I'm looking for a low profile antenna for my mobile setup in my car. I mainly listen to the 800mhz apco 25 found here in Delaware. The car is a corvette and cant see putting a huge antenna on it. Please help
If you are using a handheld, the rubber duck antenna should do quite well for the systems you want to listen to without putting an external antenna on the car.
If you want an installed antenna (NMO), I would recommend the Laird Phantom series. You could start out with the 800 MHz version and it comes in either black or white. They are excellent antennas and are used a great deal by public safety agencies. They also have a UHF and a VHF version. The UHF and the 800 are similar in size. The VHF model is about the size of a softball.
For your system you can use a quarter wave whip, and it will be just fine. QWB800 should not cost you more than $10. Put it on the center of your trunk or you can do a lip mount.
I use a small magnet mounty marine radio antenna and i have a range of about 50 60 miles in each direction i use a pro 95 scanner in the car i like it since it is a very low profile antenna i bought it a year ago on ebay for around $25
I think the first response was the right idea considering a fiberglass car. An antenna on the handheld scanner will probably work better at 800MHz than a remote mounted one with feedline loss.
prcguy
True, or could use a non ground plane coax kit as well. I've soldered a ground wire to the mount instead of metal tape or screen and have noticed better results ( less loss & less reflection ).