After hearing a lot of hoopla from a couple of friends of mine, I decided to finally go out and buy one of these antennas. I can safely say almost a year later, I am glad that I did.
The Austin Spectra is a little less than three feet tall, and mounts on your vehicle via an NMO (New Motorola) Mount. The bottom of the antenna has a spring in case the antenna strikes a branch or brush as you're driving along.
The antenna is a loaded antenna to provide optimum reception from 30 MHz to 960 MHz. Austin calls the antenna design a patented SPECTRA dual cavity design for 450 and 800 MHz, and an offset fed antenna for low and hi band VHF.
I have the antenna mounted on a Diamond K400CNMO mount. Make sure your trunk lid or SUV door is bonded to the body of the car, or use a drill through mount or low band will be marginal. My SUV door is bonded to the car.
Scanner in the car is the Radio Shack Pro-197. I had previously used a small all band magnet mount antenna for the scanner. I switched to the Spectra and..
What a difference. New York State Police are on a base/mobile system, and receiving the cars can be difficult at best. I have been able to hear NYSP mobile units fifteen miles away with no problem. Performance on VHF has improved dramatically as well. Putnam County, NY uses different towers for dispatch. I am on the eastern side of the county, and have no problem hearing just about any mobile unit on the east side. Reception of west side dispatched is a little rough, but bearable.
I used this antenna on my cross country trip in September of 2010. The antenna performed quite well on the South Dakota VHF TRS System, with no drops in service through the state. Reception on 700/800 MHz in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio was again good, with no service drops.
There is one caveat with this antenna. The contact on the bottom of the antenna is somewhat delicate, and can be easily crushed. I own two of these antennas, and so far, no problem as the NMO mounts fit well. I suggest when mounting the antenna, tune your scanner to a NOAA station, and stop twisting when you get reception.
Bottom line, while this antenna is pricey ($79 at rfwiz.com, $99 and scannermaster,com), if you are a serious scanner hobbyist, this antenna is definitely for you.
The Austin Spectra is a little less than three feet tall, and mounts on your vehicle via an NMO (New Motorola) Mount. The bottom of the antenna has a spring in case the antenna strikes a branch or brush as you're driving along.
The antenna is a loaded antenna to provide optimum reception from 30 MHz to 960 MHz. Austin calls the antenna design a patented SPECTRA dual cavity design for 450 and 800 MHz, and an offset fed antenna for low and hi band VHF.
I have the antenna mounted on a Diamond K400CNMO mount. Make sure your trunk lid or SUV door is bonded to the body of the car, or use a drill through mount or low band will be marginal. My SUV door is bonded to the car.
Scanner in the car is the Radio Shack Pro-197. I had previously used a small all band magnet mount antenna for the scanner. I switched to the Spectra and..
What a difference. New York State Police are on a base/mobile system, and receiving the cars can be difficult at best. I have been able to hear NYSP mobile units fifteen miles away with no problem. Performance on VHF has improved dramatically as well. Putnam County, NY uses different towers for dispatch. I am on the eastern side of the county, and have no problem hearing just about any mobile unit on the east side. Reception of west side dispatched is a little rough, but bearable.
I used this antenna on my cross country trip in September of 2010. The antenna performed quite well on the South Dakota VHF TRS System, with no drops in service through the state. Reception on 700/800 MHz in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio was again good, with no service drops.
There is one caveat with this antenna. The contact on the bottom of the antenna is somewhat delicate, and can be easily crushed. I own two of these antennas, and so far, no problem as the NMO mounts fit well. I suggest when mounting the antenna, tune your scanner to a NOAA station, and stop twisting when you get reception.
Bottom line, while this antenna is pricey ($79 at rfwiz.com, $99 and scannermaster,com), if you are a serious scanner hobbyist, this antenna is definitely for you.