What is the best magnet scanner antenna that I can put on my trunk on my car? Which has the best reception?
best car magnet scanner antenna?
- Thread starter scannerman200
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scanjunkie
Member
Depends on what bands you are interested in monitoring...
VHF and UHF
jrs71
Member
Valor ProAm PMM3B
I liked this little antenna so well that I bought an extra one for a spare. And you can't beat the price! However, if you plan to mount it on your trunk the coax may be too short. It comes preconnected with only 9' of coax.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1190.html
I liked this little antenna so well that I bought an extra one for a spare. And you can't beat the price! However, if you plan to mount it on your trunk the coax may be too short. It comes preconnected with only 9' of coax.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1190.html
Last edited:
MetalCarnage
Member
LOL, its too bad some of us wouldnt dare drill a hole in our cars, i wish i could take advantage of thatn8chb said:
JHaislet
Member
Is there a simple way to RF ground a magnet mount antenna to the vehicle? For example, a small jumper attached from the magnet mount to bare metal on the vehicle?
NightFox
Member
Here's one that I have been using for about a week now. Not sure how well it will compare to others, i'm still pretty new to the scanning world.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102469&cp
It has a receive range of 25mhz-1300mhz and has a 16' cable terminated with BNC.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102469&cp
It has a receive range of 25mhz-1300mhz and has a 16' cable terminated with BNC.
JHaislet
Member
NightFox said:
Have you used this on a vehicle doing ~70-75mph? I've thought about picking up that one or a window mount, but read some stuff about the RS magnet mount antenna being made of lead and breaks/bends easily @ interstate hwy speeds.
I'm thinking of still picking one up though for use inside (attached to a metal filing cabinet) as I can't mount an outside antenna in my current location.
I've used the Radio Shack Magnet-mount mobile scanner antenna Model: 20-032 for the last three or four years & have had no trouble with it at speeds above 75mph. I've used it to monitor the VHF Lo & Hi Bands as well as UHF & I'm happy with it.
Al42
Member
At VHF-hi and UHF, a properly designed mag mount has pretty good coupling to the roof of the car. In fact, at UHF and above, a 3" diameter capacitor plate is almost a dead short to ground - certainly only a tiny part of the radiation resistance of the system. You lose more signal mounting a drilled-in antenna on the trunk lid (it's about -5dbr [db from the roof]) than you do from a mag mount in the center of the roof. I'd worry more about 15 feet of RG-58U at 450 MHz (~1.5db loss).n8chb said:
And most on-glass antenna designs don't need counterpoises, so their coupling to ground doesn't enter into their performance.
n8chb
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JHaislet said:
hi,
Sorry about the repeat but I forgot to explain why a jumper is not an exceptable way to ground an ungrounded antenna.
It would setup what is called a ground loop. That means the jumper would become a part of the antenna system. Both transmitting and recieving would be compromised. If one were to transmit the ground loop could cause damage to any elctronic cpu type computer equipment in the car.
73
Roger
RISC777
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$0.02 Worth
I've got one of those, not in use right now though.
It does/did 'okay' for me.
Since I went to a permanent mount which receives much better obviously I won't use it again. Maybe throw it on the wife's car if ever I want or need to.
But the saying is still true, "Mileage may vary."
JHaislet :
Freeway speeds - mine never moved, much less came loose or off.
No bending.
So long as you keep the set screws tight it's fine at 'speed.'
Believe me, I tested that aspect of it on three vehicles.
And n8chb is most definitely accurate and do pay attention to his stating it's a bad thing to use a jumper or other means to "ground" it. You'll end up not receiving hardly anything at all, best case scenario is barely intelligible voice very covered by static, engine/electrical noise from the vehicle, etc.
Oh, and center of trunk or top of vehicle is best location.
NightFox :NightFox said:
I've got one of those, not in use right now though.
It does/did 'okay' for me.
Since I went to a permanent mount which receives much better obviously I won't use it again. Maybe throw it on the wife's car if ever I want or need to.
But the saying is still true, "Mileage may vary."
JHaislet :
Freeway speeds - mine never moved, much less came loose or off.
No bending.
So long as you keep the set screws tight it's fine at 'speed.'
Believe me, I tested that aspect of it on three vehicles.
And n8chb is most definitely accurate and do pay attention to his stating it's a bad thing to use a jumper or other means to "ground" it. You'll end up not receiving hardly anything at all, best case scenario is barely intelligible voice very covered by static, engine/electrical noise from the vehicle, etc.
Oh, and center of trunk or top of vehicle is best location.
Navycop
Member
What is NMO? An how is it mounted? I see that alot in anntenna forum.RISC777 said:
scanjunkie
Member
Antenex ABSCAN is great on the band bands you mentioned...
Al42
Member
NMO is New MOtorola mount. It comes in just about everything - mag mount, cowl mount, flat (roof or trunk lid) mount, trunk lip mount.Navycop said:
RISC777
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- 929
Nmo
It can be used as a permanent mount where a 3/4" hole is drilled (trunk, but top of vehicle is best and preferred over a trunk install, though the trunk lid will work). Also there are trunk lid "lip mounts" which attach to the edge of a trunk lid and held in place by two set screws. Those can be used on engine hoods at the front of the vehicle. Then there are brackets with a 3/4" hole that can be attached to mirror mounts, bumpers, etc.
With an NMO "mount" any antenna with an NMO base will thread onto that "mount." So, in general, it can offer a lot of flexability in how, where an antenna is mounted including the felxability in what antenna you mount to it (a VHF/UHF antenna, a tri-band antenna, an 800 MHz antenna, etc.).
Hope that helps some.
Oh yeah, if you want some pic.s, let me know and I'll stick some small ones in hre for you.
Basically, Navycop, it's a threaded connection: 1-1/8" 18 thread.Navycop said:
It can be used as a permanent mount where a 3/4" hole is drilled (trunk, but top of vehicle is best and preferred over a trunk install, though the trunk lid will work). Also there are trunk lid "lip mounts" which attach to the edge of a trunk lid and held in place by two set screws. Those can be used on engine hoods at the front of the vehicle. Then there are brackets with a 3/4" hole that can be attached to mirror mounts, bumpers, etc.
With an NMO "mount" any antenna with an NMO base will thread onto that "mount." So, in general, it can offer a lot of flexability in how, where an antenna is mounted including the felxability in what antenna you mount to it (a VHF/UHF antenna, a tri-band antenna, an 800 MHz antenna, etc.).
Hope that helps some.
Oh yeah, if you want some pic.s, let me know and I'll stick some small ones in hre for you.
Magnet scanner antenna
Used the old RS single center load mag mount scanner antenna for decades. Speeds of 100
at times on an '84 Merc Grand Marquis. Stuck it on the trunk at the front-most drivers side corner. It withstood well over 100mph wind gusts (my speed plus oncoming traffic (BIG trucks) tail vortices) in all types of weather without moving so much as a mm. The only difficulty was the occassional ice build up on a "freezing rain, mist etc" day in the winter. It would begin to whip to/fro once 1/8-1/4 inch would build up until I tapped the ice off with a scraper. (took about 10 seconds)
It heard everything I needed to hear in a 60 mile radius (VHF Lo/Hi, UHF)...
Whether this unit referenced above from RS is as good (hearing), I'm not sure. But the MAGNET hold was no issue...ever.
tl
Used the old RS single center load mag mount scanner antenna for decades. Speeds of 100
at times on an '84 Merc Grand Marquis. Stuck it on the trunk at the front-most drivers side corner. It withstood well over 100mph wind gusts (my speed plus oncoming traffic (BIG trucks) tail vortices) in all types of weather without moving so much as a mm. The only difficulty was the occassional ice build up on a "freezing rain, mist etc" day in the winter. It would begin to whip to/fro once 1/8-1/4 inch would build up until I tapped the ice off with a scraper. (took about 10 seconds)
It heard everything I needed to hear in a 60 mile radius (VHF Lo/Hi, UHF)...
Whether this unit referenced above from RS is as good (hearing), I'm not sure. But the MAGNET hold was no issue...ever.
tl
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