Centerfire VHF Airband Base Station Scanner Antenna

This specifically tuned antenna improved airband reception by about 50 percent over a "generic" scanning antenna. Small profile (about 25 inches tall and about 2 feet wide at the base of the radials), the hardware is easy to install and good quality. The sloping radials that form the ground plane are important to the performance, so don't leave them off if you are tempted to save space! I have this mounted outdoors, so I purchased silicone tape to wrap the rf connectors, as that will save you corrosion in the future which can reduce your signal (silicone tape not included). You can get silicone tape at most hardware stores (usually found in the plumbing section). It could also easily fit in an attic space as high as you can get it. If you live in an urban area or near FM Broadcast towers, I also recommend using an RF Trap like this one (Broadcast FM Block Filter (88 - 108 MHz Block) by RTL-SDR Blog) sold on amazon, which significantly improved airband reception over using the the antenna alone.

With no reviews, I figured this would be a long shot for an antenna that excelled at the air band. After installing this in my attic and running RG6/u down to my GRE-500 scanner, I started picking up ground communications from an airport 17 miles away, I could pick up the controller as well as the aircraft. Airborne contacts were also very strong. So, I'm happy, much better than expected.

Great antenna - receives signals from up to about 30 miles away - about double the range of the antenna it replaced.

Works well, some days I get planes from Fort worth talking to atc and I am located on the gulf coast..

As described.

I live at an altitude of 24ft (above sea level, surrounded by dense woods)I have no neighbors thus no frequency parasites or interferenceI use both a Bearcat BCD996BP2 and an RTL-DSR dongleMain interests are Airband and downloading Satellite Imagery (137. 1 Mhz)With the stock antennas of the dongle or Bearcat, I basically had no receptionOccasionally, I could hear some chatter from a plane flying over at 3000ft but there was a lot of noiseFor testing purposes, I mounted the stock antenna on an 8ft mast (single story home) using 75ft LMR400 coaxThere was improvement but not as much as I expectedTried several home brew antennas including a J-poleStill the results were not satisfyingSo I ordered the CenterfireThe thing looked like a High School project and was a lot smaller then what I expectedBut man was I wrong ...WOW, blown away with it's performance !!!!!!!!!!!!!!Airband range (CRYSTAL CLEAR) depending on weather is about 160 miles (if plane flies at about 30000 ft)Still OK reception if plane is below 2000ftI can pickup airport communications from 26 miles awayAnother airport (52 miles away) comes in noisy but the chatter is still understandableSatellite image download is OK if satellite is more than 7 degrees over horizon (trees block reception)All in all this antenna is just AMAZING and blows away any other solution I tried

I've been pretty impressed by this antenna. I'll freely admit I have nothing to compare it to, as this is the first radio antenna I've ever set up for any reason. But when I got tired of my Sportys Airscan V not working for anything at all, even airports less than 5 miles away, I set out to fix the problem. I did not have high hopes for an antenna that set me back a mere $37, especially with me having no idea what I'm doing. But a 10' mast, 50' of coax, and this antenna later, I'm getting ground frequencies at airports around 25 miles away. Local approach comes in crystal clear. Very nice performance, I'm really happy with this antenna. Definitely worth the money!

I'm really happy with this antenna. Definitely worth the money! Centerfire VHF Airband Base Station Scanner AntennaI'm really happy with this antenna. Definitely worth the money! Centerfire VHF Airband Base Station Scanner Antenna