If you�ve ever tried to listen to medium wave and short wave signals on a wideband handheld scanner like those from Icom, AOR, and Alinco , you know how dismal the AM and SSB reception is with the little rubber duckie antenna provided by the manufacturer. Not only is the antenna woefully short to intercept adequate signal voltages, but the impedance mismatch is enormous. Not much signal gets to the radio. But that�s all changed now.

The "Active Duck" is a low profile (7 inch) amplified whip that snaps right onto the BNC connector of your wide frequency coverage scanner, providing enormous increases shortwave and medium wave signal strengths, and it doesn�t have to be removed for VHF/UHF scanner reception.

The Active Duck comes with battery installed and, because of its low 1 mA current requirement, it lasts for 8-12 hours of operation before replacement is necessary.

Frequency range of operation is 0.5-1300 MHz, with 10-15 dB gain up to 60 MHz, and passive above 100 MHz to avoid intermod associated with amplified VHF/UHF antenna systems.

Field Test

During our evaluation tests, we snapped the little Active Duck to the top of a wideband scanner, switched it on, and were astounded by the enormous increase in signal strengths throughout the 0.5-30 MHz spectrum! Faintly detected broadcasters came thundering in, while what sounded like a dead CB channel suddenly came alive with signals.

We detected no apparent overload problems; clearly the JFET preamplifier circuit has excellent dynamic range, even at the low current drain required to operate the little amplifier. According to the manufacturer, they operated their prototypes under a transmitting tower to be sure that strong-signal overload would not be a problem before releasing the product.