HAE6032
UHF, 425-470 MHz 1/4 Wave Moto in love with that stubby whip. 65.00
Gotta love Motorola, charging $65.00 for an antenna you can get for $9.00 anywhere else. But, hey, it's got the Motorola logo on it, so it must be worth it. That logo alone will add 10dB of gain...
or HAE6013 380-470 MHz 2 dB Gain Wide band or
HAE6031 380-520 MHz 2 dB Gain Wide band. I have only ever used the whip NMO antennas for my setups. Has anyone used the 6013 or 6031 or have a good antenna that will work by another manufacture.
Thanks
Tim
Depends on what your use is and what you actual frequency use is.
Motorola doesn't make their own antennas, they sell relabeled antennas from other manufacturers.
It's hard to beat the broad bandwidth of a 1/4 wave. While other antennas may claim "wide band", I'd like to see them on an antenna analyzer compared to a simple 1/4 wave antenna.
If you need more gain, you could try a half wave design. They are ground independent, as in "no ground plane", however if you supply them with an appropriate ground plane, they'll give you 2.1dB of gain compared to a quarter wave.
The half wave normally have less usable bandwidth, in other words, less amount of spectrum under 2.0:1 SWR.
If you need more gain, a 5/8th's wave or a co-linear design will get you more, but it'll come at the cost of bandwidth. Much narrower usable bandwidth when compared to a 1/4 wave.
What you need will depend on what bandwidth you need out of your radio. If it's for receiving only, then don't get too hung up on the bandwidth.
If you are going to be transmitting on a narrow chunk of spectrum (GMRS -or- 70 CM) then any of them will work.
If you really need the full spectrum, as in federal frequency transmitting, as well as stuff up in or near the T-band, then you really need the 1/4 wave.
Also, if you are under a Part 90 license, you -may- need to look at what your license allows. If your licenses shows your mobiles are limited to a certain ERP level, then you need to look at your transmitter power output, minus coaxial losses, multiplied by antenna gain and make sure it stays below what your license allows.
If your license just shows a maximum wattage, then you don't need to be too concerned about ERP, -UNLESS- you need to be concerned about interfering with co-channel users or if you have your antenna mounted in such a location where it's going to expose vehicle occupants to an increased/unsafe level of RF. usually this is only an issue on trunk or fender mounts.
Location will play into this, also. 1/4 waves have a nice round radiation pattern that works well if you have repeaters high above you, like in the mountains or concrete canyons. If you are out on the plains, then a higher gain antenna might work better, since it's radiation pattern focuses more energy at the horizon.
Another way to look at what will work, is to look at what public safety users have installed. They'll use what works best for their installations. If yours is similar, you can take a clue from them.
Personally, where I live, 1/4 wave antennas tend to work best. I've tried all kinds of different setups, but I always come back to a simple, low profile, and cheap quarter wave.
