Low Profile NMO Mount Wide-Band Mobile Scanner Receive Antenna Whip for Uniden Bearcat - Receive frequency: 50MHz - 1200 MHz

[mitch802]

I want to mount three of these little guys on my car using a triplexer. Anyone have any idea which would be the best one to use to split the signal between the three?
I could do two but would rather use three for better coverage. Looking for best recommendations to accomplish my goal. Not interested in hearing what you would not do. I might go with two instead of three. So a duplexer is a possibility as well.

 

[prcguy]

Do you have a link to the antenna?

 

[mitch802]

Here it is: Amazon.com: AEcreative Low Profile NMO Mount Wide-Band Mobile Scanner Receive Antenna Whip for Uniden Bearcat RadioShack Motorola: Home Audio & Theater

 

[mmckenna]

A couple of things about that antenna...
1. It's W-A-Y overpriced.
2. It's marketing hype. That's an 800MHz quarter wave whip. It's not going to work worth crap anywhere below about 700MHz. The seller claiming it is good to 50MHz is wrong. Don't fall for this.
3. Did I mention it's overpriced?
4. There would be little benefit to running more than one of those. Diplexer/Triplexer are frequency selective, so using one isn't going to help. Duplexers are used for splitting closely spaced frequencies, like on a repeater, again, not going to do you any good.

The only place this antenna is going to work well is 700/800/900MHz. It's going to suck on VHF and it's going to suck even more on 50MHz. It might be a slightly less crappy performer on UHF, but it's still going to suck.

Oh, and you can get a real name brand version of that antenna for about $10.00, rather than some Chinese knock-off antenna for $21. That's the definition of highway robbery.

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=191_192_197&products_id=9400

 

[mass-man]

I'm confused, why 3 antennas?

 

[prcguy]

Oh, I was afraid it might be that one. The ad is a complete scam, the antenna is a 700MHz 1/4 wave whip being sold as an all band, which is a complete lie. It will work fine at 700MHz and on any other band it won't work any better than your finger stuck in the back of the scanner. Please don't give those people any $$ for one let alone three.

I'm also confused on the use of a triplexer or diplexer for the antenna in question. These would be used to combine three different band antennas like an 800MHz with a UHF and a VHF onto one coax. The reason you might use one is if you have thee separate band high performance antennas you want to combine for better performance over a single multi band antenna.

Here it is: Amazon.com: AEcreative Low Profile NMO Mount Wide-Band Mobile Scanner Receive Antenna Whip for Uniden Bearcat RadioShack Motorola: Home Audio & Theater

 

[mitch802]

Ah, this is good news! This is why I ask you fellas! I yield to the experts! I will purchase that one instead. I suspected it was junk and now I know thanks to you. I already have a 800-900mhz antenna for my Motorola XPR4580. Let me give you and idea of what you are looking at and where it will be mounted. I am looking for an antenna that will cover the FULL frequency spectrum of my Uniden Bearcat Uniden Bearcat BCD546HP. The more that I can pickup with that scanner the better. Looking for something low profile such as that antenna. Don't want to limit my range. That is why I am asking you good folks with all the expertise.

...and yes, I am...or rather was what you think I am.

 

[prcguy]

For a "full spectrum" antenna you might look at the Larsen Tri-band which covers most of the VHF, UHF and 800MHz range and has a good reputation. The PCTEL/Maxrad BMAXSCAN1000 is also a very good multiband antenna with similar size and performance. I've tested both against the COMPACtenna Scan III and am very happy with the COMPACtenna as it seems to cover more frequencies with better overall performance and its only 9" tall.

 

[mitch802]

Perhaps three similar looking ones that with all three would cover the full spectrum or at least most? Spitballing here.

 

[mmckenna]

Low profile and "Not limit my performance" don't go together well if you are expecting anything down in the VHF or VHF low band range. You can't cram efficient antennas on those bands into cute little low profile antennas.

If you really want performance, you need to get serious about your antenna setup.
You need to decide what is more important to you, image or performance?

Get the antennas spread out and preferably off the trunk lid up against the back window like that. If you want performance, get the antennas up on the roof where they have a clear view.

The Larsen multi band is a well respected antenna, but it's going to be about 18" tall. It'll perform well on VHF, UHF and 7/800MHz bands.
If you want VHF low band performance, you need to look at a dedicated antenna for that.

 

[mitch802]

Not about cute. Just don't want to look like a porcupine driving down the road if I can help it although I might just have to do that. lol. I do want the performance. I have considered the roof. Still thinking about two or three spread across either the trunk or roof. The roof would be more ideal for obvious reasons.

I truly do appreciate all the wonderful and expert advice!

 

[mmckenna]

OK, so performance. I'm basing this off scanner use. If you are transmitting, let us know...

Ditch the puck antennas. They can work OK on 7/800MHz, but a 1/4 wave antenna is going to be much lower profile.
Same on UHF, a UHF 'transit' style antenna can work fairly well, but again, a simple 1/4 wave will do just as good, if not a bit better. They'll also have wider useable bandwidth.

You can get those in black, so they'll blend in really well. You can shine them up with some Armor-All and they'll look almost as shiny as the paint.

A standard 1/4 wave VHF will work well, also, and they tend to blend in really well if you do it right.

Low band will be a challenge. While there are no shortage of snake oil antennas that will claim a 4" tall antenna will work on low band, the reality is you need a whip antenna if you want any sort of performance.

But, if you have just one scanner, then you have to combine all those antennas with a diplexer/triplexer. That can be a challenge finding one that will do VHF Low, VHF High, UHF, 700/800MHz.

Better solution is to do like prcguy said. Put one Larsen multiband antenna on the roof, or at minimum, centered front/back on the trunk lid. Roof preferred.
That'll give you one antenna that will cover VHF, UHF and 7/800 (or 8/900 depending on the model) well. One antenna, one connection to the scanner.
prcguy has tried the low profile compactenna and says they can work well. I'm not convinced they are really a 'low profile' antenna though. I think a whip will blend in better.

If you really want low band, that will be a challenge, but I'd encourage you to look at how many agencies are using it in your area and if it's really worth doing that.

 

[mitch802]

Smaller puck is GPS for my L3 Mobile Vision camera. The larger puck is for wifi in the vehicle with the router in the trunk. The taller one is the 800-900 mhz for my Motorola 2 way Radio. This post is in regards and for use of my Uniden Bearcat BCD536HP. So I am back to my original post of whichever whip antenna I get using a diplexer or triplexer. Maybe two antennas would be enough on the roof. Thinking maybe one of the NMO Field Tunable up to 24" length but would like a little shorter. Maybe 12-16". Just depends on what I can find and am happy with. Looks are secondary to functionality.

You have all given me much to think about and consider. Thank you for all of this. Still unsure about the splitters or better option(s)

 

[prcguy]

Again, the only reason you might consider two or three separate antennas is to use huge, tall and ugly high gain antennas, one for each band in VHF, UHF and 800MHz and combine them all for better performance over a modest size single multi band antenna. Otherwise a single multi band VHF/UHF/800 antenna like the Larsen tri band works very well for most people and is of reasonable size.

The COMPACtenna Scan III is shorter than most at only 9" tall but its fat and looks like a chunk of pipe sticking up instead of a thin whip with maybe a coil. Kind of like your 800/900 antenna but 3X taller. It does work well despite its size. A trunk lip NMO mount would work fine with either type and I would consider moving your existing trunk lip mount 800-900 antenna over a few feet then mounting the new TBD scanner antenna on the opposite side of the trunk lid placing it a few feet away from the relocated existing antenna and symmetrical on the trunk lid.

 

[mmckenna]

Smaller puck is GPS for my L3 Mobile Vision camera. The larger puck is for wifi in the vehicle with the router in the trunk. The taller one is the 800-900 mhz for my Motorola 2 way Radio.

Yeah, spread those antennas out. If you do any transmitting with the 8/900MHz radio, you want some separation between it and the GPS and WiFi antenna.

This post is in regards and for use of my Uniden Bearcat BCD536HP. So I am back to my original post of whichever whip antenna I get using a diplexer or triplexer. Maybe two antennas would be enough on the roof.

I'm not clear on where you are going with this. You -only- need a diplexer/triplexer if you are combining multiple antennas into one feed line to the scanner. Diplexers get a bit complicated with scanners since they are usually set up for ham radio use. You can get ones designed around LMR frequencies, but you'll pay more.
A single Larsen multiband antenna dead center on the roof is going to give you the best performance.

Thinking maybe one of the NMO Field Tunable up to 24" length but would like a little shorter. Maybe 12-16". Just depends on what I can find and am happy with. Looks are secondary to functionality.

Well, you don't cut to the length that looks best. You cut them based on the frequency you want to listen to to get the best performance.
A 16" 1/4 wave whip is going to work best around 170MHz, which isn't very useful unless you are listening to some very specific federal stuff. It'll work OK down lower, but you appear to be putting the looks versus length thing first.
A 12" 1/4 wave whip is going to land you closer to the 220MHz amateur band. Again, unless you want to listen to ham operators, not a good choice.

Running a 1/4 wave VHF whip around 18" long will make it perform well on the public safety VHF band and also pretty well on the UHF band.
But you'll get better performance out of the Larsen multiband antenna.

 

[mitch802]

Again, the only reason you might consider two or three separate antennas is to use huge, tall and ugly high gain antennas, one for each band in VHF, UHF and 800MHz and combine them all for better performance over a modest size single multi band antenna. Otherwise a single multi band VHF/UHF/800 antenna like the Larsen tri band works very well for most people and is of reasonable size.

The COMPACtenna Scan III is shorter than most at only 9" tall but its fat and looks like a chunk of pipe sticking up instead of a thin whip with maybe a coil. Kind of like your 800/900 antenna but 3X taller. It does work well despite its size. A trunk lip NMO mount would work fine with either type and I would consider moving your existing trunk lip mount 800-900 antenna over a few feet then mounting the new TBD scanner antenna on the opposite side of the trunk lid placing it a few feet away from the relocated existing antenna and symmetrical on the trunk lid.

I think that the COMPACtenna Scan III is the animal that I am looking for! A little pricey but I have a feeling that it will be worth the purchase! Love that it is an NMO as well! Next question is would buying two and having each on each opposite sides of the trunk or same on the roof. Would that matter combining them or would one suffice and do the job? I get that taller antennas do more and go farther, etc. I just don't want anything too large for permanent mount. Now if I am stationary I can whip that bad boy out of the trunk and swap the antennas manually. That I don't have an issue with. It's while I am driving I want an adequate antenna for surrounding areas that I travel through but not something six feet tall. I am not sure if that makes sense.

 

[JoshuaHufford]

To go along with what the others have posted, I think the best option for you is the Larsen Tri-band mounted in the center of your roof. It is black so it will blend in well, and it isn't very tall so it won't draw a lot of attention which is the impression I'm getting from you that you want.

I have the 2M/220/440 version of the CompacTenna, and it does work work surprisingly well, but it is NOT low profile, and it WILL draw attention to your vehicle. I bought the CompacTenna because it was the only thing that I could get into my garage with, even a 1/4 wave antenna will hit my garage door (I have a really low garage). Since then my wife and I switched, she now uses the garage and I use the carport which has more height, and I switched to the Larson Tri band because I wanted coverage up in the 900MHz range. However, I do sometimes switch to a 5/8 wave for VHF or a dual band VHF/UHF if I want some more gain and don't need the 700-900 range.

The only reason to run multiple antennas and to combine them into one signal would be if you want to run something like a 5/8 wave for each band to get the best possible performance, but then you will look like a porcupine. I do it from time to time (I have 3 NMO mounts on my roof) but I really don't care what other people think. But most of the time I just run with the Larsen Tri band on the roof. Keep in mind with a higher gain antenna, your bandwidth for that range will be smaller.

Someone with more experience please correct me but I would say running 3 1/4 wave antennas for each band of interest and then combining them with a Triplexer would probably work no better than just using one antenna like the Larsen Tri band. Maybe even a little worse with the extra coax and insertion loss of the Triplexer?

 

[n3obl]

Best antenna for a scanner is an 18" quarter wave VHF. Works fairly well for VHF-800.

 

[prcguy]

There would be no good reason to combine two of any type antenna for feeding your mobile scanner. One COMPACtenna Scan III will work a little better on a trunk lip mount than any of the 18" tall multi band antennas I've tried. There is a very tall antenna made by Austin Antenna called the Spectra that would add VHF lo band if you need that and I'm not sure if it receives VHF/UHF/800 any better than the shorter antennas. If you don't need VHF lo then forget this model.

As for the comment that the best antenna for a scanner is an 18" quarter wave VHF, that would be incorrect and by a long shot.

I think that the COMPACtenna Scan III is the animal that I am looking for! A little pricey but I have a feeling that it will be worth the purchase! Love that it is an NMO as well! Next question is would buying two and having each on each opposite sides of the trunk or same on the roof. Would that matter combining them or would one suffice and do the job? I get that taller antennas do more and go farther, etc. I just don't want anything too large for permanent mount. Now if I am stationary I can whip that bad boy out of the trunk and swap the antennas manually. That I don't have an issue with. It's while I am driving I want an adequate antenna for surrounding areas that I travel through but not something six feet tall. I am not sure if that makes sense.

 

[tvengr]

This would be a good choice. Seller is up to you. PulseLarsen Antennas | Tri-Band Antenna For All-Band Radios