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"Stubby" antenna

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kyparamedic

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Aug 23, 2006
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Anyone used one of these antennas on their radio?:
http://www.edacsradios.com/page3.html

I'm using a speaker mic with an external antenna. I like the better reception I get having the antenna on the mic rather than the radio itself but would prefer to minimize the antenna size. Would I pretty much lose any benefit from this setup by using the stubby antenna?

Thanks.
 

LEH

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I guess the question needs a bit more info. Are you using a scanner or a transceiver?

If a scanner, you would you connect the spearker with antenna to the scanner? If a transceiver, would such a mike work (again, how would you connect the antenna if you don't have the connector interface).

What frequencies are you looking to pickup? The antenna looks like it would work ok for 800 or 450 range of UHF. Much below that, you probably won't get much unless it is repeated and fairly close.
 

kyparamedic

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Oops, sorry. I'm using an LPE-200 on an 800 MHz EDACS system. I'm just looking to replace the antenna on the speaker mic with something shorter. However, I don't want to if it's going to make a big difference in reception. I get noticeably better reception on my radio than those who don't have an antenna on their speaker mic's and rely on the one on their radio that's clipped to their belt.
 

LEH

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I really can't help on that one. I've used a couple of stubby antenna in the past on scanners. They work well close in on UHF and 800+, but are fairly weak below that.

Most transceiver antenna are set up for good operation on the designed radio frequencies. Putting an antenna on that isn't designed for the coverage probably won't help things. But that is a generalization on my part.

Unless someone gives you a better answer, the one thing you could do is try, see and let us know.
 

rmiles

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I've used Larsen antennas in the past, including the "spots" series. I don't care for them. They have poor sensitivity compared to other brands. The Centurion (now part of Laird Technologies) EXS806MD is by far the best stubby I've used. At 1 3/4" its got the size you want and excellent sensitivity. I've found they perform just as well as a comparable full length 1/4 wave.
 

jim202

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This is an old topic that comes to the surface a couple of time a year. The bottom
line is that a stubby antenna, regardless of frequency, is a compromise. People
use them because they just plain don't like the long functional antennas.

When you use a stubby antenna, it lacks the electrical characteristics of being an
efficient antenna. You have less capture area to receive a signal. The TX side
of a stubby is no different. It lacks the ability to get you TX signal out and away
from the radio. This doesn't matter if it is mounted on the radio or up on your
shoulder with the antenna on the speaker mic. As the use of the speaker mic
and antenna raises it up off your hip, it does radiate better. However, most
antennas need some sort of ground to interact with and make them function.
The speaker mic has no ground for the antenna to work with. So by the
design itself, it doesn't work that efficiently to begin with.

To cut to the chase here, if your in a strong signal area, it probably doesn't
matter what you use for an antenna. On the other side of the picture, if you
operate in a marginal area where the signals in both directions may or may
not allow you solid communications, a stubby WILL NOT WORK.

So you can make your own choice as to which antenna fits your application.

Jim



kyparamedic said:
Oops, sorry. I'm using an LPE-200 on an 800 MHz EDACS system. I'm just looking to replace the antenna on the speaker mic with something shorter. However, I don't want to if it's going to make a big difference in reception. I get noticeably better reception on my radio than those who don't have an antenna on their speaker mic's and rely on the one on their radio that's clipped to their belt.
 
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