Posted: 7/6/2017 12:31:11 PM EDT
| So while looking around a local thrift shop I found a Realistic PRO 2006 that looks brand new. Always wanted a scanner but this did not come with an antenna. What would be a good antenna to get for this scanner ? Can white broadband coaxial cable be used as an antenna ? Don't want to go crazy if it does not work, it powers on and goes through modes but all I hear is static with no antenna. |
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Sounds like it was hot shit in it's day.
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/861 |
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it WAS one of the best scanners Made (I used to sell 'em back in High School working at RS)
I have one, I have it connected to a discone-esque antenna. I'm told they are best suited (nowadays) for monitoring the Air-band Traffic. I do that plus my local Fire Dispatch/Ops. Works well. It's also a 'prepper favorite' 
I think it was mentioned in this show: Scanners on HR360 I have one of these antennas in the attic, it works well! Centerfire Discone |
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That was the top of the line scanner 25-ish years ago. I always wanted one, but never could afford it.
My personal preference was the old Radio Shack 20-176 1/4 wave antenna. I have several of them and use one for local VHF, UHF and 800MHz frequencies. I don't know if they are still available on eBay or online, but I would look for a 1/4 VHF / UHF base antenna or a discone for that scanner. For coax, i've always used RG-6 75 ohm Coax with the appropriate connectors. I've never worried about the slight impedance mismatch and my scanners have never complained. |
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The problem with older scanners is that the VHF and UHF bands have been "narrowbanded" by FCC mandate, so the signal bandwidth and channel spacings will not be correct on VHF high band or UHF. Still good for Aviation, Low Band, and Amateur Radio monitoring.
RG-6 TV type coax is just fine for scanner use. |
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Some of things which made the PRO-2006 so popular were
- easy access to tap the discriminator output (useful for DIY experimentation) - ability to restore the "forbidden" UHF analog cell phone frequencies - ability to increase the scan speed (replace the 12 MHZ crystal with a 16 MHz one) - extremely wide coverage (25-520 MHz, 760-1300 MHz) - overall design & ease of use (IIRC, they were made in Japan for RS by GRE, who were tech leaders at the time) I recall one of the more extreme modifications involves expanding the memory to 6400 channels - it involves replacing (& upgrading) the memory chip and installing a 4-position DIP switch to switch between 400-channel banks. While it doesn't support trunking or digital operations, it's still very useful for analog scanning; there's a lot of information available out there on them. For an antenna, you've a lot of inexpensive and useful choices, from a whip with a BNC connector that connects directly to the scanner to tower-mounted log periodic antennas (useful but not inexpensive)... Since we'll rule out the expensive options, I'd look for discone plans or modification of an old TV antenna to feed the scanner; 50 ohm or 75 ohm coax work equally well for this purpose. (A whip with BNC connector is handy to have in any case, though, if for nothing else than to be a handy reference antenna when trying out other antenna / feedline combinations,) |
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Quoted:
RG-6 TV type coax is just fine for scanner use. A discone scanner antenna will work just fine. Put it as high as possible. BTW, I bought a Radio Shack discone antenna, brand new for $1.68 at a closing Radio Shack store. There may be some cheap ones on Ebay. Then of course, you can make your own for next to nothing. |
| Yeah trying to find a Radio Shack type store nowadays is impossible !! Had new cable company do an install and they left a full box spool of PPC Perfect Flex 6 series 18AWG Broadband Coaxial Cable. It says exceptional electrical performance from 5MHz to 3GHz. Trying to find some BNC screw on connectors as I do not have any compression tools. Oh yeah, I only paid 9 bucks for the PRO 2006 and that is why I do not want to spend a lot on an antenna if things do not work out. |
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I think I bought a pack of 4 screw-on BNC connectors at Lowes. BNC to PL-259 adapters can be purchased on Amazon for a few dollars. This is what i did and it worked just fine. I used it to transmit on 2 meters as well.
You can make your own copy of the Radio Shack's scanner antenna. I can take a picture of it and take some measurements for you. It's relatively simple. If you install the antenna on a tall mast, over the roof, consider adding a grounding rod and an inline lightning protector on the coax cable. Ask here for details if you decide to go that route. |
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E-Z button = Amazon Prime (2 day ship) $7 -if It don't work, I'll buy from you to put on shelf |
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They were great scanners.
Very "upgradeable" and great shielding. They were built by GRE which is/was top of the line. I still have one, and the el panel still works. 
The little I use it, I just hook it to a dual band OS J pole made for 2m/440. There is a mod previously mentioned that would make it much more modern and useable today. The "Discriminator tap" mod. I havent done it yet to mine, it's still stock! 
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Quoted:
Sounds like it was hot shit in it's day. federal bands with that scanner in the day. Obviously no support for anything other than NBFM, no trunking/no digital so it's only usable in areas with old school analog now. |
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I bought one brand new back in the day. Still have it and fire it up once in a while. I've had to clean the keypad contacts (easy with a super fine cratex stick and some alcohol) and that's about it. Display still works fine.
In the day I used it with a discone antenna on my balcony. Used to hear all kinds of drug deals getting made! When I got into ham radio last year I made a power cable to connect it to my MFJ powerpole strip. |
Just got parts in to make an antenna from coax cable and a radio shack telescoping antenna to test out. Getting radio stations loud and clear, better than my stereo  . Besides the local police, fire and ambulance what else is a good idea to program into the scanner ?
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The tower frequency of the nearest local airport can be interesting sometimes, but one of the
better aviation frequencies is the one the local news helicopters use to coordinate with themselves. I also put in the frequencies for the local VHF/UHF federal law enforcement (ATF/marshalls/SS) repeaters, even though they're encrypted, because it tells you when they're active in the area. You can limit this to just the input frequencies if you want to know when they're nearby. Radioreference should be able to give you those. |
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**snip** I also put in the frequencies for the local VHF/UHF federal law enforcement (ATF/marshalls/SS) repeaters, even though they're encrypted, because it tells you when they're active in the area. You can limit this to just the input frequencies if you want to know when they're nearby. Radioreference should be able to give you those. 
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