Does anyone have experience with the Sti-Co antenna with a tri-band mobile radio? With APX 8500?
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Sti-Co Tri-Band Shark Fin Antenna w/ APX 8500
- Thread starter erico
- Start date
That's what they were designed for.
They work as well as most people need them to.
They work as well as most people need them to.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
We've got a few VHF only (not the tri-band model) at work. Used on "unmarked" cars that are pretty obvious what they are….
Other than the more appealing aesthetics, there are some drawbacks:
They are expensive.
The slight tilt back probably reduces performance slightly as compared to a true vertical. Slight, but no zero.
Installation requires access to both sides of the roof, so you'll need to choose install location carefully. Ours are installed on the back of the Ford interceptor utilities, so access wasn't much of a challenge.
For the marked vehicles, I've spec'd the Larsen NMO-150/450/756SF's. Cheaper, work well, easier to install, and easier to replace if needed.
But the Sharkfin antennas do look good if you are trying to reduce the visibility.
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- Feb 28, 2022
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I've got 2 on my car. One for my NX-5K's and one for my XG-100M. I love them for the simple fact that I couldn't drill a center hole due to the sunroof and they allow me to be partially incognito. Great SWR and is a quality product.
Much better than the 19in VHF on the roof. No clearance problems.
Much better than the 19in VHF on the roof. No clearance problems.
Was looking for real world experience.
FFPM571
Member
Real world Yes they work... do they work as well as 3 separate antennas . No they are for undercover use
Does anyone have a sweep of VHF/UHF? I know what StiCo claims for bandwidth, but I wonder just how hard they fall off outside their claimed band coverage. I've got questions like to see the sweeps on the RFMT-NT-V/U/C and GDR-DB-VHF/UHFH-R if available. I ended up in a garage last week that seemed to have much less clearance than claimed, especially on the transition ramps between levels.
And that's what you got. They work well in a well-designed system. I've used them and they work as intended. I don't know what your use case is as your post is very vague.
Will it work as good as a 1/4 wave for accessing a repeater 50 miles away? No, but most public safety users aren't doing that. Specify what "real world experience" you're looking for.
KK6ZTE you need to relax. Your responses are discourteous.
"They work as well as people need them to" is not real world using them experience.
They are going on Fire apparatus and Fire Command Vehicles if I decide to go that route.
Thank you to those who gave some experience and comparisons.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
These antennas are designed for low profile use. The idea is they blend in on top of an SUV and don't scream "AnTeNnA!!!!!" They do that at the expense of some performance due to the tilt and high cost.
I think low profile/high cost isn't something that's necessary in this application.
You can get antennas that perform better for a LOT less money, and are much easier to install.
Unless someone in charge just wants to spend money, or wants it to look cool, it's not the ideal antenna. They should be prioritizing performance over looks.
The only place we run those shark fin antennas are on unmarked cars/take home cars where they don't want to stand out as such. They do that well. But on all the patrol cars, I have standard vertical antennas. For multiband use, I've been running the Larsen NMO 150/450/756SF or the EM Wave tri band. Those have worked well over a few years and honestly don't really stand out that much.
Project25_MASTR
Millennial Graying OBT Guy
Considering I've had a Sharkee with the "Trident" since January of 2015 and the APX8500 wasn't released until 2017 I don't know if there is any validity to that claim.
I ran the Sharkee on my personal vehicle from 2015 until 2023 when I went to an individual antenna setup. I never utilized anything other than LMR on the Sharkee and the triband whip just didn't cover well enough below 150 MHz. I did notice some minor polarization issues form the canted mount on the Sharkee and it was made worse if you were running the nitol whip which had a serious case of bent-tenna when it got cold out.
I wouldn't run them on a county vehicle today but if you don't need to go below 150 MHz they work fine.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
The ones we use on VHF have a wire that coils up the outside, so there's likely some impact compared to a regular 1/4 wave even if the Sti-Co was straight.
I don't know how much impact the lean has on performance, but it's something greater than zero. In a public safety application, I'd want as much going for me as I could, and an expensive antenna with a tilt to make it look like a consumer fin antenna isn't very high on my list of wants.
But for the right person, in the right application, I'm sure it's the right antenna.
I don't know how much impact the lean has on performance, but it's something greater than zero. In a public safety application, I'd want as much going for me as I could, and an expensive antenna with a tilt to make it look like a consumer fin antenna isn't very high on my list of wants.
But for the right person, in the right application, I'm sure it's the right antenna.
