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Reviews For: Antenna Warehouse Heavy Duty Scantenna

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Omnidirectional: verticals, mobile, etc

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Review Summary For : Antenna Warehouse Heavy Duty Scantenna
Reviews: 5MSRP: 39.95
Description:
15 element clustered dipole design yields high performance on all scanner bands in the 30-1300 Mhz. range
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.antennawarehouse.com/Scanner/Scantenna.htm
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0054.8
N4AYV Rating: 2015-01-12
Awesome! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased this antenna to replace a discone with a mast-mounted preamp. I grew tired of replacing the preamp every 1-2 years due to lightning damage (in spite of having a surge suppressor in line).

In short, this antenna works equally well, if not better, than my discone/12dB preamp combination. Better yet, I have fewer active components in the receive signal path which is always better for receiving. I have my scanners receiving signals anywhere from 30MHz all the way up to 900MHz. I can now hear some distant 800MHz trunk systems that I couldn't hear before.

Yes, this antenna seems a bit flimsy, but I have no real concerns about it holding up to the weather we get in Virginia. It's truly a solid performer.
KA1KUL Rating: 2011-09-12
Great for the $$$$ Time Owned: more than 12 months.
The Scantenna is the exception to the phrase "you get what you pay for". The Scantenna for the money ($30-60) is a fantastic antenna for the money. If budget is an issue then this is the baby for you. It comes with the cable and connectors already on the cable. It's NOT "heavy Duty" by any means but it's an incredible performer. It's a 300 ohm antenna with a 300 ohm to 75 ohm balun and a lot of "Know it all hams" will claim that it's a mismatch and can't work properly. Nothing could be further from the truth. This antenna is incredible on all frequencies. You can buy them on ebay for about $30.00 with the cable and connectors and you will be very impressed with it's performance. Don't change the RG-6 coax. I tried thast and it's performance was severely degraded. Put it up as high as possible and check it out. You'll not critisize it after that.In looking at it, it appears to be nothing but a TV antenna vertically polorized BUT it's resonance is right on for scanner performance. I've owned them since they firsat came out years and years ago. By the way, Antenna Warehouse website is gone and I was buying them directly from them but you can find them all over the place now. called the "ST@ Antennacraft. They also beefed it up a bit as it was originally quite flimsy.
KI4HNN Rating: 2009-01-28
Great Performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Had one of these antennas about 5 years ago hooked to my scanner. Performs great and really picks up well. The wind got my last one and I patched it up and it worked great for another 2 years. Finally decided that it was time to put up a new one. The plastic insulator looks more beefier than the last one and the elements are reinforced at the connector. I guess I will see how well it holds up, if not I will do the reinforcement mod to it listed on Radio Reference. A true performer however!! Excellent on VHF and UHF.
KC8YKQ Rating: 2008-08-09
Good , but damage-prone Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This antenna works great for scanner use 25-1000MHz and possibly beyond. However, I am now on my third Scantenna. We have a lot of wind here, and my previous two fell victim to storm gusts. The nice thing is that the antenna will continue to function pretty well even if it loses an element or two. The last one was missing one of the upper element, and the lower elements were swinging freely because the plastic insulator that holds the dipole clusters together cracked in half. The Scantenna currently in use and the version it just replaced are billed as having improved strength. That didn't help the last one, which survived about two and a half years, so we'll see how long this one lasts. If they are prone to damage, why do I keep buying them? In terms of performance, the Scantenna is tough to beat.
K1ESL Rating: 2007-10-27
Good performer Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Got one of these to replace an old crummy discone. The construction is similar to a TV antenna with rolled aluminum elements riveted together. The performance is very improved over the discone in VHF/hi and UHF frequencies, and vastly improved in the VHF-lo range (the discone did not have a center element though).

One of the considerations in choosing this antenna (aside from the cost) over a discone was lack of a need to have it atop the pole. I have no need to transmit (dedicated to a scanner), so again, a discone was not needed.

I'm really pleased with the performance and it was helpful to have the coax included (75-ohm TV coax), making it a turnkey package. These can be had on eBay or the listed website for about the same price. (I have no relation to the seller, I'm just a happy buyer)