxe Antenna
20. RS Stock Antenna

21. RS Stubby
22. Seeker 800 MHz
23. Smiley Super Stick II
24. Uniden Stock

  Portable Antennas  

  Outdoor Antennas  

  Mobile Antennas  

  "Experimental" Scanner Antennas  

[*] It’s a wonder it works at all!

My initial intention on doing the antenna testing was to use a number of active local (and some not so local) frequencies and compare relative signal strength with the S-meter on my AOR AR8200... a little crude, but should give some useful comparative results.

Well, that WAS the plan anyway...

In gathering and using these antennas over the past few months I've come to the conclusion that:

1. You can't compare outdoor antennas to portable antennas! There's no comparison; the outdoor antenna wins every single time, even something like the unity-gain discone outperforms the best of the portable antennas.
2. You can basically divide the antennas into 3 categories: All-Band, Band-Specific, and Stubby.
3. Portable antennas ("ducks") are where my primary interest are right now and I have put the outdoor antenna testing on hold and focused on the best of the best handheld antennas.
4. You don't need a lot of equipment to decide what antenna is better at which frequencies because there is quite a difference that can be easily heard by using something I call the "flutter test" (see below).

I also abandoned using only the S-meter units to compare antennas. Because in looking at the S-meter and moving the radio just a few inches in either the side-to-side or front-to-back direction I was able to increase or decrease the received signal strength of weak signals by 3-4 "S" units. I also notice I could do the same by moving the radio up or down in elevation. Even if the handheld radio was left in one place, the "S" unit measurements weren't repeatable over a period of just a few hours. Clearly, this isn't the way to test antennas! This is why I felt that relying solely on using the S-meter units to compare antennas didn’t give real-world results... there must be a better way....

Therefore, I developed the "flutter test." Here's how it works; first, install the antenna you want to test, tune a weak signal, then move the radio around listening for fades, dropouts, etc. Scientific? No. However, it does give repeatable results and I believe the "flutter test" may be better suited for comparing antennas used with portable handheld radios anyway (this is the "real-world" results that I mentioned before).

So, using my well-trained and calibrated ears :) here's what I've been able to determine:

So as to arrange the data in a format that can be easily compared, the antennas are presented from left to right, while the vertical column represents the frequencies at which each antenna was tested.

For all these test "stock antenna" refers to the kind of rubber duck that ships with something like the Uniden Bearcat BC-245XLT or the Radio Shack PRO-92 scanner. Which appear, performance wise, to be nearly identical.

ALL Band

• Best: Radio Shack: Center-Loaded Telescoping Whip Antenna (cat.# 20-006)
• Good: Diamond RH77CA

In the "all-band" category the Radio Shack Telescoping Whip (cat.# 20-006) does extremely well. Performance is vastly improved over any stock Uniden or Radio Shack rubber duck. Weak signals produced much less fluttering and were noticeably a lot stronger than with the sock antenna - and this is across the board from 42MHz through 900MHz in all the public safety frequency bands.

Much of this antenna's performance qualities I believe come from the simple fact that it is adjustable in length. However walking around with a metal rod on a portable radio might not be the safest idea! It can also be, without doubt, easily damaged (not to mention the additional stress placed on the radio's BNC connector) should the radio be dropped. So, while the RS Telescoping Whip may be the best all-around antenna, it probably isn't practical for day-to-day use.

The other telescoping whip I looked at was the Smiley Super Stick II (VHF-5/8 Wave). This antenna comes packaged in a plastic bag without any instructions, I guess they ass-u-me that you know how to use it! In contrast the RS Telescoping Whip came with a single sheet explaining how to adjust the length for various radio frequencies. The BNC connector on the Smiley Super Stick II prevented me from attaching it to a few of the scanners. In examining it I noticed that the center pin extends below the base of the BNC (it wouldn't stand upright if you tried to set it on a table). I exchanged it for another one that turned out to be the same way - I don't know if this is a manufacturing defect or if that's the way they intend it. It was also physically heavier (stainless steel vs. the aluminum of the RS antenna) and made the radios (that the BNC connector fit) top heavy and prone to tip over. I really wanted to try this one, but without instructions to adjust it and the BNC fiasco I wasn't able to fully utilize it.

Also in the "all-band" category is the Diamond RH77CA. I would rate its overall performance nearly identical to the RS Telescoping Whip. I would give the VHF-Lo/Hi edge to the RS Telescoping Whip, UHF was indistinguishable, but at 800MHz I would say the Diamond RH77CA was slightly better.

VHF Band

• Best: Centurion H150BN
• Good: Seeker 800 MHz Duckie Antenna

For VHF "band-specific" antennas the Centurion H150BN (148-155 MHz band) is definitely equal to or maybe a bit better than the RS telescoping whip in this region (see how the RS whip quickly became my benchmark standard!). The 12" length of the Centurion (one of the longer ducks I have) probably helps its performance in the VHF-Hi region.

Outside of the VHF band, performance is acceptable in both the UHF and 800MHz bands, but the stock Uniden/Radios Shack antenna is slightly (and only just slightly) better at 800MHz.

800 MHz Band

• Best: Seeker 800 MHz Duckie Antenna
• Very Good: Centurion EXG806BN
• Good: Radio Shack 800 MHz Antenna

For 800MHz "band-specific" antennas, the Seeker 800 MHz Duckie Antenna is the clear winner... easily! With the Centurion EXG806BN (5/8 wave, 3 dB gain) being second best.

Both of these antenna's performance easily exceeds anything that the RS Telescoping Whip can provide and are a vast improvement over any stock antenna. The Seeker 800 also works very well at VHF frequencies - this would be a good choice when 800MHz is your primary concern, but also need to listen to VHF frequencies occasionally. The reason I mention that the Centurion EXG806BN comes in second is that it may be easier to find at your local radio shop (the only place I've been able to find the Seeker-800 is over the internet via RadioWare's website). On a very weak and distant 800MHz TRS data channel the Seeker 800 (barely) acquired the control channel, whereas the Centurion EXG806BN wasn't able to break squelch or distinguish it from the background hash.

Another worthwhile mention in this category is the Radio Shack 800MHz antenna. It’s performance was nearly equal to that of the Centurion EXG806BN. It also has a much shorter stature than either the Seeker or Centurion models, which may be an important factor as well, and is readily available at your local neighborhood Radio Shack store.

Stubby Antennas

• VHF/UHF Best: Maldol MH-209BNC Active Hunter

For VHF/UHF the Maldol "Active Hunter" model MH-209BNC is very good, but it's not so hot on 800MHz. VHF performance is only slightly reduced from the stock Uniden/Radio Shack antennas, which was kind of a surprise. It is a bit longer than most stubbies I've seen, at 3" long it's probably as tall as you can get and still call it stubby! :)

• 800 MHz Best: Comet CH-32 Miracle Baby

For 800MHz the Comet "miracle baby" model CH-32 works fine. Again, you have to give up something and in this case it's VHF/UHF frequencies. In fact on a relatively strong local VHF weather signal I get quite a lot of fluttering - something I've never experience before with ANY antenna! I would go as far as to say that it's almost deaf in the VHF range.

The local 800MHz TRS stuff is solid with this antenna - but nowhere near the performance of even the stock antenna on distant or weak 800MHz TRS systems.

Even though it is a rather poor performer at VHF/UHF, its stature sure can't be beat by many!

As you can see I looked at a number of antennas, but the ones listed above proved to be the best of the bunch on Public Safety Frequencies; basically on the 42, 155, 450 & 850 MHz bands. The scanner used to do the "s-meter" testing was primarily the AOR AR8200-MK3. The "flutter" testing was done primarily with a PRO-92 ("B" model revision). Comparisons were also done with both the Uniden BC-245XLT and the BC250D.

While most antennas will show a definite peak at certain frequencies, most consumer grade scanners (those are the kind you and I buy!) are prone to intermod in high RF environments, thus causing the gain of the antenna to actually degrade the overall receiver performance rather than enhance it - if the signal sounds "stronger" with the attenuator ON, then you’re probably using an antenna with too much gain.

As with most receiving antennas, longer is usually better. This can be attributed to a larger signal capture area. However, in a very high RF congested area a standard stock antenna may be the best all around antenna.

Several of the antennas include here (e.g. Comet, Diamond, etc.) are designed as transmitting antennas and optimized for the two meter and 70 cm amateur (HAM Radio) bands. Performance on the adjacent public safety bands is probably slightly reduced.

I hope you find this information useful. I did this primarily out of curiosity for my own use and I thought I'd share the results with you. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestion you can reach me at the email address listed at the bottom of this page.

In case you're wondering; I received no "freebies" or any other form of compensation from any of the manufactures. All the antennas used were purchased either from a local retailer whenever possible or over the internet.

I have been told that a simple counterpoise; a 12"-24" piece of wire, with an alligator clip soldered to one end, attached to the BNC connector of the antennas, will increase the received signal.

In my experiments, this works particularly well when the radio is sitting on a table. The effect of the counterpoise isn’t nearly as great when the radio is held in hand, as the body tends to act in the same way as the wire.

Centurion Wireless Technologies, Inc.
Corporate Headquarters 
P.O. Box 82846 
Lincoln, NE 68501 USA 
Office # 402-474-0706 
Sales Toll Free # 1-800-228-4563 
Office Fax # 402-467-4528 
Sales Fax #800-826-3774 
sales@centurion.com
http://www.centurion.com/

| MetroWest Inc. No Longer in Business
| 822 N. Spring Ave.
| LaGrange Park, IL 60526
| Catalog requests and orders (800) 657-1475
| Technical information (708) 354-2125
| sales@metrowestscan.com
| http://www.metrowestscan.com/

Radio Shack
300 West Third Street, Suite 1400
Fort Worth, Texas 76102
Phone: 817-415-3200
817-415-3240 (FAX)
support@radioshack.com
http://www.radioshack.com/

Radioware
PO Box 209
Rindge, NH 03461-0209, USA
Phone: (800) 457-7373 or (603) 899-6957 
(603) 899-6826 (FAX)
radware@radio-ware.com
http://www.radio-ware.com/

Uniden America Corporation
216 John St., P.O. Box 580
Lake City, South Carolina 29560
Customer Service: 1 (888) 6-UNIDEN -or- 1 (800) 297-1023
Repairs: 1 (800) 235-3874
Parts Department. number: 1 (800) 554-3988
Fax: 1 (817) 858-3219
V/TTY Access: 1 (800) 874-9314
http://www.uniden.com/