Antenna suggestions.

[Skooter92]

Greetings all:
Have a BCD396XT in my ride. Using the stock Uniden antenna as my Nagoya's are too long for how I have it placed. Only listening to VHF and UHF-2, no low band or 700-800mhz. Performance is meh. Restrictions are length of antenna, not going to mount an external antenna on the vehicle or a window antenna. So, any suggestions?

 

[iMONITOR]

It will depend greatly on the power of the transmitter, and distance/obstacles between you and them. You might try this:

Shark Antennas "Shark Tooth" 2M/70CM Compact HT Antenna - SH-209SMA

Discover the Shark Antennas "Shark Tooth" SH-209SMA! Compact, durable, and perfect for handheld transceivers—experience clear communication on the go!

www.gigaparts.com

 

[Whiskey3JMC]

Don't expect jaw dropping performance on all the bands you specified without mounting an exterior antenna since a car is basically a mobile "faraday cage" jam packed with RFI sources. You can try a glass mount antenna like this one (if you can find one with an SMA connector) but again, don't expect anything earth shattering out of it

 

[Skooter92]

Appreciate the reply, but operating within the antenna mounting constraints as I mentioned. Would love to put a permanent NMO mount on the roof; not happening. So, looking for best possible as opposed to what I can't do. Modern vehicles are huge sources of RFI, agreed, but not really Faraday cages per se; still a great expression of the challenges of this type of listening. Thanks!

 

[RU55]

I have had reasonably good results by clipping the radio to the sun visor upside down so the antenna goes down against the windshield. This also allows using a longer flexible antenna.

 

[Skooter92]

That's a good suggestion. Could use the Nagoya that way.

 

[n1chu]

There are driver or passenger side window mounts that allow for a decent gain antenna such as your Nagoya. The mount sits on top of the window. Roll the window down, place the mount atop the window and roll it up, where it gets clamped between the window and the window channel. Sorry, I can’t tell you where to look but I have used them in the past where I wasn’t allowed to mount any kind of exterior antenna, such as a rental or company vehicle, but a temporary mount such as this was accepted.

 

[Skooter92]

It will depend greatly on the power of the transmitter, and distance/obstacles between you and them. You might try this:

View attachment 130832

Shark Antennas "Shark Tooth" 2M/70CM Compact HT Antenna - SH-209SMA

Discover the Shark Antennas "Shark Tooth" SH-209SMA! Compact, durable, and perfect for handheld transceivers—experience clear communication on the go!

www.gigaparts.com

Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Leftstrat]

I just purchased the Remtronix 842s. It did seem to help pick up signals much better than the stock antenna. There is a small gap between the bottom of the antenna and the rim of the antenna mount. Not an absolute seal, but my granddaughter uses those small hair rubber bands, so I got a black one, and doubled it. One of the rings fits right into that gap. Not a end all be all water protection method, but at least it's a peace of mind thing.

 

[n1chu]

The stubby rubber duckies don’t do anything for you except allow for a smaller footprint, something of interest if you are concealing the radio or can’t be bothered wrestling with the longer Nagoya’s. Unless and until you get an antenna outside the vehicle you just have to accept the laws of physics. But it’s always fun to experiment, even though it’s tantamount to re-inventing the wheel. I know this because, even with the knowledge it was an attempt in futility, I tried just about every portable scanner rubber duckie, antenas such as your Nagoya gain antenna, and handheld ham antennas without any real improvement (other than loosing the stock rubber duckie antennas which are simply a compromise-my better results were when I used the amateur radio antennas but they were tuned to specific bands so it’s expected they would play better on the bands they were cut for). I guess it’s something about proving it to yourself that gives you that sense of satisfaction.

 

[n1chu]

Great catch! Thanks for the tip. I’m not one to take my SDS100 out for long walks in the rain or go swimming with it but they do say it’s moisture resistant to however many meters of water, and used that as one of their selling points!

 

[Skooter92]

Hey, I can always dream...

 

[Wauk620]

This gives you the option of mounting your Nagoya inside the rear window. The Faraday cage effect in a car is real, but will be minimized with the antenna by the window. Good luck. John KD9PQM

Duckie Suction Mount with BNC | Scanner Master

Duckie Suction Mount with BNC

www.scannermaster.com

 

[Skooter92]

This gives you the option of mounting your Nagoya inside the rear window. The Faraday cage effect in a car is real, but will be minimized with the antenna by the window. Good luck. John KD9PQM

Duckie Suction Mount with BNC | Scanner Master

Duckie Suction Mount with BNC

www.scannermaster.com

Thanks!

 

[GILLIG40]

AM-801 - Window Antenna Mount - BNC Connectors

AM-801 - Window Antenna Mount - BNC Connector

www.americanradiosupply.com

Take a look at this. I had a Radio Shack version years ago. They do have an SMA model

 

[wtp]

back deck mag mount, if you have a back deck.