Identifying Antenna

[sflmonitor]

Does anybody recognize this antenna? If so, what band is it designed for? I saw this antenna on an Italian police car in Rome. I didn't have my scanner, so I never figured out what frequencies were in use. Thanks.

 

[hoser147]

Interesting antenna pic. The database is pretty well open except for the Italian Fire Brigade. My guess would be some kind of 800mhz antenna. To bad you didnt have the ability to scan while you were there.

 

[Dewey]

I'm with Hoser.. interesting pic. In fact if you would have said you saw it here in the US, I would be inclined to think that someone wanted to just fill a leftover mount with a piggly-wiggly mobile cell phone element stuck into a coil the would hold it. Kinda like the "fellas" around here who buy the x cabs and cruisers, then throw anything on the left over mounts trying to keep the PD appearance.

 

[ka3jjz]

It's not really easy to say what this antenna would be for - if it's a real antenna, that is - however my bet would be on a 2 or 3 bander here. The whip alone looks like it's just about long enough for VHF hi - the 2 coils are difficult; the squiggly one could be 800, or the black one - look at the distance between the 2 coils and it might be long enough for a 1/4 wave on 800. Interesting pic.

By the way I lived in Rome in the early 60s - I'll bet it's changed a lot since then,as they were still reconstructing things post-WW2 73 Mike

 

[sflmonitor]

I've been at a loss since I took this picture a couple of years ago. It is indeed an antenna on the roof of a police car. I saw these antennas on many police cars in Rome. This type of mount appears to be the norm amongst the police cars in Italy. They have various police agencies throughout Italy and they don't always seem to be on the same band though. I can tell you that I saw the airport police in Rome with VERY OLD handhelds that appeared to have VHF Lo antennas. I also saw another policeman in Rome using a Moto Astro UHF. I was told that Moto Astros were not supposed to be exported for foreign use, but that's another topic altogether.

I will look back through my photos and see if I can spot some other antennas. If I do find others, I will post.

 

[SCPD]

I'm thinking it's low band. Believe it or not, before I read where and what vehicle it was on, I was going to say it's was a CB antenna. It's the coil at the bottom that's got me thinking that way. The antenna reminds me a lot of the VHF low band antennas, made by RCA at the time, that Novi, Michigan, used to have on their cars 30 years ago, before they went VHF High. Novi's old antennas didn't have the piggytail in the middle of the whip, but the bottom coil and the hinge look very much like it.

 

[sflmonitor]

I've attached 3 more pics of different police cars in Rome to provide a better idea of what they are using there. One of them appears to be VHF Low without a doubt. I find it interesting that their mounts are so much different than anything we use here in the states. Next time I go to Europe, I'm taking my Close Call capable scanner with me. Hopefully I can get there before it all goes to Tetra!