Handheld in car problems. Maybe Antenna?

[N8IAA]

I have never ever heard of a fender mount.

Larsen makes a 'L' shaped mount for vehicles. Comet and Diamond make trunk lip mounts which will work on hoods. Used to use one for years on my F-150 attached to the hood, or on the extended cab door. Better to get a ground established.

Using the supplied rubber duck on the scanner while in the care will make listening to VHF/UHF conventional problematic at best. Larsen makes a NMO 150/450/850MHz mobile antenna that works like a champ. I use one on a hatch mount.
HTH,
Larry

 

[rfradioconsult]

Classic case of Rayleigh Fading, there are numerous articles available on the Internet that discuss the problem. Changing your antenna will have minimal effect.

 

[Awz1287]

Would Rayleigh Fading effect the signal if my location in the same town I am listening to? How do I fix Rayleigh Fading?

 

[Awz1287]

I was looking at the hood lip mount can someone recommend an mount and antenna? Preferably from amazon with prime shipping.

 

[WA0CBW]

Rayleigh fading is result of a radio signal being "scattered" or bounced off of objects instead of arriving at the antenna via line of site. This causes causes a radio signal to "fade" at the antenna. It helps the RF design engineers to predict what kind of signal strength will be observed at various locations from the transmitting antenna. The effects of this fading will be more noticeable if the receiving antenna is inside the vehicle. Your car acts like a cage (Faraday shield) around the antenna blocking signals from the distant transmitter. So do buildings, trees, and other ground clutter. Add the effect of the receiving antenna moving and you get the fading you described.
BB

 

[Awz1287]

WA0CBW, so would the outside antenna stop this? If not How do police and other public safety officials prevent this?

 

[rfradioconsult]

The difference between a $400 scanner designed to cover a wide range of frequencies vs. a $4K radio designed for maximum performance in a narrow frequency range. A lot of design goes into the receiver to maximize its performance, not so much into the transmitter. In areas where the problem exists even a PS radio can experience problems just not as noticeable as a wide-band scanner.

When AT&T wrote the AMPS standard for the first cellular mobiles they recommended each mobile have two antennas, one for Tx and Rx the second was a Rx only, this provided diversity reception which increased performance and minimized Rayleigh Fading. Consumers didn't go for the second antenna so they never became very popular. Cellular base stations used diversity reception from the beginning, this helped balance the the path from 3 Watt mobiles and 100 Watt cell sites.

 

[Awz1287]

Thanks for explaining it in more detail I understand it better now.

 

[Awz1287]

Has anyone tried this type of mount? Seems easy to install using an existing bolt in the truck. I'm wondering how the fit is? Or should I just stick with a hood lip clamp type mount?
http://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/ridgeline-colorado-canyon-isuzu-pickup-3862.html

 

[WA0CBW]

I use one similar on my SUV but you have to be careful of the angle the hood slopes to be sure the bracket sits level after it is installed. The hole is sized for an NMO mount.
BB

 

[Awz1287]

How secure was it, did you have any problems with reception being it is not over the roof line?

I see they offer it with cable for $10 more is this good cable or should I buy it separately? How do I know what connection option to choose? Is the option just the radio connection or does it have to do with the antenna I choose?
http://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/ridgeline-colorado-canyon-isuzu-pickup-1184.html

I was thinking of going with this antenna is it good or is there something else better?

http://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/larsen-nmo150-450-800-1050.html

 

[WA0CBW]

It is as secure as the bolt that is used to hold it to the fender. The reception is not omni-directional because it is not above the roof line. There is a chart you can look up to see the radiation pattern of a left front hood position location. It will be poor to the left front and better to the right rear of the vehicle (more vehicle body in that direction for the ground plane). That antenna would be an acceptable selection for the VHF/UHF/800 Mhz bands. The coax connector should match the connector on your scanner (or use a suitable adapter).
BB

 

[SCPD]

If this guy is listing to only analog like he said he was, NO antenna will help him to get a better reception.
All vehicle will interfere with analog because of the electronics & Alternator, don't care how new or old the vehicle is.

 

[Gymbag]

Hey wa2chj can you please check your PM I sent you a message about that 3M tape. Thanks

 

[Ensnared]

Larsen makes a 'L' shaped mount for vehicles. Comet and Diamond make trunk lip mounts which will work on hoods. Used to use one for years on my F-150 attached to the hood, or on the extended cab door. Better to get a ground established.

Using the supplied rubber duck on the scanner while in the care will make listening to VHF/UHF conventional problematic at best. Larsen makes a NMO 150/450/850MHz mobile antenna that works like a champ. I use one on a hatch mount.
HTH,
Larry

You're speaking specifically about the antenna & not the mount, right? I have never heard of a "L" shaped design. Do you know the model number of the antenna you're talking about?

I looked in the Antenna Farm site, but that is very dense. I have a Nissan Versa hatchback. I see where they have vehicle-specific mounts, but none for a Versa. I will attempt to find a match using Google. Wow, I never realized they had mounts that did not require drilling. A trunk lip won't work. L-shaped, interesting.

 

[kayn1n32008]

Simply put, if you are listening to a system and the signal is not at saturation, as you drive you will experience multipath, and areas of lower signal strength, moving your antenna even a 1/4wave(18-ish inches at VHF, 6-ish inches at UHF 2-ish inches at 800MHZ)length can cause the receive signal to go from full strength to levels so low the squelch can close. This causes the chop. With digital, if the signal strength is still high enough for the FEC to recover the audio, you will not notice, as the FEC will fill in what can not be decoded. Usually higher gain antennas will make an improvement.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[N8IAA]

You're speaking specifically about the antenna & not the mount, right? I have never heard of a "L" shaped design. Do you know the model number of the antenna you're talking about?

I looked in the Antenna Farm site, but that is very dense. I have a Nissan Versa hatchback. I see where they have vehicle-specific mounts, but none for a Versa. I will attempt to find a match using Google. Wow, I never realized they had mounts that did not require drilling. A trunk lip won't work. L-shaped, interesting.

Replied via PM.
Larry