Impressive new mobile antenna

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fredg

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I just bought this off eBay:

SCANNER MULTI BAND MICRO MAG ANTENNA TMM3 W/ BNC CONN - eBay (item 380138905176 end time Jul-19-09 20:04:06 PDT)

The seller shipped super fast. When I got it and looked at it I said uh oh this thing is crap. The 9' wire is super thin, think USB cable thin, and the magnet is super tiny, like the size of a quarter maybe bigger, the whip is thin as well.

So I figure what the heck I will give it a try. Well on the way to work this morning I was surprised at how well it worked! Across all bands including 800 MHz. I was picking up stuff from all over.

And after my 35 mile drive to work at 60-70 MPH it stayed put! So the tiny mag mount holds well too!!

Well worth the $19.45 I spent.


The TMM3 portable/mobile scanner antenna weighs approximately 2 oz. and is only 17" tall. It features a super-strong rare earth magnet base that is pre-wired with 9' of RG174 cable and a BNC connector. The TMM3 is a Tri-band antenna, transmitting at 144-148MHz (2m/40 watts max), 430-456 MHz (25 watts) and 824-896MHz (cellular/15 watts max). It also receives in the range of 100- 1200MHz for scanner reception.
 
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gewecke

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So you're saying that size...does matter?!
Sorry...off topic,I know. That antenna must have one of those little cobalt magnets? I haven't tried those yet,but might have to.
N9ZAS.
 

bee

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This is very similar to the Valor Po Am "PMM3B". I have three, and they are the best moble antenna's I have used!
It is also very similar to the "ks 3", which is also very good.
 

thewenk

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I would agree this is a good antenna for the price. I've used several of these off and on for 8 or 10 years and I believe it has been discussed before in this forum. I like it because it is unobtrusive. It even gives surprisingly reasonable performance on vhf-low band. I've had it come off in a 35 mph crosswind at freeway speed, though. There are two versions that I have seen - one that is shorter and has the coil winding spaced closer together. I prefer the shorter one since I think it stays attached better. Scannermaster also sells a version of this antenna.

Dave
 

bee

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I have never had a problem with the two, I mentioned above "blowing off". Even at speeds up to seventy mph, meeting an 18 wheeler on a two lane highway!

There is very, very little, wind resistance.
 

thewenk

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I have never had a problem with the two, I mentioned above "blowing off". Even at speeds up to seventy mph, meeting an 18 wheeler on a two lane highway!

There is very, very little, wind resistance.
Since there seems to be several versions(manufacturers) of this style antenna, there may be some difference in the quality of the magnet between the versions, which might affect the observed holding ability,

Dave
 

bee

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thewenk, true, there is some difference between the holding power of the "pmm3b and the "KS 3". Although the "pmm3b" and the"KS 3" look almost idenical, the "pmm3b"holds much better.

But niether has "blown off"! Yet!
 

N1GJB

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My buddy had the Valor PMM3B variant of this design on his last car and he swears by it. He got excellent performance INSIDE his car magneted to a metal junctionbox faceplate (screwed into the metal back deck for an appropriate ground plane, of course). He has since changed setups and is using a trunk lip mount on his new car.
 

izzyj4

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How is the low band (33 and 40 MHz) reception though I know it is not tuned to that range?
 

blueangel-eric

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I have never had a problem with the two, I mentioned above "blowing off". Even at speeds up to seventy mph, meeting an 18 wheeler on a two lane highway!

There is very, very little, wind resistance.
except the time i had ice on it and it came flying off and hit the window!!!! in town it didn't matter but on a rare occasion i went out of town in the snow and ice and only made it a half mile at 70mph and poof!!! those coils attract ice buildup.
 

thewenk

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How is the low band (33 and 40 MHz) reception though I know it is not tuned to that range?
I've used it during my travels in Calif and it receives 39-42 MHz CHP better than I expected. It's probably about as good as any tri-band antenna not specifically tuned to vhf low.

Dave
 

Hooligan

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It's a decent antenna for the size & price, but I think the original poster is exaggerating about the actual signal performance of the antenna - it's not *that* great.

I've heard VHF-Low Band (CHP) stuff just using a paper-clip for an antenna, but I know it's got more to do with distance/ERP of the transmitted signal than it does my receive antenna.
 

wc8i

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bid on 2 antennas and got bid up right away, is that shilling ?

Went to the site, and tried twice ,and both times got bid up over the starting price, seems strange to me, because he has , and had ,quite a few on there with NO BIDS ? has any one else had the same problem, or im just the most unluckyist person , hi! just wanted to pass it on. god bless, Bill
 
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