Antenna for car

[king_pounds]

I’m looking for an antenna for in the car. I have a Whistler and RadioShack. When I try to use them in the car the reception is horrible. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[NightOwl]

The SpectrumForce Wideband Antenna works great with my BCD436HP and with my BC125 AT. Be sure to buy the model with the correct connector for your scanner (BNC or SMA). For short money I frequently can pick up signals from 50 or more miles away.

Mobile Favorites

 

[lou9155]

you cant beat the larsen tribander...about 30 bucks 150 500 800 mhz really pulls the signals in many on the rr forum use it

 

[jonwienke]

No whip antenna is going to work well inside a vehicle. If you want consistently good reception in a vehicle, you must use an external antenna mounted outside the vehicle.

 

[mmckenna]

I’m looking for an antenna for in the car. I have a Whistler and RadioShack. When I try to use them in the car the reception is horrible. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

The interior of the car becomes what is known as a Faraday Cage. Basically a space surrounded by grounded metal. Some signal gets in/out through the glass, but even that can be an issue with tinting. No amount of antenna inside the car is going to fix that. You really do need to get the antenna outside the vehicle.

The Larsen NMO-150-450-800 is generally regarded as a good performer. Larsen is a big company that has been making public safety grade mobile radio antennas for a very long time. I've got 30 year old Larsen antennas I'm still running.

Larsen NMO-150-450-800 $29.95:
https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/larsen-nmo150-450-800-1050.html

You'll need a mount with connector to match your radio. That could be a magnetic mount, bracket mount or permanent mount. Permanent mounts work/look best, but take some skill to install. Magnetic mounts are quick and easy, but will damage the paint and getting the cable safely into the vehicle is difficult. Coax cable damage is likely, eventually, so figure on replacing the magnet mounts occasionally. The bracket mounts are a good compromise. They let you mount the antenna off the front/rear fender, but there's numerous issues with that you'd need to consider.
https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/mobile-antenna-mounts-264/

Once you get the antenna outside the vehicle, you'll probably see a large improvement in performance.
If you are running both scanners inside your vehicle at the same time, you'll either need to run a splitter (cuts your signal in half) or separate antennas. Ideally, separate antennas would be best.

 

[Jphila20]

I have a TRX-2.
I found this on Amazon, bought two and they work well especially for the MARCS and GCRCN systems. Mounted to the back window center.


HARULU Scanner Antenna For Uniden Motorola Car Radio BNC Mount 4" Mobile Full Band

$10 Prime

 

[jonwienke]

This one will work much better than the harulu: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DN1L6K

Glass mount antennas won't work if you have tinted/metallic coated windows on your vehicle. It's not as good as the NMO mount antennas mentioned by mmckenna, but you don't have to drill holes.

 

[scanmanmi]

You didn't say exactly what you will be listening to. I say that because I am going to be listening to strictly 800mhz when mobile. I currently use the Comet CA-2x4SR which I like better than my Wilson 5/8 wave. These are ham antennas that I use for scanning. The Comet SR means Search and Rescue which I think that means the antenna works better out of ham band. It has high gain and I've had it over 100 mph. Here is a thread I had about finding an 800 antenna with gain. https://forums.radioreference.com/scanner-receiver-antennas/360253-high-gain-800-mhz.html I think I will buy this one https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/pctel-maxrad-muf8005-5923.html I am hoping the 800 one will incidentally pick up the VHF fine. You definitely have to go outside the car. If you are concerned about appearance then there are some low profile ones available. I'm all about the signal though. Here are some reviews of the Comet http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2082?page=1

 

[bobmich52]

The interior of the car becomes what is known as a Faraday Cage. Basically a space surrounded by grounded metal. Some signal gets in/out through the glass, but even that can be an issue with tinting. No amount of antenna inside the car is going to fix that. You really do need to get the antenna outside the vehicle.

The Larsen NMO-150-450-800 is generally regarded as a good performer. Larsen is a big company that has been making public safety grade mobile radio antennas for a very long time. I've got 30 year old Larsen antennas I'm still running.

Larsen NMO-150-450-800 $29.95:
https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/larsen-nmo150-450-800-1050.html

You'll need a mount with connector to match your radio. That could be a magnetic mount, bracket mount or permanent mount. Permanent mounts work/look best, but take some skill to install. Magnetic mounts are quick and easy, but will damage the paint and getting the cable safely into the vehicle is difficult. Coax cable damage is likely, eventually, so figure on replacing the magnet mounts occasionally. The bracket mounts are a good compromise. They let you mount the antenna off the front/rear fender, but there's numerous issues with that you'd need to consider.
https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/mobile-antenna-mounts-264/

Once you get the antenna outside the vehicle, you'll probably see a large improvement in performance.
If you are running both scanners inside your vehicle at the same time, you'll either need to run a splitter (cuts your signal in half) or separate antennas. Ideally, separate antennas would be best.

STRONG Recommendation of the above antenna

My Larsen is mounted on my 2012 Hyundai Tucson on the front driver side quarter panel, very low profile

It does not interfere @ all when I raise the hood

Very short coax run through the firewall to the HP 2 that I have

Mostly 460/800 in use in my area of CT, but surprisingly it does a good job on low band also

 

[DHAS12]

I use this antenna, and pick up VHF, and UHF systems from 50 miles away, and when I slap it on the railing outside my house, I pick up a VHF system from 60 miles away. Its low priced, but works extremely well for the money. Its a tri band antenna made to work on VHF, UHF, and 800MHZ. I've never really done a proper test on 800MHZ, but it picked up the Nevada Highway Patrol on their 800 MHZ system about 30 miles from the NV state line.

https://www.amazon.com/1094-BNC-Sca...tenna+with+bnc-male+connector#customerReviews

 

[Ubbe]

Guys, please. Only give testaments of range and what system you pull in if you compare it with another antenna.

This is totally useless information.

The comments on Amazon for the Tram1094 antenna that are supposed to cover 2meter and 70cm amateur bands are ridiculous.


Question:
Could this antenna be used to transmit from a 5 watt 2 meter and 70cm ham radio?
Answer:
No. You will ruin your radio if you do.
By Topher on February 4, 2017

Dude, are you joking here? This will kill your ham radio if you do!
By The Honest Reviewer on March 31, 2017

Are you a licensed ham radio operator? That should have been covered on your test. Get a copy of this book: The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications ISBN 1625950624
By BookChief on March 11, 2017

/Ubbe

 

[king_pounds]

Thank you for all the input! I will browse the recommendations and see what one will work best.

 

[Jphila20]

Just a follow-up. An installed antenna outside your vehicle, either drilled or trunk mount will always work best. The inside glass mount work fine if you have the factory tint which is what I have. I have always been a believer that "Don't Advertise" that I have something in this car you may want to steal. A lower profile will influence your reception, but is it going to effect you and what you want to scan. I used to have all kinds of antennas on my car and it looked like I just got attacked with either spears or arrows.

Let us know what you settled on.

 

[CQ]

...I used to have all kinds of antennas on my car and it looked like I just got attacked with either spears or arrows.
...

Thanks for making me sniff my coffee.

 

[DJ11DLN]

I traded cars in November due to a serious problem with the old one, which had the Larsen NMO tri-bander on the roof. It always worked very well and that's what I intend to (eventually) have on the new-to-me car.

Because I was going on a trip and there really wasn't time in my opinion to go through the whole drop-the-headliner thing and make sure everything was properly back together (airbags etc), along with everything else I had to do just then, I ordered a Spectrum Force. It worked quite well on the trip and is still working better than I'd have expected. It also stayed stuck to the roof at 85 MPH interstate speeds on a pretty windy day. I had one a while back and it wasn't impressive, perhaps I got a defective one.

NMO is the way to go, but one of these things will better than trying to hear anything on an antenna inside of the vehicle. And they are cheap enough to use for awhile as a quick fix and upgrade to "the real thing" later if you're so inclined.