Scanner Antennas

[efdny2003 16]

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum to start this, and if not ask a moderator to move it appropriately. I'm looking for scanner antennas for my car, that mount to the trunk lip. I'm not sure if there are any stores around here or if there's a website that may sell them. I am trying to stay away from anything big and bulky or that obvious, and I know I could order a windshield mount from radio shack but would rather something smaller. If anyone knows where I could go for something like that, it would be greatly appreciated.

[38ff 250]

check out www.scannerworld.com They are in Albany

[PFDRes47cue 653]

Look into getting a suction cup mounted wire antenna that goes on the inside edge of the front or rear windshield. They get very good reception and are very well hidden and unnoticeable.

[IzzyEng4 427]

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum to start this, and if not ask a moderator to move it appropriately. I'm looking for scanner antennas for my car, that mount to the trunk lip. I'm not sure if there are any stores around here or if there's a website that may sell them. I am trying to stay away from anything big and bulky or that obvious, and I know I could order a windshield mount from radio shack but would rather something smaller. If anyone knows where I could go for something like that, it would be greatly appreciated.

There are a lot of good stores online to purcahse scanner antennas. The main thing when thinking about truck lip mounts is where to locate the antenna. Make sure whether you mount it on the side of the truck top or closest to your rear window, try and have it centered as possible. This will give you a good ground plane (or counterpoise) with your truck deck (also make sure that the truck door is metal, poly carbon doors will not give you a good ground). A good little trick when setting up the lip mount is to scrape off a little paint where the set screws will bit into the metal, this will assist in getting that good ground. You don't have to do this for scanner antennas so much compared to two-way radios, but it will help a lot. The set screws will mark up the paint anyway, and little to no rust should form, but check up on the mount every so often.

There are many styles of lip mounts to choose from. Preferably I would recommend an NMO antenna connector style mount. It's the most common style mount and many scanner antenna manufactures that produce both the mount and antenna in a package. Some like Hustler make a nice whip scanner antenna bu their truck lip mount is very large an noticeable. Me personally I would get a smaller looking mount and purchase a separate antenna.

Also when choosing your antenna, make sure that you select one that will cover all the frequencies you want to hear. Don't get something that is tuned for UHF and is small for a stealthy loo because it won't pick up Low Band and 150 Mhz unless you are right up on the transmitter. Try and get a multi band antenna if possible. You can spend anywhere from $20 to $100 for one. Also the most expensive is not necessarily the best.

Look into getting a suction cup mounted wire antenna that goes on the inside edge of the front or rear windshield. They get very good reception and are very well hidden and unnoticeable.

They get good reception yes but only on a "local" level. Just a little "geek-time" explanation, any antenna that does not have a good ground plane (ie. like in radios, the negative side connected to metal) you are only going to pic up strong transmission signals. These types of antennas need to be run as a dipole, basically the center connector (the part the whip of the antenna touches) has to go one what while the shield part of the antenna wire (the ground) has to run the other way. Also the suction cups don't last very long and in cold weather without proper maintenance, will eventually fall off or loose their shape. Don;t get me wrong, they are a great alternative if you only want to listen to local traffic and want to have that "hidden" look, but they are a lot of maintenance. Nothing is worse that having one of these strung across the front windshield while driving then it pops off in front of you. These are best suited to be mounted on the back window instead.

[joetnymedic 43]

I've been into scanning for years. Like Izzy said, the type of antenna you need to get will depend on what you listen to. Say 60 control was still on 46.26, your antenna would need to be tuned for low band which is a good size antenna. now if you were listening to uhf you can get away with I believe a 4 inch whip antenna. If you are litening to multiple bands, you will need a multi band antenns which again is noticable. Larsen makes both a mount and an antenna for vhf/uhf/800 which is pretty good. as for the glass mount antennas, be prepared as I have one and while it's ok for me and when/where I listen to things, it's not all that great of an antenna. Also, as Izzy stated, the suction cupp antennas are great if you are monitoring a very close or very strong system. but they stink in the cold and are quite a bit of maintainance. I will tell yo9u I also tried to go that route awhile back and I did have the suction cup fail and fall off. The other option, if you are listening to just one band are the stealth antennas used by some departments for two way radios, but once again, some are good, some aren't so good. Also a** mentioned just because you pay top dollar doesn't mean you are going to get the best antenna. I'm sure many on this board will have opinions and you can also check out www.radioreference.com which can also give you quite a bit of information. Good luck, I hope you get the antenna you are looking for.

joe

[PFDRes47cue 653]

They get good reception yes but only on a "local" level. Just a little "geek-time" explanation, any antenna that does not have a good ground plane (ie. like in radios, the negative side connected to metal) you are only going to pic up strong transmission signals. These types of antennas need to be run as a dipole, basically the center connector (the part the whip of the antenna touches) has to go one what while the shield part of the antenna wire (the ground) has to run the other way. Also the suction cups don't last very long and in cold weather without proper maintenance, will eventually fall off or loose their shape. Don;t get me wrong, they are a great alternative if you only want to listen to local traffic and want to have that "hidden" look, but they are a lot of maintenance. Nothing is worse that having one of these strung across the front windshield while driving then it pops off in front of you. These are best suited to be mounted on the back window instead.

I've been into scanning for years. Like Izzy said, the type of antenna you need to get will depend on what you listen to. Say 60 control was still on 46.26, your antenna would need to be tuned for low band which is a good size antenna. now if you were listening to uhf you can get away with I believe a 4 inch whip antenna. If you are litening to multiple bands, you will need a multi band antenns which again is noticable. Larsen makes both a mount and an antenna for vhf/uhf/800 which is pretty good. as for the glass mount antennas, be prepared as I have one and while it's ok for me and when/where I listen to things, it's not all that great of an antenna. Also, as Izzy stated, the suction cupp antennas are great if you are monitoring a very close or very strong system. but they stink in the cold and are quite a bit of maintainance. I will tell yo9u I also tried to go that route awhile back and I did have the suction cup fail and fall off. The other option, if you are listening to just one band are the stealth antennas used by some departments for two way radios, but once again, some are good, some aren't so good. Also a** mentioned just because you pay top dollar doesn't mean you are going to get the best antenna. I'm sure many on this board will have opinions and you can also check out www.radioreference.com which can also give you quite a bit of information. Good luck, I hope you get the antenna you are looking for.

joe

It is true that the antenna will not pick up weaker signals. But I have had no problem with any frequency that I have wanted to listen in on in Westchester County or St. Lawrence County. Cold temperatures could be a problem. I personally have not had much of a problem with the suction cups failing (and I am in temps as low as -40) but since I know they can my antenna is mounted on the passenger corner of the windshield. They are higher maintenance and keeping the windshield clean helps a lot. I have had the suction cups holding my LED lights to the windshield fail so I am looking at mounting them to the headliner.

Thanks for the info Izzy and Joe.

-Madison

[xfirefighter484x 234]

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum to start this, and if not ask a moderator to move it appropriately. I'm looking for scanner antennas for my car, that mount to the trunk lip. I'm not sure if there are any stores around here or if there's a website that may sell them. I am trying to stay away from anything big and bulky or that obvious, and I know I could order a windshield mount from radio shack but would rather something smaller. If anyone knows where I could go for something like that, it would be greatly appreciated.

I have an Antenex NMO trunk-lip mount w/cable that I purchased but decided on another installation method. You would need to purchase the correct antenna to attach, but it is your for what I paid for it.

... I have had the suction cups holding my LED lights to the windshield fail so I am looking at mounting them to the headliner.

Use a dab of clear silicone on the suction cups, and problem solved! Not a permanent mount, but if/when you want to move/remove it, you can peel it right off!

[chiefbpfd 41]

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum to start this, and if not ask a moderator to move it appropriately. I'm looking for scanner antennas for my car, that mount to the trunk lip. I'm not sure if there are any stores around here or if there's a website that may sell them. I am trying to stay away from anything big and bulky or that obvious, and I know I could order a windshield mount from radio shack but would rather something smaller. If anyone knows where I could go for something like that, it would be greatly appreciated.

http://radioproshop.com/paradynamics/pdc63-64.htm

I have this in my truck works great and uses the am/fm antenna on your car with out drilling our mounting anything

[gamewell45 258]

Whatever antenna you ultimately decide on, make sure its a Tri-Band, that way you'll get maximum reception from all ranges on fire frequencies.

[IzzyEng4 427]

http://radioproshop.com/paradynamics/pdc63-64.htm

I have this in my truck works great and uses the am/fm antenna on your car with out drilling our mounting anything

I know that the old style splitters were not that great. Those splitters basically was a connector with two cables coming our of it, one to connect to you AM/FM and the other to the scanner. You used to get the EMF from both the radios and would cause havoc on each others' reception.

Do these have the electronics in it like the Stridsberg multi-couplers have for base scanners?