Discreet antenna for vehicle

6DIAW · Jan 20, 2018

I was wondering if anyone can point me in a direction to an antenna that i can mount on my vehicle that is extremely low profile.... under 3 inches. I have several mag mounts and various antennas that just stick out like a sore thumb.

I know that i will have a compromise on reception. but as long as it is on the out side i don't care.

W8RMH · Jan 21, 2018

I use the Laird Phantom antenna linked below. The Antenna Farm has many different styles and frequency ranges.

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/laird-technologies-trab7603-3241

iMONITOR · Jan 21, 2018

6DIAW said:
I was wondering if anyone can point me in a direction to an antenna that i can mount on my vehicle that is extremely low profile.... under 3 inches.

For what band/frequencies?

jonwienke · Jan 21, 2018

6DIAW said:
I was wondering if anyone can point me in a direction to an antenna that i can mount on my vehicle that is extremely low profile.... under 3 inches. I have several mag mounts and various antennas that just stick out like a sore thumb.

Using that size antenna for anything other than 800MHz, performance will be so poor you'd be better off with a HT whip antenna inside the vehicle.

prcguy · Jan 21, 2018

An adapter/matcher for the car AM/FM antenna can work surprisingly well.
prcguy

iMONITOR · Jan 21, 2018

jonwienke said:
Using that size antenna for anything other than 800MHz, performance will be so poor you'd be better off with a HT whip antenna inside the vehicle.

The OP said he doesn't care if performance is sacrificed.

jonwienke · Jan 21, 2018

There's a difference between a slight preformance hit, and a complete borking of reception. A 2-3 inch VHF antenna will work about as well as a paper clip.

iMONITOR · Jan 21, 2018

jonwienke said:
There's a difference between a slight preformance hit, and a complete borking of reception. A 2-3 inch VHF antenna will work about as well as a paper clip.

I don't totally disagree. However, I've often used a Comet Miracle Baby wide band antenna that's only 1.75" long and it works surprising well in the 450/850MHz bands!

Comet Original CH32 CH-32 144/440/900 MHz Tri-Band Miracle Baby Handheld Antenna - BNC Connector

wtp · Jan 21, 2018

but !

jonwienke said:
There's a difference between a slight preformance hit, and a complete borking of reception. A 2-3 inch VHF antenna will work about as well as a paper clip.

But now the paper clip is outside !

lmrtek · Jan 21, 2018

By the time you add the coax loss to such an antenna you get better performance from a factory duck on the radio

12dbsinad · Jan 21, 2018

Depending on the vehicle, AM/FM antennas work well with a splitter. Especially if its a whip mounted on the edge of the cowl.

jonwienke · Jan 21, 2018

iMONITOR said:
I don't totally disagree. However, I've often used a Comet Miracle Baby wide band antenna that's only 1.75" long and it works surprising well in the 450/850MHz bands!

Yes, in areas with strong signals.

I've used similar size antennas on HTs, and for UHF and VHF, they got maybe 1/4 the range of a full-sized antenna. If a 75% or more reduction in usable range is an acceptable tradeoff, go for it. Otherwise, a bit of black Krylon goes a long way toward making an antenna less conspiuous.

wtp · Jan 21, 2018

and with a handheld in the car

i would watch around me if i picked up the radio and see many people slow down to the speed limit and some put on the seat belts. safety first !

jonwienke · Jan 21, 2018

$afety Fir$t!

6DIAW · Jan 21, 2018

Thanks for the info so far. I am trying to get ~140mhz mainly, but also want UHF... essentially a triband.

Now this talk of using a splitter for the am/fm antenna. How does one go about doing this?

prcguy · Jan 21, 2018

Lots of companies made an adapter you plug in between your AM/FM car radio and it gives you a feed for a scanner. They can work surprisingly well if you have a vertical AM/FM whip on your car. Search Ebay for AM/FM scanner car antenna and something should show up.
prcguy

6DIAW said:
Thanks for the info so far. I am trying to get ~140mhz mainly, but also want UHF... essentially a triband.

Now this talk of using a splitter for the am/fm antenna. How does one go about doing this?

jonwienke · Jan 21, 2018

The car antenna splitters only work for AM/FM broadcast and VHF. I couldn't find any that covered UHF.

The stubby antennas get worse the lower the frequency. 800 is OK, UHF is poor, and VHF is really bad. Shortening an antenna physically reduces both its efficiency and its usable bandwidth, even if you use a loading coil so it resonates at the correct frequency. Quality construction will reduce coax and other unnecessary losses, but the physics involved can't really be circumvented.

IMO you'd be better off with a thin whip either painted matte black or covered in black heat shrink. It will still be inconspicuous, but will perform reasonably well.

prcguy · Jan 21, 2018

AM/FM couplers are not very popular today but the big and old mfrs like Antenna Specialists made some that did VHF low through UHF and they would also work fine for local 800 stuff. I have one somewhere that I tested and it really worked great on all bands.

If you shop around you can still find some that will do VHF lo through UHF.
prcguy

jonwienke said:
The car antenna splitters only work for AM/FM broadcast and VHF. I couldn't find any that covered UHF.

The stubby antennas get worse the lower the frequency. 800 is OK, UHF is poor, and VHF is really bad. Shortening an antenna physically reduces both its efficiency and its usable bandwidth, even if you use a loading coil so it resonates at the correct frequency. Quality construction will reduce coax and other unnecessary losses, but the physics involved can't really be circumvented.

IMO you'd be better off with a thin whip either painted matte black or covered in black heat shrink. It will still be inconspicuous, but will perform reasonably well.

Motoballa · Jan 22, 2018

I ordered a Laird pepper shaker for my car, hoping to get it in the mail sometime this week or next week.

Right now I use a UHF quarter wave, the repeaters in my area are good enough I can run something super small and on the lowest power setting and still get in fine. Although when I do need range I'll swap it out as needed.

byndhlptom · Jan 22, 2018

Descrete antennas

We used to put 1/4 wave whips on the rear package shelf in command cars for scanners, not hard to do....

$.02

Discreet antenna for vehicle

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