Low-profile VHF mobile antenna

[bigRoN18]

I'm trying to decide what type of antenna to install on my car. I will be purchasing a Kenwood TK-7360HV.

The majority of my transmit frequencies will be around 151 MHz and receive frequencies around 155 MHz, but I also wish to add a couple 2M ham repeaters.

My car is a "sporty" Nissan Altima and don't want a long, ugly antenna, even though I know it would be a better performer. I've got a nice 4 foot long antenna for my truck, but I don't want it on my car.

Basically what I'm asking here is what is my best compromise? What antenna would be recommended for my needs?

 

[n5ims]

Try a standard quarter wave antenna. Those are fairly wideband and may cover your frequency range OK. The length should only be about 18" or so, which should make it much more "sporty" than that 4' one you have on your truck. They do make some "low profile" antennas, but they generally have rather poor performance and a quite narrow frequency range.

 

[w2xq]

Wirelessly posted (Moto Droid Bionic: Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X 10_6_3; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.16 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0 Safari/533.16)

I use a Comet B-6 -- about 6 in long -- for 144/440. A lip mount on the SUV can hardly be seen at any distance. Around here about 30 mi coverage with the Yaesu FT-8800R... and I can pull the car into the garage without first taking the antenna off the mount. HTH.

 

[Rt169Radio]

Check out the Larsen lineup of mobile antennas.

 

[prcguy]

I bought 2 Laird low profile VHF can antennas to try out and they are a little disappointing. Definitely down some in performance compared to a 1/4 wave whip and very narrow band at about 2MHz max. They will not cover 155MHz and 2m at the same time and will not even cover the entire 2m band.
prcguy

 

[W2NJS]

My personal experience with VHF phantom-type antennas is that their usable bandwidth for transmitting is very small, like about 1 mHz. Some are a bit wider but the range is still quite narrow compared to a wire antenna.

 

[SCPD]

B-6?

... I use a Comet B-6 -- about 6 in long -- for 144/440. A lip mount on the SUV can hardly be seen at any distance. Around here about 30 mi coverage with the Yaesu FT-8800R... and I can pull the car into the garage without first taking the antenna off the mount. HTH.

Sorry, I'm not finding this antenna with Google. Is it a B-10?

To the OP, I recommend a 1/4 wave. Get a black one for low profile use.
And to the person who posted that the Larsen/Antenex type low profile "can" antennas don't have good gain, I agree. Trialed one on a fire truck. It was sad compared to a quarter wave on the same nmo mount.

 

[kayn1n32008]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9780; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.8+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0.0.600 Mobile Safari/534.8+)

Another one for the 1/4 wave, they also come in black, makes the harder to spot.

 

[popnokick]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 6_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/536.26 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/6.0 Mobile/10A403 Safari/8536.25)

For a FLEXIBLE 2m/440 gain antenna use the Comet SBB-1. Like a 1/4 wave whip it is pretty low profile, but offers these advantages over a 1/4 wave:
- Gain on both 2m and 440
- Flexes like a "rubber duck" type antenna
After forgetting to fold down my much higher gain Comet 2/440 antenna when driving into my garage, I have used the SBB-1 ever since. Every time it hits the garage door sill. And every time there is no harm done. I don't worry about tree branches, low parking garages, or drive-up windows with low clearance. The antenna works VERY well on both bands. And it looks like the stock 18" AM-FM black rubber-wrapped antennas you see mounted at the rear of the roof on many cars.