Awesome vehicle mount antenna for both aircraft and 800MHZ

[rmcclellan]

I picked this little mag mount antenna up from Univeral Radio (http://www.universal-radio.com) for around $12. This lil guy is unbelievable! It is a tri-band antenna (140-148 / 440-450 / 824-896). It is very small and with a nice appearance at just 13 1/2" tall. It comes with 9' of RG174 terminated to a BNC connection.

Reception on the 800MHZ band (Trunked) is the best I have ever received from a mobile antenna.

The most ironic part is that this antenna is outstanding in the aircraft band (even though it is not specifically tuned for it). I live approximately 15 miles from a major airport and can listen to both sides of ground control as well as ATIS transmissions crystal clear in my driveway. I have a discone antenna installed high up in my attic and cannot pick up the ATIS broadcast and rarely can hear both sides of ground control! But, this mobile antenna can pick it up!!

At $12, this is antenna is a BARGAIN if your interested in monitoring both the A/C and 800MHZ Band in your vehicle with a nice looking antenna.

The part number is PMM3B and it is made by Pro AM which is a company in Conneaut, Ohio. I wasnt able to find it on Universal Radio's website (I live up the street from their store and purchased it from the shelf). You should be able to purchase it by calling them.

Just wanted to share this with the group....

 

[rmcclellan]

I found it on their site if your interested

I found it on their site if your interested
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1190.html

$11.95

Their site says it's receive range is 100 - 1200. However, the actual package specifically states that this antenna is a tri-band and has been tuned to the frequency ranges I mentioned above.

It's a good one!

 

[JGP]

I found it on their site if your interested
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1190.html

$11.95

Their site says it's receive range is 100 - 1200. However, the actual package specifically states that this antenna is a tri-band and has been tuned to the frequency ranges I mentioned above.

It's a good one!

Thank you for the information, rmcclellan. I ordered one this morning. For $16.90 total shipped, I can't go wrong.

This covers all the LTR systems in UHF/VHF and all the trunked TRS I listen to. It should work out well.

Joel

 

[Al42]

It comes with 9' of RG174

Ouch! That's almost 3db loss at 850. For 9 feet. Even RG58 - which isn't recommended above 150 MHz - has less than 1.2db loss.

 

[rmcclellan]

Despite the loss mentioned, my scanner still picks up 800MHZ very well using this antenna. Plus, I like the much thinner diameter of RG174 (allows for cleaner install).

JGP- Have you received the antenna yet? If so, I was curious to know if you are satisfied with it as well. Any feedback about specific bands (good or bad)?

Thanks!

 

[Swipesy]

Ouch! That's almost 3db loss at 850. For 9 feet. Even RG58 - which isn't recommended above 150 MHz - has less than 1.2db loss.

I have owned this antenna for 6 months and it is just a super antenna, coax loss or not it just works super on my Pro -96 in mobile.

 

[bwhite]

Two questions gents,
1) 9' seems pretty short to get from the trunk to the dash, how are y'all getting around that obstacle? I'd hate to have to splice or is the antenna set up in such a way that I can put my own cable on? If so, what cable do y'all recommend? (I use it for 800 and VHF Lo).
2) The delimma.....I live in a rural area so gain in the 800 Mhz range is needed, however, I travel daily in an area known by the hams as RF He##. There is so much going on that it is hard to get a trunked signal that is recognized by my 245. Would using an antenna such as this be advisable ?
Thanks for your advice

 

[jpryor]

1) 9' seems pretty short to get from the trunk to the dash...

Very true on the length, I had this exact same model from Universal Radio. Not quite long enough to get from the dash to the trunk in the car. So usually ran the antenna out the rear passenger door to the roof. The antenna was decent while it lasted, but the coax eventually pulled out of the base of the mag mount. Standard disclaimers apply: You get what you pay for and your mileage may very. If you have it more permanently mounted I suspect it will hold up better. But I'm still having thoughts of buying another one . . .

 

[JGP]

Despite the loss mentioned, my scanner still picks up 800MHZ very well using this antenna. Plus, I like the much thinner diameter of RG174 (allows for cleaner install).

JGP- Have you received the antenna yet? If so, I was curious to know if you are satisfied with it as well. Any feedback about specific bands (good or bad)?

Thanks!

I'm still waiting and will advise later. [...sent you a PM.]

Joel

 

[Swipesy]

Two questions gents,
1) 9' seems pretty short to get from the trunk to the dash, how are y'all getting around that obstacle? I'd hate to have to splice or is the antenna set up in such a way that I can put my own cable on? If so, what cable do y'all recommend? (I use it for 800 and VHF Lo).
2) The delimma.....I live in a rural area so gain in the 800 Mhz range is needed, however, I travel daily in an area known by the hams as RF He##. There is so much going on that it is hard to get a trunked signal that is recognized by my 245. Would using an antenna such as this be advisable ?
Thanks for your advice

The shortness of the cable is a definite drawback. I get around it by using a cupholder mount for my Pro96. Mounting the antenna on the trunk right at the edge of the trunk lid by the glass and running the wire through the back seat pass through. This is on a 2004 Cadillac Deville so the wire just makes it to the arm rest cupholder.

I too live in a very rural area but the antenna just performs well. In fact I bring it inside the house once in a while and mount it on a 6" x 12" piece of metal and it still works well.

 

[KC4ZEX]

My recommendation for extending your cable would be a 3 or 6 ft extension cable made of rg-58 with bnc on both ends and a double male adapter on one end. It will decrease your loss a little, and is rugged enough to stand continous moving around and disconnecting. Radio shack should have them also available from All Electronics. But my personal choice as i have said before in other forums is a MFJ-1724B magnet mount antenna. It has 15 ft of RG-58 with a pl259 for mobile use and they give you a BNC adapter with it. This is a dual band 2 meter vhf, 440 uhf antenna great for receive and transmit. Much better gain, better magnet, and its only 19 inches tall for $17.00. Available most ham dealers AES, HRO, and others.

 

[dward42586]

PMM3B on Universal Radio Site

I found the antenna under the Valor brand name in the Scanner Antennas catagory on the Universal Radio site.

At that price, I can't pass up trying it. The previous replies give me some ideas about how to care for it.

 

[kb2vxa]

Hi guys,

"Despite the loss mentioned, my scanner still picks up 800MHZ very well using this antenna. Plus, I like the much thinner diameter of RG174 (allows for cleaner install)."

The signals you're receiving likely are very strong to begin with.

That's a typical cell phone antenna installation, mine came with a few inches of RG-174 with a TNC connector to clear the trunk lip and 18' of RG-58 with the mate on one end. That's about to change with professional CATV braid over foil shielded RG-6. I'll leave it to you to come up with the appropriate connectors and adapters to suit the individual installation. BTW, installers are unconcerned with signal loss, they're not the ones using that crappy cell phone. Mostly they're thinking of the finicky owner of that brand new Beemer yapping in thier ears about esthetics and MAN, he's a freakin hemmorhoid!

 

[Al42]

BTW, installers are unconcerned with signal loss, they're not the ones using that crappy cell phone. Mostly they're thinking of the finicky owner of that brand new Beemer yapping in thier ears about esthetics and MAN, he's a freakin hemmorhoid!

I love the rakish angle some of the snazziest sports cars have their cell antennas set at. So what if there's a built-in 10db loss? The wind resistance is lower, there's less whistle and it looks better. And if the owner loses calls all the time it's the carrier's fault for not maintaining a better system (as long as there are no towers visible from his neighborhood).

 

[dsmall]

I picked this little mag mount antenna up from Univeral Radio (http://www.universal-radio.com) for around $12. This lil guy is unbelievable! It is a tri-band antenna (140-148 / 440-450 / 824-896). It is very small and with a nice appearance at just 13 1/2" tall. It comes with 9' of RG174 terminated to a BNC connection.

Reception on the 800MHZ band (Trunked) is the best I have ever received from a mobile antenna.

The most ironic part is that this antenna is outstanding in the aircraft band (even though it is not specifically tuned for it). I live approximately 15 miles from a major airport and can listen to both sides of ground control as well as ATIS transmissions crystal clear in my driveway. I have a discone antenna installed high up in my attic and cannot pick up the ATIS broadcast and rarely can hear both sides of ground control! But, this mobile antenna can pick it up!!

At $12, this is antenna is a BARGAIN if your interested in monitoring both the A/C and 800MHZ Band in your vehicle with a nice looking antenna.

The part number is PMM3B and it is made by Pro AM which is a company in Conneaut, Ohio. I wasnt able to find it on Universal Radio's website (I live up the street from their store and purchased it from the shelf). You should be able to purchase it by calling them.

Just wanted to share this with the group....

Speaking of "stealth" set-ups, I read a review that looked at approximately 15 mobile antennas for scanners. The winner for "mini" versions was the Maxrad 1000 (which is 13" too). I've not seen anyone mention it on here, yet it seemed to win hands down. Anybody familar with it? If not, I am leaing toward the antenex tri-mode (18") or Larsen/Radiall (same size), both of which have longer, stronger cables.

 

[user4950]

Where did you read the review of the mobile antennas?

 

[oregontreehugger]

It might be this one:

http://www.northwestradio.com/interceptnw/antennas.htm

 

[JGP]

Despite the loss mentioned, my scanner still picks up 800MHZ very well using this antenna. Plus, I like the much thinner diameter of RG174 (allows for cleaner install).

JGP- Have you received the antenna yet? If so, I was curious to know if you are satisfied with it as well. Any feedback about specific bands (good or bad)?

Thanks!

Universal-Radio sent me an e-mail today. The antenna will ship in ten to fourteen days. I'm still waiting to try it out. :roll:

Joel

 

[MysticalOS]

Eh, I found the antenna a disapointment, wire broke off easily and reception was only better on 150 range. Perhaps it's sensetivity of Uniden 396T but the antenna provided zero boost or loss on UHF or 800 for me. I've had far better luck with high quality NMO mounts from walltel and getting optimized band specific antennas. Right now I have a 5db gain 800 and UHF on my car on two seperate mounts, can simply switch which one is plugged into scanner. the 800 performs quite well on 150 too and the UHF one which is really long does an exceptional job on low bands. I'm very happy with my selections. Best part of walltel is they custom build your mounts. You pick the connector type for coax yourself. So a person like me can get a nice NMO mount with an SMA connector since most other options force you with BNC and adapter.

 

[airgreek]

Guys if you want a trully awesome 800mhz vehicle moutn antenna pick up the Wilson antenna http://www.wilsonelectronics.com/antennas/wcmagnet.htm

This thing performs MIRACLES on 800mhz. One thing to keep in mind is that it terminates into an FME so you will need an FME to BNC connector. It is about $20 for this antenna and $5 for the adapter but it is WELL WORTH IT TRUST ME!