Antenna questions

SCPD · Feb 11, 2016

Trying my luck on finding the right NMO antenna to use on the Statewide Viper System, I usually monitor it on my Pro 668 and 652. I stay in Wayne County, NC. My local viper towers are the Lee Plant tower, Seven Springs, Smithfield and the Wilson tower sites. Just figured I'd ask on what someone else has found that works good for them! Thanks in advance.

~Duane.

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reconrider8 · Feb 12, 2016

Is this all you listen to? Or do you listen to some other vhf/uhf/lowband

SCPD · Feb 12, 2016

I monitor Wayne County p25 and Viper on 2 different radios, I dedicate 1 to Viper and another to Wayne County

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reconrider8 · Feb 12, 2016

OK soare you looking for mobile or base antenna?

SCPD · Feb 12, 2016

Moblie

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reconrider8 · Feb 12, 2016

Might want to look into a dedicated 800 mhz whip or even a Larsen tribander a great antenna on 150/450/800

SCPD · Feb 12, 2016

This is what I'm running now, it works but seems like there's a lot of dead spots

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reconrider8 · Feb 12, 2016

May want to try a dedi 800 mhz then http://www.theantennafarm.com/catal...ular-range-198/high-gain-800mhz-antennas-223/ something like those

SCPD · Feb 12, 2016

With those antennas what exactly does the pigtail coil do ?

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reconrider8 · Feb 12, 2016

That's for someone better then me to answer. But some of it may be for deflection

SCPD · Feb 12, 2016

Copy that well I appreciate the advice man I'm just going to have to try a few different ones and see what works the best !

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reconrider8 · Feb 12, 2016

Yip bout all you can do is try until you find one you like. Others may give specific antennas but for me like I say the tribander did just fine

KB4SHP · Feb 13, 2016

Fire life 1409 : I tired one like you have now and didn't work like it should I also use pro 668 so I tried this and works great it is a Laresn Tri Band 150 450 800

LARSEN NMO-150/450/800 | 150 / 450 / 800 MHz Vertical Mobile Antenna - NMO Mount

kc4jgc · Feb 13, 2016

firelife_1409 said:
With those antennas what exactly does the pigtail coil do ?

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The coil provides physical gain while keeping the length relatively short. The first 2 on the page claim stacked 5/8 wave over 1/4 wave. I don't know what that translates to in dbi; 5/8 by itself is decent gain.

N3VEM · Feb 18, 2016

With your install in the location on your vehicle, you may have dead spots because of the proximity of the antenna to the hood. With a small antennas, located beside sheet metal, you would get weird reception patterns because the metal beside the antenna would block signals from some angles from even getting to the antenna, reflect signals from other angles etc. this would have the effect of making the antenna somewhat directional - i.e. your gain would vary based on the direction the signal is coming from. Better than choosing different antennas, you may want to explore different mounting locations - the higher on the vehicle, and the more "in the clear" the better. Center of the top of the roof is best, and if you're comfortable drilling holes, an NMO mount in the sheet metal of the body is about the best thing possible.

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SCPD · Feb 18, 2016

N3VEM said:
With your install in the location on your vehicle, you may have dead spots because of the proximity of the antenna to the hood. With a small antennas, located beside sheet metal, you would get weird reception patterns because the metal beside the antenna would block signals from some angles from even getting to the antenna, reflect signals from other angles etc. this would have the effect of making the antenna somewhat directional - i.e. your gain would vary based on the direction the signal is coming from. Better than choosing different antennas, you may want to explore different mounting locations - the higher on the vehicle, and the more "in the clear" the better. Center of the top of the roof is best, and if you're comfortable drilling holes, an NMO mount in the sheet metal of the body is about the best thing possible.

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That was a thought, not into that much detail but I will give that a shot. I have a magnetic nmo mount I'll throw up on the roof tomorrow and try it and see how that goes. Is there anyway to tune a scanner antenna at all ?

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N3VEM · Feb 18, 2016

They can be tuned, but getting your hands on an antenna analyzer for those frequencies is more difficult. Most of the ones out there at "reasonable" prices are designed for the more common ham radio or cb frequencies. For receive only though, it's probably not worth the effort for the tiny difference it would make.

Also, a note when you test out your mag mount - a mag mount antenna will have slightly less gain than a permanently installed NMO mount. If you cant drill into the car for whatever reason though, a mag mount on the roof should give you pretty decent results. Depending on the vehicle type, with smaller antenna's, center of the trunk lid can work pretty well too. There's actually a good from another thread on the forum:

http://forums.radioreference.com/scanner-receiver-antennas/139268-trunk-roof-any-difference.html

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SCPD · Feb 18, 2016

N3VEM said:
They can be tuned, but getting your hands on an antenna analyzer for those frequencies is more difficult. Most of the ones out there at "reasonable" prices are designed for the more common ham radio or cb frequencies. For receive only though, it's probably not worth the effort for the tiny difference it would make.

Also, a note when you test out your mag mount - a mag mount antenna will have slightly less gain than a permanently installed NMO mount. If you cant drill into the car for whatever reason though, a mag mount on the roof should give you pretty decent results. Depending on the vehicle type, with smaller antenna's, center of the trunk lid can work pretty well too. There's actually a good from another thread on the forum:

http://forums.radioreference.com/scanner-receiver-antennas/139268-trunk-roof-any-difference.html

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I'd rather not drill into the roof, it's on a single cab truck. I have that mag mount and the fender mount, so I'll explore my options a little more tomorrow but I appreciate the advice ! I'll give an update tomorrow!

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popnokick · Feb 19, 2016

A mag mount rooftop antenna should be a major improvement over the placement of that 800 mHz whip, which is blocked in a major way by being so close to all that metal.... which is likely to be causing those "dead spots".

SCPD · Feb 22, 2016

Update on the mag mount 800 mhz antenna trouble I have receiving. I've tried everywhere on the roof even dead center and found that it works just as great in the spot in the picture as it does anywhere else.

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