Those with handhelds, do you use an external antenna on your vehicle?

Curious how many use an external antenna on your hand held in your car.

I am up in the air on it right now. I get fairly decent signal (uniden 436 with RS 800). but wonder if an antenna would make things more reliable.

I have some parts coming tomorrow to fabricate a mount on the dash of my 2010 f150. (Want to get it out of the cup holder)

I know I could do a fender mount quite easily, but would prefer something mounted on the bed rail, but I also like the look of the plastic caps on the bed rail so a stake mount is out, so my options are a bit limited unless I can come up with a custom mount.

Curious as to what you handheld guys are doing.




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Outside the vehicle is always better. Larsen and Tessco make some excellent low profile antennas for 800mhz. The best antenna location on your truck would be in the center of the roof. . 73, n9zas

rbryant76 said:

Curious how many use an external antenna on your hand held in your car.

I am up in the air on it right now. I get fairly decent signal (uniden 436 with RS 800). but wonder if an antenna would make things more reliable.

I have some parts coming tomorrow to fabricate a mount on the dash of my 2010 f150. (Want to get it out of the cup holder)

I know I could do a fender mount quite easily, but would prefer something mounted on the bed rail, but I also like the look of the plastic caps on the bed rail so a stake mount is out, so my options are a bit limited unless I can come up with a custom mount.

Curious as to what you handheld guys are doing.




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Click to expand...

I see a BIG difference in reception between the radio/antenna laying on the car seat and hand holding it at the top of steering wheel. I get another BIG boost in reception with a mag mount on the roof.

Back when all I had were portable scanners for traveling (using wife's vehicle) I would use an exterior antenna with magnetic base. There was noticeable improvement over using the "on scanner" antenna.

rbryant76 said:

Curious how many use an external antenna on your hand held in your car.

I am up in the air on it right now. I get fairly decent signal (uniden 436 with RS 800). but wonder if an antenna would make things more reliable.

I have some parts coming tomorrow to fabricate a mount on the dash of my 2010 f150. (Want to get it out of the cup holder)

I know I could do a fender mount quite easily, but would prefer something mounted on the bed rail, but I also like the look of the plastic caps on the bed rail so a stake mount is out, so my options are a bit limited unless I can come up with a custom mount.

Curious as to what you handheld guys are doing.

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Click to expand...

Good Morning,

I primarily use a mobile radio in my vehicle. I work in law enforcement and often times guys I work with will use their portable radios inside their cars, and use the mobile inside the car to monitor local counties they are assigned to.

BUT the problem is that the portables do not transmit well being inside a vehicle. So the radio's are unreadable both transmitting and listening. 5 watts compared to 50 watts, we both can see the short side of things.

If possible, you can connect a portable radio (or scanner) to an outside antenna, that would make things a lot better. Otherwise it would equate to attempting to transmit or receive from a metal tin can.

I hope this helps, and best of luck getting your setup in your vehicle!

I use a suction cup antenna from scannermaster that's basically a string and have it tucked away inside the A pillar. The frequencies I monitor are so strong that I get perfect reception with it.

I use this mag mount BNC
MFJ-332B MFJ-332S Magnetic Mount BNC, mfj332

With this antenna. Works great.
https://www.radioshack.com/products/radioshack-800mhz-scanner-antenna?variant=5717063941

I use magnetic mount antennas. That way I can remove them if needed. When mobile I mostly want to hear CHP, which is on low band VHF. An external antenna makes a huge difference. If I was only listening to 800MHz+, I'm not sure I'd bother with one.

I use a Panavise dash mount to mount my BCD-436 to the dash so it can 'see' out the window. Their custom mount plates use existing bolts on your dash, such as those holding the AM/FM radio, to mount them; no drilling, and it looks custom! I've used this setup for about 10 years now with different handhelds.

A Panavise 777 clip mounts to it, and it takes either a button back or clip. It attaches to one of the above brackets, which have the standard AMPS hole pattern, or it can be mounted direct to the dash with double-stick tape, or with screws. Perfect.

http://www.panavise.com/pdf_indash/75114-296.pdf Install sample instructions

http://www.panavise.com/index.html?pageid=1&cart=1470377941120871&startat=1&searchonetime=1&--GROUP1field=PARTNUM%2BTITLE%2BS_DESCRIP%2BL_DESCRIP&--woGROUP1datarq=777&x=0&y=0 777 clip info

PanaVise Products, Inc. Main ordering page

They also have windshield stick-on mounts, many of which will accept the 777 clip. There are lots of options from them.

Of course, if you have the option, an antenna outside of the vehicle will always get you more signal, but the above is a good compromise.

I always use external antennas. They make a noticeable difference. If you only listen to strong nearby signals, and the radio never breaks up in your car when you're listening, then you may not need an external antenna.

I have a hole drilled in the roof of my older beater car fitted with an NMO mount. I won't drill holes in my new car, so I use a mag mount.

I have cupholder cell phone mounts for both cars that hold the radio nicely so I can see it and it doesn't move around.

The AM/FM radio in my new car has a 3.5mm AUX input jack. I connect the speaker output of the portable radio to the AUX input on the AM/FM radio and listen to it on my car speakers.

I use an x grip ram mount and an external antenna. Works great.

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I have noticed that newer vehicles a portable radio does not work as well as they did in older models. I can drive around all day in a 1999 Astro and my VHF P25 radio never leaves the system. When I get into my 2008 Town & Country the radio is constantly showing out of range. I know the US Forest service had this issue as well with their new F-150s.

So not to mention the signal loos normally associated with using a portable in a vehicle, I would try to use at least a mag mount with your scanner.

The only time it may not make a big difference is if you are listening to a strong 800MHz system.

I, too, am in the process of selecting a antenna for my 436 for my vehicle. I believe I am going to go with the Larsen 150/450/800. To build upon this post. Which is the best connector to have at the end of the coax? BNC or SMA? What are your experiences? Thank you.

Remember a few things from physics class.

On something like a 800mhz system, the much smaller wavelength (when compared to VHF low or high) allows it to travel into vehicles a bit easier. When the wavelength is only a couple of inches the small opening impingement isn't too great.

When you compare a VHF high frequency and a wavelength nearing 6 feet, it becomes obvious why the smaller openings associated with vehicle windows would be harder to fit the signal through. Think of a long tunnel you have to drive through. Listening to an FM station (about 100mhz) you will usually be able to hear it through the length of the tunnel. But trying to listen to an AM station (1mhz) is generally not possible. Same principal as the car, smaller wavelengths at higher frequency can more easily travel into the tunnel.

But there are more things at play. First and foremost is modern auto glass. Most of it has small metal particles in it as a way of blocking UV light. This will play havoc on receiving radio signals inside of a vehicle.

The last thing I want to point out is polarization. Since essentially 99+% of LMR use in the US is vertically polarized, trying to receive the system with something like a scanner lying in the passenger seat (making the antenna operate horizontally) can induce a 20db loss in signal strength. Not good.

If you are in an area with exceptionally strong signal strengths, a scanner inside the vehicle may work fine. Especially if your system is 800mhz or around there. But if you live in a much more RF sparse area with lower frequencies like I do (remote tower sites using VHF), an external antenna is almost a requirement.

Tailor your antenna to your needs and always remember the physics.

Well I am in Hamilton County Ohio, with a rather big P25 system (marcs).

I may try one of the suction cup mounts in the window first. I need to steer away from a magnet rooftop mount as my standard am/fm antenna hardly clears some parking garages.

I could do a fender mount..but again, I'm up in the air on how it looks.

Panhandler said:

I, too, am in the process of selecting a antenna for my 436 for my vehicle. I believe I am going to go with the Larsen 150/450/800. To build upon this post. Which is the best connector to have at the end of the coax? BNC or SMA? What are your experiences? Thank you.

Click to expand...

Attached here is a return loss read I did of the Larsen triband scanner antenna a couple of years ago. As you can see, VHF is marginal, UHF is awesome, and 800mhz is pretty good. This was done with a calibrated Anritsu Cell Master.

The readings mimic my own real word experiences. It is not stellar on VHF but better on UHF+. When I need a general antenna for traveling, I will just throw this on the NMO and go. But in my home state which uses only VHF stuff spaced on distant towers, this antenna kinda disappoints. Usable, but not great (at VHF).

rbryant76 said:

Well I am in Hamilton County Ohio, with a rather big P25 system (marcs).

I may try one of the suction cup mounts in the window first. I need to steer away from a magnet rooftop mount as my standard am/fm antenna hardly clears some parking garages.

I could do a fender mount..but again, I'm up in the air on how it looks.

Click to expand...

It appears the MARCS system is 800mhz. If you NMO mount something like a Phantom blade on the roof. it only extends 2.7 inches above roof line. Most luggage racks are thicker than that.

LP800NMO by Larsen is only 1.25 inches thick. That should EASILY pass through any garage on even the shortest roof. It's NMO mount and would improve performance far above that of anything in vehicle.

An extremely cheap and easy option:

Opek AM800 and AM801 Window Mounts for HT Antennas

These clip on external window mounts work just fine for me with my 436. I just use whatever HH antenna gets me the bands I'm interested in wherever I am. I usually use the Diamond 77A driving back and forth between Florida and NJ. Plenty of I-95 coverage. In Palm Beach County, a Remtronics 800 Mhz.

Nothing fancy, but the areas I'm in don't require much in the way of antennas. They come in both BNC and SMA flavors.

Ok so with the small LP800NMO, i know its tuned for 800mhz. Would it help with other frequencies as well? I know its geared for 800

Say CB when traveling, or some various FM frequencies (pager tone outs, etc)

I have a pro 106 and when mobile, I use the larsen tri band coupled with the comet lip mount that sits on the side of my trunk. I really don't want to make holes in my car yet. Works great.