The best airband scanner ever was the Signal R-535 (532 was almost as good). Not very portable, but with an external fixed antenna on my bear pit, Biggin Hill and Birmingham radar ground based transmissions are pulled in with ease! Okay I live on top of a hill in Bedfordshire, but the performance of the 535 compared to the MVT-7100 is astonishing!
Still change hands for £200-250 on eBay and are worth every penny!