Just got my first scanner...

Its a Realistic Pro2020 in poor condition(broken off knobs, ripped off antenna, some moisture in keypad). I just fixed it up today and got it working again. Damn this thing has great range with the coat hanger antenna I made for it. I got airport traffic control even though I live 10 miles away hidden among concrete towers. Now comes the fun part how to make this into a useful countermeasure??... I would like to make my own antenna that I could blend into my roof rack. Has anyone made their own antenna from scraps before? I'm just looking for ideas.

Realistic makes very very good scanners. Good choice Runaway. I hope you have a blast with your new toy. Scanners are a number one thing I think people should have. . I think everyone on the forum should have at least one. They help you understand police operations. How they act. What to do in a stop, and what not to do. They are handy gadgets. They also teach you how radio wave propagation works.


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More so than a cb?

Yes, I firmly believe a scanner is more important. It teaches you the basic fundamentals of radio, and RF propagation. Then from there you can move safely on to tuning cb's, and radar detectors being used. The reason is, "at this point you have a more broadened understanding of how RF functions." This way you are not a moron and not mounting behind windshield wipers, or the like without understanding of what it is doing to your detection properties. I firmly believe in someone using baby steps.


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I would rank a cb the second thing someone should toy with, after they get a grip on how RF works.


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Can scanner antennas work from behind glass ie. inside the vehicle? I tried my scanner inside the house and nothing but took it on the back deck and chatter non stop.

Yes they do, although you will have very minimal range compared to if you mount outside the glass. The metal of the car frame drastically reduces the range of the radio waves coming into the receiver.

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I plan on converting an old wifi antenna off a linksys wrt54g. I want to attach it to my roof rack and mount the radio under my seat. Might work or fail?

Most likely a fail. Wifi frequencies are far higher than that of police bands, and therefore will probably not function very well.

802.11b and 802.11g use the 2.4 GHz ISM band,

They make stubbies for what you want to do just look around they sell them.


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Maybe I should just attach a coat hanger to a wire lol

That would probably work better to be truthfully honest. I took an old cb antenna once and split it in two and made a homemade dipole so that i could mount outside the house and my parents wouldn't notice.

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