Well basically the mag mount I have now sits on the backside of the drivers seat in the little magazine holder / junk holder or whatever it is you call it.... This does a great job surprisingly if you're in town, and even a town or two away I can pick up transmissions with a bit of a static. I'm wondering what would be a good mobile antenna that won't look horrendous.... Maybe something to sit on the back deck inside the car, or although I hear not so good, a glass mount antenna? Any input would be great...
Searching for a discrete antenna...
- Thread starter MrRevesz
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hoser147
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What freq range are you wanting to monitor?
For what you want, a glass mount antenna would be fine. It will be some, if not a lot, of improvement over having a magmount sitting inside the car. There are undercover mounts where the whip only sticks up through the rear package shelf but the reception will be worse than a glass mount because it will be tuned for a certain band. Even if you only want to listen to one band, I don't think you'd want to pay the price for one of these compared to a glass mount.
hoser147
Member
You might take a look at the hockey puck type antenna's.
As for the range 150 - 158 area, and vhf...
Is there any trick with getting the glass mount to perform a bit better?
As for the hockey puck type, where would those be located?
Is there any trick with getting the glass mount to perform a bit better?
As for the hockey puck type, where would those be located?
hoser147
Member
There are NMO type and trunk lip mounts for them. Check out the Antennex antenna's. Hoser
scrotumola
Member
If you are trying not to draw attention, check with sti-co. They used to have a diplexer that allowed you to use your car's broadcast antenna, but I can't find it on their site. It is basically a splitter that sends a signal to your car stereo and has an extra antenna output for a band specific 2-way.
There are some other options as well. Here is the main page.
http://www.sti-co.com/
There are some OEM replacement antennas that go where the stock stereo antenna is. The applications are band specific and several configurations are available. Again plenty of options including other low profile models. Enjoy
There are some other options as well. Here is the main page.
http://www.sti-co.com/
There are some OEM replacement antennas that go where the stock stereo antenna is. The applications are band specific and several configurations are available. Again plenty of options including other low profile models. Enjoy
I regularly use the low profile antennas offered by Scannermaster for either VHF or 800MHz. They work great.
af5rn
Member
What exactly are you trying to accomplish with this discretion? Are you talking about undercover-grade, surveillance style discrete? Or are you just talking about 'don't piss off your wife by whackering out her car' style discrete?
Either way, a glass mount antenna cut for VHI-Hi band is probably your best bet. Disguise antennae, and hockey pucks are pretty expensive.
You finally told us what bands you're listening to, but not what distance you are trying to monitor. That is as important as frequency range. What works for simply listening to the cops there in Hooterville may not work for monitoring a five-county urban metroplex. The good news is that VHF-Hi propagates well, and it doesn't take much antenna to cover a long distance, unlike 800mhz.
Either way, a glass mount antenna cut for VHI-Hi band is probably your best bet. Disguise antennae, and hockey pucks are pretty expensive.
You finally told us what bands you're listening to, but not what distance you are trying to monitor. That is as important as frequency range. What works for simply listening to the cops there in Hooterville may not work for monitoring a five-county urban metroplex. The good news is that VHF-Hi propagates well, and it doesn't take much antenna to cover a long distance, unlike 800mhz.
af5rn said:
As for what i'm trying to accomplish, basically not trying to piss off the wife and also trying to keep everything clean....
Distance wise, it's not far at all... maybe a 5 - 6 mile radius from my apartment.... of course that number changes when i drive around... Basically a few towns around me...
Thanks everyone for the ideas!
af5rn
Member
Ah, cool then. Yeah, so long as long distances aren't a concern, you really can't beat a glass mount for classy looks and inconspicuousness. You could get one especially cut for VHF-Hi band, that would result in great performance on your primary bands, but they're pricey. You'll pay $70 to 100 bucks. There are some here ---> http://www.tessco.com/products/displayProducts.do?groupId=360&subgroupId=24&search=false&page=5
Or, as nearby as your systems are (and assuming they are repeater systems, and not direct systems), you could just get the inexpensive glass-mount scanner antenna and hear just fine too, although losing a little VHF performance. Probably not enough to really make a difference. Here is that antenna ---> http://www.scannermaster.com/Through_The_Glass_Scanner_Antenna_p/15-540721.htm
Another option (that I usually wouldn't recommend) would be a coupler to run your scanner off of your stock AM/FM car antenna. Those suck for everything except VHF-Hi band, so you're in luck. It'd probably work about as good as the glass mount scanner antenna, but not as well as the glass mount VHF antenna. They're cheap, so it's worth trying out first, before you go mounting anything on the car that you or your wife isn't going to like the looks of.
Good luck!
Or, as nearby as your systems are (and assuming they are repeater systems, and not direct systems), you could just get the inexpensive glass-mount scanner antenna and hear just fine too, although losing a little VHF performance. Probably not enough to really make a difference. Here is that antenna ---> http://www.scannermaster.com/Through_The_Glass_Scanner_Antenna_p/15-540721.htm
Another option (that I usually wouldn't recommend) would be a coupler to run your scanner off of your stock AM/FM car antenna. Those suck for everything except VHF-Hi band, so you're in luck. It'd probably work about as good as the glass mount scanner antenna, but not as well as the glass mount VHF antenna. They're cheap, so it's worth trying out first, before you go mounting anything on the car that you or your wife isn't going to like the looks of.
Good luck!
I have the Valor PMM3B and it is pretty inconspicuous, while still giving good performance.
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1190.html
Dave
http://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/scanants/1190.html
Dave
APX8000
Sarcastic Member
Check out www.licenseplateantenna.com (US Communications). We use the company on our undercover cars and the radio runs through the factory am/fm antenna mast. Works VERY well, but they are pricy. I think one band is $149 for the coax, diplexer, etc. $249 for dual band. You also maintain your am/fm reception for good time tunes.
If you don't have the broadcast antenna mast, they also offer bumper antennas and license plate antennas. We use these on the chargers since they don't have the whip. Not as effective as the mast, but for your purposes it will work well.
If you don't have the broadcast antenna mast, they also offer bumper antennas and license plate antennas. We use these on the chargers since they don't have the whip. Not as effective as the mast, but for your purposes it will work well.
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