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Best Covert VHF Antenna

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jcemt

Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2003
Messages
14
Location
So Cal
Hello,

Looking for what the best VHF antenna available for covert applications is. Currently I am trying to decide between the STI-CO fender mount oem replacement, the new STI-CO shark fin, STI-CO glass mount or the STI-CO perm mount stealth antenna.

Anyone have any experience with any of those antennas?

Thanks
 

JoshuaHufford

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Feed Provider
Joined
May 27, 2018
Messages
694
Location
Jefferson City, Mo
I have a Compactenna 2m/440 and I'm happy with it's VHF performance, I bought it because it is short enough that I can pull into my garage without having to remove the antenna. There was a recent thread on here comparing another Compactenna to a few other popular antennas and it compared well.

Not sure if that is stealth enough for you.
 

mmckenna

I ♥ Ø
Joined
Jul 27, 2005
Messages
23,617
Location
Hiding in a coffee shop.
Hello,

Looking for what the best VHF antenna available for covert applications is. Currently I am trying to decide between the STI-CO fender mount oem replacement, the new STI-CO shark fin, STI-CO glass mount or the STI-CO perm mount stealth antenna.

Anyone have any experience with any of those antennas?

Thanks


Our chief is using the Sti-Co fender mount. Works fine.
We've got a few Ford Utilities with shark fin type antennas with VHF whips, they seem to work a bit better. I think they are Panorama brand.

Glass mounts, not so much. I've used some on UHF, but wasn't impressed. You have to have clear glass, no tinting usually, no defroster wires.
 

sflmonitor

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Jan 10, 2003
Messages
741
Location
Sunny South Florida
Hello,

Looking for what the best VHF antenna available for covert applications is. Currently I am trying to decide between the STI-CO fender mount oem replacement, the new STI-CO shark fin, STI-CO glass mount or the STI-CO perm mount stealth antenna.

Anyone have any experience with any of those antennas?

Thanks
We’ve used the VHF STI-CO fender mount OEM replacement in the past. Great results except we had a lot of failures with the connector that went to the diplexer. At the time STI-CO would repair them so no biggie. I don’t know if that’s still a problem. We’ve gone mostly over to the euro mounts since these days and are very happy with the results. Heck, I’ve had great SWR on the ham bands with those things. I’d stay away from the glass mounts. Nothing but headaches and they just don’t last.
 
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