Ham Radio Antenna’s

I have a 1MHz – 6GHz SDR transceiver (HackRF One). I’m not interested in transmitting. But, I’ve been having fun figuring out receiving. I can tell I’m severely hindered with just the OEM telescopic antenna. I can find all the AM & FM broadcast stations using SDR++ and SDR#. I’ve been trying to get SDRAngel aviation scanner to work, but I can only get mic keying squelch. The signal strength isn’t strong enough to lock in on it. I think I need a tuned 108-136 MHz aviation band antenna to get it to work. I also want to focus on 462-468 MHz FRS/GMRS frequencies and the 150-160 MHz & 450-460MHz trunked frequencies.

I’m looking for advice on mobile antenna’s. Can I trust pre-tuned antennas or should I go ahead, get a cheap frequency analyzer and tune generic ones myself? I’ll probably wind up with a set of 6 or so antennas. Are there any reasonably priced auto tune antennas?

I do have and have read the ARRL exam manuals. I do not have their antenna book. Maybe I just answered my own question, get the book. But, I’d still appreciate input on making a quiver of antennas.

That’s a lot to consider. A few points to consider..

An antenna analyzer is not cheap. They’re wonderful instruments and way, way better than an SWR meter, but you’re looking at several hundred dollars.

I’m not familiar with any automatic antenna tuners that work at HF/UHF frequency ranges. One antenna to cover 108 all the way up to 160 Mc isn’t optimum, but not unreasonable. However covering 450 Mc is really a different antenna.

In general where an antenna is can be much more important than what an antenna is. It sounds like you’re using a telescoping whip antenna inside the house. There are a lot of obstructions between your antenna and whoever you’re trying to listen to.

I’m not really coming up with any solutions for you here, sorry. Just some thoughts before I get my first cup of coffee.

Steve K0SR

If you aren’t going to transmit, get a 2m/70cm dual band base antenna and put it up somewhere outside. You won’t damage a receiver by using a dual band antenna

Jwellsy-Look at https://www.jpole-antenna.com/. Michael has a good selection of antennas at reasonable prices. You’ll probably find what you need there.

This guy I used to work with Elroy (rest his sole) could have helped you. He was the guy to go to. He had wire antennas in the trees could reach China, he had so many stories. He holds some kind of record for his portable Bike radio.

Thank you everyone for the input.

That J-Pole website is very interesting. They certainly are reasonably priced. I plan on getting at least one of his.

I’ve also ordered a couple of ARRL antenna books to better understand them. I’ve also ordered a Vector Network Analyzer. The prices have come way way down. Found a NanoVNA Lite64 that covers 500kHz – 6.3GHz with a bunch of different tests and graphs. With tax and shipping it came to $150, which I think is very reasonable. With that NanoVNA, I should be able to make, test and tune my own antenna’s, cable’s and fittings.