Antenna Specialists MON752

Status
Not open for further replies.

ramboton

Member
Feed Provider
Joined
Aug 8, 2009
Messages
48
Location
Tulare Ca.
For years I have had an antenna specialists mon752 installed on my car, I like this antenna because it does a great job with the California Highway Patrol at 42mhz, as well as fire on 154mhz and local sheriff on 450mhz.

Antenna Specialists MON752 Mobile Scanner Antenna

A friend of mine is looking for the same reception, but I am having a difficult time finding an antenna rated 50-894 as this one is, it seems that all of the mobile scanner antennas today are rated 150-800 or so and do not do a good job of picking up CHP,

Radio Shack also used to make a similar antenna, it was double loaded, and did a great job, but it is also gone.

Any ideas where I can find something like this?

Thank you
 

teufler

Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
2,357
Location
ST PETERS, MISSOURI
Austin Sprectre is rated low band to 900 mhz. In fact the low band portion, you actually cut the stinger to tune dead on to what you want. Mine is cut to 42.00 that used to cover Mo HP. A pricey antenna but its been operating since 1998 and still is as good as the day I bought it.
 

kb3isq

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 6, 2002
Messages
311
Location
Shippensburg, PA
I bought a Spectra but it does not do the job that the Radio Shack 20-032 does, sold it on e-bay. I have three 20-032 antennas and love them (they can be cut to specific frequencies as well).
 

gewecke

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
7,452
Location
Illinois
I bought a Spectra but it does not do the job that the Radio Shack 20-032 does, sold it on e-bay. I have three 20-032 antennas and love them (they can be cut to specific frequencies as well).
. Any links to cutting instructions for which bands? 73, n9zas
 

kb3isq

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Dec 6, 2002
Messages
311
Location
Shippensburg, PA
The cutting for the R/S 20-032 (also called 20-012) to optimum performance on standard scanner bands:
Original length of top rod is 17-9/16" new rod should be 21-3/4"
Original length of middle rod is 8-33/64" new rod should be 10-1/4 "
Original length of bottom rod is 2-15/16" new rod should be 2-3/4"
Overall new length of antenna from top ob base to tip is 37-5/8"
 

markclark

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
471
Location
Nevada Range
Ramboton:

I presently have four A/S MON series antennas. They are the best all around performing monitor antenna I've ever had, and I've owned about 20 or so different scanner antennas over the years from discone's to colinear's and ground planes. The MON series works excellent on low band -- it's really hard to tell the difference in performance compared to base loaded commercial low band whips.

The A/S MON type antennas tend to randomly sell on E-bay; so keep looking since it's worth the wait. Good luck.
 

_Wilson_

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 15, 2008
Messages
94
Location
columbia Tn.
Ramboton:

I presently have four A/S MON series antennas. They are the best all around performing monitor antenna I've ever had, and I've owned about 20 or so different scanner antennas over the years from discone's to colinear's and ground planes. The MON series works excellent on low band -- it's really hard to tell the difference in performance compared to base loaded commercial low band whips.

The A/S MON type antennas tend to randomly sell on E-bay; so keep looking since it's worth the wait. Good luck.

I have 2 mon52 and nine mon33 , your right hands down the best antenna , i lucked out on eBay and got a mon52 and 12 mon33 the 52 cost me 75 and i only payed 100 for a box of 12 mon33 s

The spectra is a good antenna , too , but way over priced , and it's not as tough as the monitor antennas
 

gewecke

Completely Banned for the Greater Good
Banned
Joined
Jan 29, 2006
Messages
7,452
Location
Illinois
:wink:
The cutting for the R/S 20-032 (also called 20-012) to optimum performance on standard scanner bands:
Original length of top rod is 17-9/16" new rod should be 21-3/4"
Original length of middle rod is 8-33/64" new rod should be 10-1/4 "
Original length of bottom rod is 2-15/16" new rod should be 2-3/4"
Overall new length of antenna from top ob base to tip is 37-5/8"
. Thanks! That helps... 73, n9zas
 

prcguy

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
15,233
Location
So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
If monitor51 has nine mon33 antennas, then why isn't he called monitor33? I agree the A/S MON series was one of the best mobile scanner antennas and probably the best VHF lo band scanner antenna ever made.

Even though the MON752 is rated for 800MHz, it has no specific element for 800 and I suspect the radiation pattern is not very good on 800. The MON versions with the micro choke should work better on 800MHz.

Somewhere on RR is an article of mine where I did range comparisons of a MON52 to an Austin Spectra and a military antenna which show the A/S having more band width and better performance on VHF low over the Spectra, otherwise they are essentially the same on VHF hi and the A/S is better over the 440-470MHz range where the Spectra is better on UHF T band.
prcguy

I have 2 mon52 and nine mon33 , your right hands down the best antenna , i lucked out on eBay and got a mon52 and 12 mon33 the 52 cost me 75 and i only payed 100 for a box of 12 mon33 s

The spectra is a good antenna , too , but way over priced , and it's not as tough as the monitor antennas
 

prcguy

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
15,233
Location
So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
I thought the entire article was on RR but maybe not. I may have to free up some space and post it. Anyway the chart is very revealing showing things like a MON52 and Spectra work about the same at resonance, but with the stock uncut lengths the MON52 can be as much as 15dB better on 42MHz CHP frequencies than the Austin Spectra and its much wider BW.
prcguy

Lol i should change my handle . That comparisons you did was a great help , and here's the link

http://forums.radioreference.com/scanner-receiver-antennas/264330-austin-spectra.html
 

prcguy

Member
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
15,233
Location
So Cal - Richardson, TX - Tewksbury, MA
Here is the full article comparing an Austin Spectra to an A/S MON52 and a broad band military antenna which appeared in the Dec 2010 Monitoring Times Magazine. This is the unedited version as sent to the magazine.
prcguy
 

Attachments

  • Military vs Scanner Antenna.pdf
    442.1 KB · Views: 2,438
Last edited:

Citywide173

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Feb 18, 2005
Messages
2,151
Location
Attleboro, MA
I noticed a big discrepancy in the satisfaction with the Spectra. I tried to figure out why, and I think I did. The instructions for putting it on your NMO mount are very specific, if you do not follow them, you may not be getting optimal contact. It is a three step process where you put the knurled ring onto the NMO, then thread the antenna into the ring and finally lock it down with the spring. This ensures that the antenna has contact with the center of the NMO. Just putting it on the NMO out of the package does not guarantee contact, and I think a lot of people have thrown out or taken a loss at resale on a great antenna because of this. I have 2 and I love them.
 

_Wilson_

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 15, 2008
Messages
94
Location
columbia Tn.
Thanks Prcguy , you right ed , when i got mine i had trouble loosing contact at highway speed , and i re adjusted , but beware that little contact tang is not very well designed , mine broke off , but it still makes good contact now , when i use it .
 

cbehr91

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jun 22, 2010
Messages
419
If you are persistent enough, one of the A/S MON series antennas will pop up on eBay. That's how I got mine. I think it's exact model of mine is MON-R51 (whatever the mag mount one is). From my quick observation it doesn't do so hot on 800 mHz, but UHF and below it's awesome. I can definitely see why the MON series were the go-to mobile scanner antenna back in the day.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top