sub 19" dual band NMO mount antenna?

[K7DDQ]

Is there such a thing as a sub 19" dual band NMO mount antenna? I realize such a thing would have no gain.

Or alternatively an 19" with a soft spring?

I have a mag mount on top of my Suburban that I will be replacing with a NMO mount soon but I already scrape the garage door with the mag mount and the 19" NMO I typically use has about 4-5 inches of coil and short whip with little flex, I think it would get bent so I'm looking for other ideas. I have a Larsen NMO 2/70 that I can easily switch to for road trips or other cases when I may want more range than the little antennas offer so I'm not too worried about the limitations of the little guys.

 

[mmckenna]

Comet B10nmo: Comet B-10 and B-10NMO. Comet B10 antenna

My dad used one of those on the trunk of his car with a permanent NMO mount. Mediocre performance, as expected.

I got him to switch to just using a 1/4 wave whip, 19 inches long. The whips are flexible enough that they'll bend out of the way, but spring right back. A 1/4 wave 2 meter antenna will work just fine on 440. It outperforms the short Comet.

My wife has a Ford Escape with a 1/4 wave VHF whip on the roof. It taps the top of the garage door every time she pulls in and out of the garage. Not an issue, never had any issues with it. Cheap, easy and a good performer.

 

[Thunderknight]

I second the VHF 1/4 wave whip...a "chrome dome". It's flexible. If you need to, you can even permanently bend it back a bit.
I use mine on 440 too.
They are cheap too.

 

[autovon]

I used the Comet B-10 NMO for a few years as anything longer would hit the garage door. It worked just fine for around town. Ran APRS with it as well and the packets were definitely getting out and not just hitting nearby digipeaters.

 

[popnokick]

There's another Comet antenna you should be looking at... the SBB-1. Same height as a 1/4 wave for 2M, but it has gain of 1.5dBi on 2M and 2.15dBi on 70cm. It is an NMO mount and completely flexible. I use one on center roof of my Jeep and it pops the garage door every time I go in/out of the garage. Been doing that for several years now with NO problem. It simply flexes and pops up again. If you can deal with the same antenna being a little longer but with more gain, look at the SBB-2. Both are on this link (scroll down the page to see them) -
Dual-Band | Comet Antenna

 

[N1BHH]

Larsen has a shorty NMO-2/70SH that comes with a spring, an excellent choice.

 

[kc0kp]

Is there such a thing as a sub 19" dual band NMO mount antenna? I realize such a thing would have no gain.

Or alternatively an 19" with a soft spring?

I have a mag mount on top of my Suburban that I will be replacing with a NMO mount soon but I already scrape the garage door with the mag mount and the 19" NMO I typically use has about 4-5 inches of coil and short whip with little flex, I think it would get bent so I'm looking for other ideas. I have a Larsen NMO 2/70 that I can easily switch to for road trips or other cases when I may want more range than the little antennas offer so I'm not too worried about the limitations of the little guys.

Larsen NMO-2/70SH has a spring base. I use them on our mobile command post. The antennas are at 13' 6.5" high so they smack a lot of tree limbs and other obstacles while driving. Been on there for 5 years now without a failure. The two Comets the truck came with, not so successful: toast in two weeks.
Craig

 

[BigLebowski]

Comtelco has a heavy-duty spring base model as well, very nice antenna.

 

[cmdrwill]

Comtelco has a heavy-duty spring base model as well, very nice antenna.

A1531A for Ham, A1532B for commercial/PS bands.

We use lots of them for both Ham and commercial/PS.They work very well.

 

[ActionJackson]

I use the Tram 1181 and it's 18.5 inches. Great Rx and Tx on both our systems at work. Even in the mountains I have no issues.

 

[slapshot0017]

Here's a good buy if you're looking to spend a few bucks. Well worth the money though as its a triband and the bandwidth is perfect.
http://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/laird-technologies-wpd136m6c-001-4286.html

 

[Project25_MASTR]

Austin 500C would be my recommendation. It's a well made, just not very wide banded on UHF though (about 10 MHz).