Antenna Guide
Pager frequencies vary by region (130–930 MHz)
Stock Telescopic Antenna
- Works for: UHF pager bands (~900 MHz) — the stock antenna is tuned near 1 GHz
- Extend to: ~8 cm for 929 MHz (quarter-wave)
- For VHF (~150 MHz): Stock antenna is too short. Build a dipole (see below)
Simple Dipole (Best for VHF Pagers)
- For 153 MHz: Two elements, each ~49 cm (quarter-wave)
- For 929 MHz: Two elements, each ~8 cm
- Formula: Element length (cm) = 7500 / frequency (MHz)
- Material: Any wire, coat hanger, or copper rod
- Orientation: Vertical (pager signals are vertically polarized)
Quick Reference
| Common UHF freq |
929 MHz |
| Common VHF freq |
153.350 MHz |
| Modulation |
FM (NFM) |
| Bandwidth |
~12.5 kHz |
| Polarization |
Vertical |