Window mount antennae

[rjyoung]

I am considering getting a new rig and see that a window mount antennae is an option. What sort of performance could I expect?

[gewecke]

Back in my cb days glass mount antennas weren't around yet,but from what I've read here the users don't suggest the glass mount variety. I always got out the drill and did it "old school"!
N9ZAS.

[va3hub]

Originally Posted by rjyoung

I am considering getting a new rig and see that a window mount antennae is an option. What sort of performance could I expect?

rjyoung, I was able to get some info from firestick antenna factory concerning glass mounted antennas,

Here is a excerpt from there technical Support team on the matter.

{ Cellular/ and PCS phones use a system of antennas and repeaters. Your transmission does not need to go very far before it locks into the system of repeaters. Once that link is made, the communication capabilities are unlimited. But with CB, communications are station to station. You do not have the advantage of repeaters so the antenna must do all of the work. As antennas go, there are inherent problems with the "on-glass" cellular look-a-like CB antennas. First of all, the RF signal must be coupled through the vehicle's glass. Glass, having good insulating properties, diminishes the signal strength to and from the radio. Then, if the glass has deicer wires, built in AM/FM antennas, or certain types of window tint, performance suffers further. To complicate matters further, the small size of the antenna reduces its ability to transmit as effective as a larger antenna. Also, because of the antennas slender stature, there is less antenna surface to gather the incoming signals. A common complaint from people that are using good antennas is that they can hear another station but the other station will not respond to their request for 2-way communication. What is happening is the good antenna is able to pick up the weaker signal from the wire antenna, but the wire antenna is either too short or too slender to receive your transmission. The other station just doesn't hear you! }

You can get the hole transcript by clicking on this link as well as there web site.
Untitled Document

Hope this helps.

[Wyandotte]

Originally Posted by rjyoung

I am considering getting a new rig and see that a window mount antennae is an option. What sort of performance could I expect?

Like someone else said, if you plan on talking a good distance, you need to mount a good gain antenna like a Larsen or a Wilson on the roof or trunk deck. But if the purpose is to run with the truckers on the interstate, where you don't need to hear a great distance, and not talk more than a couple of miles, than a window mount antenna will work fine.

[mrweather]

Glass mount CB antennas more or less suck. They're acceptable for UHF and 800 MHz but drop right off in efficiency below VHF.

I'm not a big fan of mag mounts but they're 100x better than a glass mount.

[DirtyLarry]

Originally Posted by mrweather

Glass mount CB antennas more or less suck. They're acceptable for UHF and 800 MHz but drop right off in efficiency below VHF.

Pretty much more! Use a mag mount or drill baby drill!

[GregFromOregon]

Originally Posted by rjyoung

What sort of performance could I expect?

Poopy!