Mobile Antenna - Mag Mount or Glass Mount?

[parrotheadlasvegas]

Hey there guys! I just joined up as I have a new Pro-97 on the way for Christmas and I want to know how to use the thing once I finally open it .

I plan on listening on the 30 min commute to and from work all the way from the southeast part of the Las Vegas valley to the northwest corner and I know I'm going to need a decent mobile antenna. I'm mostly interested in the public services, but also in the civilian aviation and milair as well. I really don't want to drill holes in my car, so I figure I'm looking at either going with a glass mount or mag mount antenna. My question is which one is better? I'm looking at Radio Shack's 20-011 or 20-032 as possible candidates. I don't know too much about the different options other than these two, so any help would be greatly appreciated!

One last requirement: I'm on a budget, so it can't cost too much !

Thanks again for everything and have fun!

 

[diskmonger]

I highly recommend you stay away from the radio shack antennas. They are JUNK! At least the mobile scanner antenna they sell.

Try this:

http://shop.waltel.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/10_48/products_id/478

They also sell a variety of mounts, magmount, trunk lip mounts, etc.

 

[Al42]

Getting a single mobile antenna that covers the PS bands and air and MilAir is going to be an exercise in shopping for hype ... since there's no such antenna. You'll either need 3 antennas - PS, air and milair - or you'll have to accept a compromise. It looks as if you need VHF-hi, UHF and 800, so the Larsen 150/450/800 would be a good antenna to start with. See how well it covers CivAir and MilAir. If you need more coverage on either or both of those bands, simple quarter wave whips should do. (Now you know why you sometimes see cars with a few antennas and only 1 radio.)

 

[parrotheadlasvegas]

Thanks for the replies guys! You got me thinking and I don't really think I'll be doing too much air or milair with the car antenna - those will probably be reserved for when I'm at home or walking around. I think I'm just going to stick with the public services while in my car, so it looks like 800 MHz in the car for now... maybe more later :wink: .

I'm leaning toward a mag mount for ease of removal and relocation. Any ideas about where to go for one of those that don't cost too much? I've heard of a couple of stores in town and plan on visiting them soon, but any more info would be great. Thanks again!

 

[Al42]

I'm leaning toward a mag mount for ease of removal and relocation. Any ideas about where to go for one of those that don't cost too much?

A 5.2 (or better) db gain cellphone antenna on a mag mount. Covers the frequency range, has lots of gain and should be easier to find than an 800 MHz mobile "scanner" antenna with the same gain.

 

[drew6553]

I highly recommend you stay away from the radio shack antennas. They are JUNK! At least the mobile scanner antenna they sell.

i dunno about that, i have the through glass RS scantenna and i can pick up 4 counties including mine from where my car is parked at night

 

[rescue1017]

The glass mount I have never had any trouble with I have had 3 different trucks and had one on all 3

 

[RGV_Member_Roy]

Try Tessco.com.
They had antennas pretty cheap.

 

[radio10-8]

Go glass mount if you can. California (CHP) uses glass mount for their MDC's 800mhz?, Mobile repeater 154.905 and their all band scanner. So far I have seen a similar set up on other vehicles. I made a call to Sacramento and was told by a radio tech that the have very good results with the glass mounts and (Sorry I'm not technical on this..) Multiple antennas on the roof were causing interference with each other so they solved that by using glass mounts. Hope this helps.. I have both thru the roof mount and glass mount on my car and I can hear great with both. My Mag mounts i gave up on because they were scrathing the paint..

 

[unitcharlie]

Hi parrotheadlasvegas:
I have two of these--one for the work car and one for the personal wheels... they are inexpensive and they hold in a stiff wind.... they also don't look like a scanner antenna so if you feel the need to test it's holding power at faster than posted speeds it doesn't attract a lot of unwanted attention... and it ill stick to the car. The only problem I have had was the need to replace the BNC on my work antenna because of the frequent connection/ disconnection rate...

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1190.html

 

[parrotheadlasvegas]

Awesome stuff guys !

I've still got a little over three weeks until I get to play with my Pro-97 (it's here, wrapped in Christmas gift wrap!), so I'm going to continue my research :wink: . I was leaning towards a glass mount, but unitcharlie has me thinking of a mag mount as the one he recommends appears to be able to hold in a stiff breeze and driving on the raceways (er... make that freeways) out here in Vegas occasionally requires a higher speed than what's posted to keep from getting run over... Please keep the advice coming!!!

 

[radio10-8]

I agree with unitcharlie, that is a great antenna. I bought mine at Scanners Unlimited in San Carlos CA, but I have seen them at Ham Radio Outlet and a few other "good" electronics stores. In Las Vegas that antenna will work fine for you.

 

[trap5858]

I have had one that has been moved to about 4 different vehicles over it's life so far and I am satisfied with it's performance on just about all bands. It has held up well under highway and suburban driving conditions.

 

[KC4ZEX]

I have used mag mounts for yrs. and if you leave it in one place scratching is not a problem. I've seen several glass mounts none any good. You have inductive coupling thru the glass no actual connection to antenna or ground. Saw several used on 2 meter and 440 worthless for transmitting terrible swr and very poor range even in expensive models. My suggestion would be a dual band MFJ 1724B. $16.95 with BNC adapter included. At most ham radio stores.

 

[BigC801]

Hi parrotheadlasvegas:
I have two of these--one for the work car and one for the personal wheels... they are inexpensive and they hold in a stiff wind.... they also don't look like a scanner antenna so if you feel the need to test it's holding power at faster than posted speeds it doesn't attract a lot of unwanted attention... and it ill stick to the car. The only problem I have had was the need to replace the BNC on my work antenna because of the frequent connection/ disconnection rate...

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1190.html

That is a great Ant, I have 3 of them. They work great in all bands and even in low band they do well.

 

[Al42]

Saw several used on 2 meter and 440 worthless for transmitting terrible swr and very poor range even in expensive models.

Sounds like every one of them was installed wrong. I've had close to 1:1 SWR on every one of mine, and about the same range as the same antenna on a mag mount sitting on the same car in the same location at the same time being fed by the same rig.

 

[JLHDU]

So the concensus is that this:

http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1190.html

I got the link from above.

is the best antenna for a PRO-97 to receive a mix of MilAir/CivAir and trunking (ie. Maryland State Police and Anne Arundel County Police)?

Are there any others...I would like to stay under $50 if possible.

-J

 

[Al42]

So the concensus is that this:

http://www.universal-radio.com/cata...nants/1190.html

is the best antenna for a PRO-97 to receive a mix of MilAir/CivAir and trunking (ie. Maryland State Police and Anne Arundel County Police)?

Might be ... if the link worked.

 

[ka3jjz]

I dislike the use of 174u cable - on 800 that's going to be lossy as all get out. You might as well have a wet noodle as an antenna. And I would bet that it would be a bit iffy on VHF lo as well. Now if you could get that antenna on a decent mount (maybe from Comtelco), now that might be worth something.
Of course, YMMV (and for those that don't know, Your Mileage May Vary) 73s Mike

[edit] Here's the corrected link; Valor PMM3B

 

[JLHDU]

I dislike the use of 174u cable - on 800 that's going to be lossy as all get out. You might as well have a wet noodle as an antenna. And I would bet that it would be a bit iffy on VHF lo as well. Now if you could get that antenna on a decent mount (maybe from Comtelco), now that might be worth something.
Of course, YMMV (and for those that don't know, Your Mileage May Vary) 73s Mike

[edit] Here's the corrected link; Valor PMM3B

Mike,

Which of these do you recommend for a PRO-97 in my Honda Civic trying to get a combination of MilAir/CivAir and local police agencies including MSP?

http://www.comtelcoantennas.com/mobileantennas.htm

-J