Larsen vs the maxrad

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prcguy

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I have both and can't tell any difference in the public service bands, but the Maxrad seems to work better on VHF air. One of these days I'll take some spectrum analyzer readings on these and others to get the bottom line.
prcguy
lugoffman said:
just wanting everyone's advice on the two a larsen nmo 150/450/800 vs the max rad triband which one is better
 

lugoffman

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prcguy said:
I have both and can't tell any difference in the public service bands, but the Maxrad seems to work better on VHF air. One of these days I'll take some spectrum analyzer readings on these and others to get the bottom line.
prcguy
hey thanks the reason i was asking was i want to buy the maxrad but didnt know if i was getting a good one or not i got a larsen 150/450/800 and was wanting one for the car and larysc told me that the maxrad was the better one but others have told me larsen is the #1leading seller to army /police/ems/fire dept but when i bought one i can tell a little difference and then had some grounding issue with someone telling me it needed to be grounded and then i was told to get a maxrad that larsen was a chep form of the maxrad so i just didnt know i guess ill have to break out the wallett and just try one so any one else got a opinoin ??????
 

prcguy

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What is your grounding issue?
prcguy
lugoffman said:
hey thanks the reason i was asking was i want to buy the maxrad but didnt know if i was getting a good one or not i got a larsen 150/450/800 and was wanting one for the car and larysc told me that the maxrad was the better one but others have told me larsen is the #1leading seller to army /police/ems/fire dept but when i bought one i can tell a little difference and then had some grounding issue with someone telling me it needed to be grounded and then i was told to get a maxrad that larsen was a chep form of the maxrad so i just didnt know i guess ill have to break out the wallett and just try one so any one else got a opinoin ??????
 

lugoffman

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prcguy said:
What is your grounding issue?
prcguy

well with the larsen antenna i was picking up a lot of radio, tv stations with it and had to turn the squelch all the way up almost. then some times i would have both factory and laresen antenna with me while driving down the road. and i would be picking up stactic and a little bit of my local police and i would switch them and pick up better with the factory antenna and then some times i would pick up better with the larsen. and then some guy said i need to ground it but i dont know how to cause its a mag mount then larysc told me that i needed to get a maxrad so im kinda lost with this whole thing cause i dont want to buy another one and then have the same problems. i just want a real good antenna. and now me and another guy on here are having the same problems with the radio shack pro 97 and 164 with the bnc connectors they are wobbly and doesnt have a tight fit like some other scanners have so this could be my problem to i dont know so im hopeing i can get some input on all this and then make a choice on buying one or not cause it could be the scanner i hope not
 

prcguy

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The Larsen or Maxrad or Comtelco on a mag mount will work just fine with some sheet metal under them like on the roof or trunk of your car, no additional grounding is needed. When you say the factory antenna do you mean the rubber duckie that came with the scanner? Others have probably mentioned this but you may be overloading the scanner with a good antenna outside the car where the rubber duckie picks up much less and may not overload the radio under the same conditions. This would not be the fault of the antenna but something we all live with when using a receiver that tries to do everything in one small box. Sometimes running an outside antenna with the attenuator on (selectable on the scanner) will pick up better than just the rubber duckie.
prcguy
lugoffman said:
well with the larsen antenna i was picking up a lot of radio, tv stations with it and had to turn the squelch all the way up almost. then some times i would have both factory and laresen antenna with me while driving down the road. and i would be picking up stactic and a little bit of my local police and i would switch them and pick up better with the factory antenna and then some times i would pick up better with the larsen. and then some guy said i need to ground it but i dont know how to cause its a mag mount then larysc told me that i needed to get a maxrad so im kinda lost with this whole thing cause i dont want to buy another one and then have the same problems. i just want a real good antenna. and now me and another guy on here are having the same problems with the radio shack pro 97 and 164 with the bnc connectors they are wobbly and doesnt have a tight fit like some other scanners have so this could be my problem to i dont know so im hopeing i can get some input on all this and then make a choice on buying one or not cause it could be the scanner i hope not
 

af5rn

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lugoffman said:
hey thanks are they good on all three bands
Yes, they are. Maxrad just plain makes a better product, physically speaking. They are sturdier. Never heard anybody complain about a Maxrad being flimsy or performing poorly. I have heard multiple complaints about Larsens over the last three decades. The Maxrad is the most popular multi-band antenna among professional circles, so you really can't go wrong there. Most people I know who have used both would recommend it even over the Austin Spectra.
 

lugoffman

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af5rn said:
Yes, they are. Maxrad just plain makes a better product, physically speaking. They are sturdier. Never heard anybody complain about a Maxrad being flimsy or performing poorly. I have heard multiple complaints about Larsens over the last three decades. The Maxrad is the most popular multi-band antenna among professional circles, so you really can't go wrong there. Most people I know who have used both would recommend it even over the Austin Spectra.
hey thanks i guess tomorrow im going to go get me one and try it out
 

N1BHH

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andrewccm said:
Punctuation? My head is spinning. hehe

Punctuation? My head is spinning, too. I see no structure in composition, as it all runs together. No capitals to start a sentence, either. It took me 20 minutes to proofread before I could make sense of it.

I have the Larsen, had a Spectra on my convertible that was great for what I wanted, something that would work Low through UHF, but since then, there's very little Low Band and more 800 trunking and the Larsen works nice for my needs.
 

lugoffman

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N1BHH said:
Punctuation? My head is spinning, too. I see no structure in composition, as it all runs together. No capitals to start a sentence, either. It took me 20 minutes to proofread before I could make sense of it.

I have the Larsen, had a Spectra on my convertible that was great for what I wanted, something that would work Low through UHF, but since then, there's very little Low Band and more 800 trunking and the Larsen works nice for my needs.
yea i know i dont work in the white house and i dont get payed to capitalise my letters sorry we are all adults here and im sure we all under stand what was being asked but i will start putting periods in my sentences
 

af5rn

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LOL! I am used to professional forums, where they'll tear you a new one and ban you for FAILURE to use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Here, I have to continually remind myself that this is just a hobby board, and to keep my mouth shut.
 

lugoffman

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af5rn said:
LOL! I am used to professional forums, where they'll tear you a new one and ban you for FAILURE to use correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Here, I have to continually remind myself that this is just a hobby board, and to keep my mouth shut.
lol!!! yea i dont know what the big deal is. cause if this sight bands me then o well !! i really dont give a S@#T. i didnt pay here for some one to tell me about my grammer. but i dont think it says anywere on here about grammer but if it did i most of skiped that part .one thing that gets me is when some one just comes on your thread and says something that doesnt even have nothing to do with whats on the thread and really it pisses me off . do they think that the more they post somthing that others think that they are administrators i mean come on !!!!!!!!!!!
 

andrewccm

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For the record, I was trying to make heads or tails of the thread but got lost reading it. I was intending on actually helping if I could. I certainly am not the grammar police. But without it, it makes effective communication difficult sometimes. To each his own, and I'll bow out. I wasn't really trying to ridicule...but just point out that it confused me.

Take care,
 

lugoffman

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andrewccm said:
For the record, I was trying to make heads or tails of the thread but got lost reading it. I was intending on actually helping if I could. I certainly am not the grammar police. But without it, it makes effective communication difficult sometimes. To each his own, and I'll bow out. I wasn't really trying to ridicule...but just point out that it confused me.

Take care,

Man its ok !! i wasnt tring to be a ass about it its just others do it to and not only to me but to others as well and you are right maybe i do need to start putting better grammer on here im sorry for the attack lol !!
 
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