driving a ford police sedan is so covert not
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Disquise CB antenna needed for Ford Taurus or similar
- Thread starter gary123
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Drachen_Fire
Member
If it's not primary application, just use a handheld CB sitting on the seat. The range won't be any shorter than a compromise disguise antenna.
Interesting, never knew about those ultra-short antennas for CB that look a lot like modern AM/FM/satellite antennas. gary123 I guess it's a bit harder these days as car antennas have become so small. Hope you find something suitable.
Firekite
Member
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2019
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- 471
Why does it HAVE to be hard mount? Is the roof not steel? Or is it more that you’re trying to hide the cable? It’s still not clear if you intend to transmit or just receive, but if you’re just receiving, then you may be able to put it at the back of the roof and tuck it under the weather stripping around the back windshield, depending on the vehicle, but that may be a long shot.
Might want to call President and ask them about it. Or like someone else here said, visit a professional radio shop and see what they can whip up.
Or just use a handheld CB with a rubber ducky antenna. Depending on what you need out of it, that may be the easiest and cheapest option without giving up much versus a heavily compromised antenna.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Never saw an answer to the TX or just RX question….
But you could try one of these:
or...
sti-co.com
yeah, I know the Taurus doesn't have a traditional mast type AM/FM antenna, but the average person on the road wouldn't notice if there was one on the car. Add one of these and it'll blend right in.
But you could try one of these:
444-75 Low Band Antenna - Comprod Inc.
Individually calibrated to ensure the best performance in a disguised appearance Two or three separate frequency segments in a given mobile band Cross-channel operation in two mobile bands with one antenna Alternative antennas to an OEM version will be recommended, where required (e.g...
comprodcom.com
Narrow Band Antenna
sti-co.com
yeah, I know the Taurus doesn't have a traditional mast type AM/FM antenna, but the average person on the road wouldn't notice if there was one on the car. Add one of these and it'll blend right in.
Firekite: I understand the question, our preference is hard mount for some level of permanency as well as aesthetics. We will be RX and TXing. Currently we have 4 foot fibreglass whips mounted horizontally on the inside rear deck however these are not performing as we would like. Likewise handhelds are not practical both for driver convenience and also we have the mobile hardware already and installed. We like to consider our selves a professional shop we are experienced on VHF/UHF/800 and other band communications. Installing a CB is not a challenge LOL its the antenna requirement that prompted the posts here. The membership has been very helpful and in less than a day found the antenna style we want. Now its just a matter of either finding a hard mount match or taking an existing antenna and modifying it to take the CB band whip.
mmckenna: Stico was the first people we asked and they dont have anything that would do what we want. We do use stico hardware a lot and as far as we are concerned its second to none. We all know the issue is the long antenna whips that are needed for efficient CB/Lowband operations. The stock 'wing/whip' am/fm antennas are simply too short even the ones used by Toyota etc wit hte longer whip. The president new york antenna is looking more and more like what we want.
mmckenna: Stico was the first people we asked and they dont have anything that would do what we want. We do use stico hardware a lot and as far as we are concerned its second to none. We all know the issue is the long antenna whips that are needed for efficient CB/Lowband operations. The stock 'wing/whip' am/fm antennas are simply too short even the ones used by Toyota etc wit hte longer whip. The president new york antenna is looking more and more like what we want.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Yeah, Stico only makes the replacement whips for existing mast antennas. They are going to tell you "no". But you can get creative with what they do have. They do have a 27-50MHz model that should do exactly what you need and will likely outperform any of the other options short of popping a hole and putting up a proper antenna.
The Comprod will do what you want, also.
Our chief has a VHF high band version in his car. Works well and you can't tell it's anything other than a regular vehicle.
Well It took a while as the project was held up on some contract issues with the trucking company however we came up with this magnetic mount solution. We would prefer a hard mount and are looking at modifying a Honda AM/FM car antenna but for now we are going with this. I would like to thank everyone who assisted with suggestions and directions on solving this issue.
Drachen_Fire
Member
Not a bad solution, but I'll go ahead and proffer this - it looks like a police car already.
Because it is.
Because it is.
Firekite
Member
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2019
- Messages
- 471
Seriously, I’m still not clear on the why’s of it all, but nobody who sees that car will mistake it for just another civilian on his way to work at the accounting office. I guess from half a mile down the highway at night maybe it wouldn’t be noticed, but a more permanent solution probably wouldn’t be noticed then anyway.
Maybe there’s a good reason to have a car bristling with compromise antennas. I just don’t know what that reason would be.
PS Maybe throw in an NMO mount and cap it with a MLB2700 with a spring? Tune it and be good to go. Now you’re just a ham or something. And if needs change down the road you can screw on a different antenna.
Maybe there’s a good reason to have a car bristling with compromise antennas. I just don’t know what that reason would be.
PS Maybe throw in an NMO mount and cap it with a MLB2700 with a spring? Tune it and be good to go. Now you’re just a ham or something. And if needs change down the road you can screw on a different antenna.
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I was going to guess trolling for lot lizards (hookers) but doing it in a PI with antenna or not is going to be pretty obvious. A pickup truck with an 8 foot whip antenna would be more incognito at a truck stop than an intereceptor. Those truckers see those cars all day long on the road marked or unmarked and can probably identify the head/tail light pattern at distance.
Now if undercover isn't the goal but you just want to avoid unsightlyness, there are NMO mount antennas that will work better but not be as gaudy as the typical Firestick or Wilson. Easily installed by your usual radio shop. Same design as the usual low band antennas used on police/fire vehicles.
Lowband Quarter Wave Antennas - PCTEL
A popular choice for State Patrol, Land Management and serious CB applications, these MLB lowband antennas provide superior performance for a variety of lowband applications.
www.pctel.com
Ok so I read deeper and saw it was supposed to be for convoy use. I'd still recommend the Maxrad, it would work and look fine on the trunk lid on either side or replacing the low profile in the center. I have agencies near me using the 40MHz versions on their new PIs.
Those superload convoys can stretch out quite a bit and I still think you will have range issues with the President antenna. But by all means let us know if it's been working better than expected.
To clarify why we went to all this trouble and didnt just mount a fiberglass or k-40. We are escorting a few convoys. We wanted to keep a lower profile and not attract a huge amount of attention to the convoy. We are not really trying to hide the fact that the cars are LE we just didnt want to make it super obvious. If low profile wasnt a issue we would have used fully marked vehicles and full size antennas. The affect we were going for if spotted is " ohhh theres a unmarked hiding in the trucks to catch speeders."
Ah Ha!!! Moving the "Good Stuff" around... Cool, be careful.
Scan On!
Breaker One Nine
lu81fitter
Member
I have a white 2012 Impala that used to be an LE car. I buy them cheap and run the wheels off of them for work vehicles. ( I put on a lot of miles.) I have 3 NMO mounts on it, VHF-HI 1/4 wave on the roof, UHF 1/4 wave and 7/800 5/8 on the trunk deck. I regularly have people pass me on an expressway at well over the posted limit, and they don't even blink.
I hope your install is working satisfactorily for you. Seems like a lot of trouble.
I hope your install is working satisfactorily for you. Seems like a lot of trouble.
All part of the job. I get paid to find solutions. I think we can put the thread to rest. Again thank you all.
Good idea.
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