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Should I change my antenna setup on my Uniden Home Patrol 2?

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waymark

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Hey all,

I have a Home Patrol 2 mounted creatively on my A-Pillar in my vehicle. I was able to attach the stock antenna, but could only face it downward in the direction of the A-Pillar to avoid hitting the window. My question is, should this impact radio quality? I'm a radio enthusiest and really only listen to emergency services locally in my town. That would include police/fire on their digital bands. So, I take it that would be the 700-800 MHZ range.

I'm not willing to put an external antenna on this car for now. Also, my town is not that large. Approximately 15 miles.

I've attached a photo of the mount.
 

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jonwienke

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Upside down isn't a significant factor. The antenna inside the vehicle is. An external antenna, even a cheap glass mount, will work better.
 

waymark

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Upside down isn't a significant factor. The antenna inside the vehicle is. An external antenna, even a cheap glass mount, will work better.

That's good to hear. I thought maybe the antenna was too close to metal and would impact it negatively.

Can I get a glass mount for the front windshield?
 

jonwienke

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Glass mount will work on any window, as long as it doesn't have metallic tint or low-e coating.

They aren't as good as a drilled NMO mount, but will be an improvement over what you have now.
 

captainmax1

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I use the following antenna setup when I don't want to go through the routine of putting my mag mounts on my vehicles when I do short trips around the Keys:
https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/0204.html
They work great and are easy to use. Just put your stock antenna (or other) on the end and attach connector to your scanner. I use them all the time and any antenna outside your car is better than an antenna inside your car. Comes in SMA or BNC and you don't have to run it through your door. It clips on top of window and just close window as usual.
 

waymark

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Glass mount will work on any window, as long as it doesn't have metallic tint or low-e coating.

They aren't as good as a drilled NMO mount, but will be an improvement over what you have now.



Something like this? I'm trying not to make it too obvious on my car. I could easily mount that on the inside towards the bottom of the windshield.
 

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popnokick

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Again.... you've got to get the antenna OUTSIDE the vehicle... and as high as you can. The device you pictured is for inside the windshield, and if you mount it low on the windshield it is going to be severely impaired by the proximity to the vehicle body and dash. And it's still inside the vehicle. As was suggested, a glass-mount antenna such as the Tram 1199 mounts OUTSIDE the windshield on an area that is not tinted glass. Looks like a cellular antenna... and will be high on the windshield / vehicle for best reception. Next best option you may want to try (and still better than anything inside the vehicle) is an AM-FM antenna coupler for the scanner. These use the vehicle's AM/FM radio antenna and connects to the antenna lead to give you two outputs.... one to your standard AM/FM radio, the other to your scanner. Not as good as a glass mount, but adds nothing at all to the outside of the vehicle. And STILL works better than anything inside the vehicle.
 

waymark

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I appreciate the input. I think I'm going with the AM-FM antenna coupler. It sounds like that would fit my criteria the best.

Thanks!
 

iMONITOR

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I appreciate the input. I think I'm going with the AM-FM antenna coupler. It sounds like that would fit my criteria the best.

Thanks!

Depending greatly on what vehicle own, connecting one of those might be very difficult if not impossible.
 

jonwienke

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Something like this? I'm trying not to make it too obvious on my car. I could easily mount that on the inside towards the bottom of the windshield.

No. That is not a glass mount antenna. It is a dipole with an adhesive tape mount. This is a glass mount antenna:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001DN1L6K

The feedline is on one side of the glass, and the antenna is on the other. This puts the antenna outside the vehicle where it can perform better than something in the vehicle.
 

waymark

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As iMonitor stated; Why not try them all. I have and this (https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/0204.html) works better than glass mount and anything inside the vehicle. And for $13, what have you got to lose. I have several of these in each of my vehicles ready for when I want something easy. Try them all.


I'm trying to maintain as much stealth as I can. I also don't want to ruin the "look" of the car if I can avoid it. It's a nice car :).
 
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jonwienke

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The glass mount I linked is far less conspicuous than the typical am/fm radio antenna.

The universal radio window mount has the disadvantage of not being waterproof. It is only suitable for temporary use in good weather.
 

iMONITOR

Silent Key
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Has anyone tried the vehicles built-in satellite radio antenna, if they're not actually using satellite radio? It may surprise you!
 
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