External Antenna with Handheld Radio

[Chevyman22360]

Wondering if it is possible to use an external mobile antenna on a vehicle with a Motorola XTS1500. I have a NMO mount with antenna tuned to the frequency of the radio and with adapters to adapt to the radio. Just wondering if it will work or if a handheld isn't meant for anything but the rubber duckie? Thanks

 

[mmckenna]

Yes, it will work.

Just be careful about the adapters/cable attached to the top of the radio. The antenna jack is usually the weak spot on most radios, and the extra length of the adapter/cable can put a lot of strain on them.

 

[W9WSS]

I would suggest a 3' pig-tail adapter to fit the antenna jack for the radio, and a female SO-239 for the antenna end. there are adapters for just about every application, but as M McKenna suggested, adapters directly on the radio cause severe strain on the radio's antenna connector.

These may not be the correct connectors, but they will give you an idea of what you'd want to do, as opposed to putting a direct adapter directly on the radio with the antenna cable attached. I've used these for several applications, and they work well.

Remember, as you go higher up in frequency, the more loss there will be from the output of the radio to the antenna. Just get the nomenclature of each end correct. You can get them from several vendors.

Here's a link to the below cable (RP-SMA female to UHF female jack SO239 SO-239 RF RG316 Coax Pigtail cable 50 ohm)

RP-SMA female to UHF female jack SO239 SO-239 RF RG316 Coax Pigtail cable 50ohm

RP-SMA female to UHF female jack SO239 SO-239 RF RG316 Coax Pigtail cable 50ohm

www.bshegman.com

They come in several lengths.