Most puck or low profile antennas are for wireless/LTE/Wifi for the mobile data some in car video systems use that also. Otherwise it is still a low profile salt shaker for 7/800 or whip for other bands.. Hockey puck style on 800 and UHF are poor performers.
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Why do so many cop car antennas look like hockey pucks instead of whips?
- Thread starter scanmanmi
- Start date
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Being discreet on a marked police vehicle is not why they are used.
Low profile antennas suffer less damage from tree branches and other obstructions. They reduce vandalism from by-standers while on scenes and can't be used as improvised weapons by others - the VHF and UHF masts were broken off and used as slashing impact weapons. They have less wind noise and cut down on aerodynamic drag. They also place less stress on the sheet metal when the vehicle is at speed - an old Antenna Specialists UHF center-loaded mast antenna exerts far more leverage and stress on auto bodies that are increasingly aluminium.
All around, they are better antennas for LE use.
Low profile antennas suffer less damage from tree branches and other obstructions. They reduce vandalism from by-standers while on scenes and can't be used as improvised weapons by others - the VHF and UHF masts were broken off and used as slashing impact weapons. They have less wind noise and cut down on aerodynamic drag. They also place less stress on the sheet metal when the vehicle is at speed - an old Antenna Specialists UHF center-loaded mast antenna exerts far more leverage and stress on auto bodies that are increasingly aluminium.
All around, they are better antennas for LE use.
prcguy
Member
UHF and 800 can work just fine on a rear deck due to the short wavelength vs window opening. VHF not so much.
CaptDan
Member
No !
CaptDan
Member
The major reason they use those "puck" style antennas is because they are significantly more difficult to break off.
People like to do simple damage to police vehicles, even a 6 inch UHF antenna is an attractive target when a police vehicle is parked. Cops don't usually check the vehicle's antenna's every time they return to their vehicle. This sets the vehicle radio up for potential damage from transmitting with no antenna, in addition to officer safety, they transmit and emergency situation, think the transmission went thru, jump out of their vehicle expecting help is on the way, their transmission never got out because the antenna on the vehicle had been broken off.
The second reason is they are less noticeable, the bad guys pay attention to a lot. They know no one has a cell phone antenna on the rear window glass any more. When they see the "cell phone" antenna they know it's an unmarked cop shop car. some agencies spray paint the puck tomatch the vehicle color, others don't. Just as the majority of citizens who regularly commit crimes can tell ya what/if any tell tale signs a particular vehicle manufacturer does to fleet orders. For the Ford Crown Vic's unless an agency specifically ordered and paid extra for their vehicles to have a "retail package" on their fleet order, the front grill was black, as were the two panels on either side of the rear license plate. Majority of people would never notice, but the "bad guys" notice.
People like to do simple damage to police vehicles, even a 6 inch UHF antenna is an attractive target when a police vehicle is parked. Cops don't usually check the vehicle's antenna's every time they return to their vehicle. This sets the vehicle radio up for potential damage from transmitting with no antenna, in addition to officer safety, they transmit and emergency situation, think the transmission went thru, jump out of their vehicle expecting help is on the way, their transmission never got out because the antenna on the vehicle had been broken off.
The second reason is they are less noticeable, the bad guys pay attention to a lot. They know no one has a cell phone antenna on the rear window glass any more. When they see the "cell phone" antenna they know it's an unmarked cop shop car. some agencies spray paint the puck tomatch the vehicle color, others don't. Just as the majority of citizens who regularly commit crimes can tell ya what/if any tell tale signs a particular vehicle manufacturer does to fleet orders. For the Ford Crown Vic's unless an agency specifically ordered and paid extra for their vehicles to have a "retail package" on their fleet order, the front grill was black, as were the two panels on either side of the rear license plate. Majority of people would never notice, but the "bad guys" notice.
chrismol1
P25 TruCking!
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I'd think they use puck antennas because they are the cheapest antenna provided by the radio shop contracted by the county for coverage in the contract to provided the contracted coverage. All that contract and the coverage provided. A few local agencies use them because of the coverage provided is acceptable with coverage provided as on contract. They have a ****load of towers in the area
Is there really a bunch of police chiefs sitting around a table discussing "bad guys" breaking off antennas to spear attack officers. If it gets to that point they probably aren't the best officers to let that happen in their custody. Why is there a bunch of suspects unhandcuffed/unsecured able to rip off a whip antenna to attack officers. My county sheriffs 800 system is semi-rural and has 800 whip antennas to ensure coverage
Is there really a bunch of police chiefs sitting around a table discussing "bad guys" breaking off antennas to spear attack officers. If it gets to that point they probably aren't the best officers to let that happen in their custody. Why is there a bunch of suspects unhandcuffed/unsecured able to rip off a whip antenna to attack officers. My county sheriffs 800 system is semi-rural and has 800 whip antennas to ensure coverage
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Cheapest, by far, is the simple 1/4 wave whip. Buying bulk, you can get name brand antennas for less than $10 each.
You completely missed the point here. Nobody said anything about using antenna whips to attack officers. Breaking off the whip while the vehicle is parked means the officer probably can't use the vehicle radio to call for help, and may not be able to use the portable, either, if the portable signal is forwarded through a repeater in the vehicle.
Somebody actually did.
I thought it was pretty hilarious at the time, but didn't say anything. I have never heard of this happening personally, but hell, who knows?
I missed that...
A low band antenna might work as a whip weapon, but an 800MHz whip isn't going to be useful for much besides picking handcuff locks.
And the idea of stabbing someone with an antenna is ridiculous. Yeah, you could make a shank out of a sharpened section of the whip fitted into a wood handle, but that's not something you can do in a few minutes. And nobody's going to bother doing that. Any kind of knife would be a far more effective weapon, and be more readily available, unless you've park the cruiser unattended in a prison yard.
Of course if you're that dumb, you probably deserve to get chlorinated out of the gene pool.
LOL!! I don't know how the hell you would pull it out of the mount anyway, unless it's quite loose or you just happen to carry a hex wrench around.
Well...right. But I can't imagine this happening at the scene of a crime. I guess if you weren't in the process of being arrested, you could sit in a parking lot and snap it off and then ambush the officer when they come out of wherever, but with a whip antenna? Silly.
CaptDan
Member
Thank you for your thoughtful response.
I like facts – so lets talk UHF antenna facts.
If agencies only used the cheapest antenna available, that actually work, and I will only discuss a name brand antenna such as Laird. A 1//4 wave simple “whip antenna” (QW450) as Laird calls it, or stick antenna as I call it, retails for $5.67 each, I’d guess wholesale price, in quantities would be closer to $3.00 each. On the other hand, a low profile “puck” style antenna from Laird retails for $38.30 (TRAB4303) I’d guess the wholesale price in quantities would be somewhere in the mid 20’s each.
So, the FACTS are that the puck style antennas are not used because they are the cheapest, but for other reasons as was originally suggested. You mentioned a few local agencies use them “. . . as on contract”. Without knowing the specifics of those local contracts you speak of, it’s impossible to know exactly why they provide the puck style antenna, but I will say it’s not because they are the cheapest antenna.
Actual true undercover vehicles don’t have any police related equipment in them at all. Some agencies have various stages of vehicles – marked – unmarked – surveillance – undercover. A replacement “fin style” antenna for those surveillance vehicles is appx $105.00 retail and I don’t know what if any discount for a quantity or wholesale price would be.
As far as your tirade about “spear” attacks and such crapola you mention, I have no idea what you are talking about.
As far as people breaking off those little 6 inch ¼ wave stick antennas, happens all the time, especially on vehicles where they are mounted to rear ¼ panel of the vehicle, rather than in the middle of the roof or middle of the trunk.
Some “People” just like to mess with the Police – maybe more so in a city environment than out in the country, so as they walk by a parked, unattended Police vehicle, they just reach over and break off the little 6 inch antenna. Depending upon the agency, available radio coverage by a walkie talkie, the vehicle could be out of service until a new antenna is installed.
You assume it is someone involved with whatever call the officer is currently on, instead of targeted vandalism for whatever reason. It could be someone from the call's neighborhood, or while the car is parked elsewhere. (While the cop is eating, or gathering info on a victim at the hospital, etc...)
Right, and in those circumstances, somebody is going to break the antenna off the car and whip the officer with it? Are there any actual documented cases of this happening?
Vandalism, sure. That happens all the time. I'm specifically referring to the antenna being removed/broken and used as a weapon against the officers. Seems a little outlandish to me. Change my mind with newspaper articles or documentation.
I love when people who have no Idea what they are talking about try to justify it with their long winded answers...
You are the only one who said anything about using the broken antenna as a weapon. In the very rare case that may have happened, I'm sure the cop responded like they would to any other weapon. The rest of us were talking about the damage of the antenna being broken off, that's it.Right, and in those circumstances, somebody is going to break the antenna off the car and whip the officer with it? Are there any actual documented cases of this happening?
Vandalism, sure. That happens all the time. I'm specifically referring to the antenna being removed/broken and used as a weapon against the officers. Seems a little outlandish to me. Change my mind with newspaper articles or documentation.
Uhhhhhh....did you actually read the thread? I was responding to the other two gentlemen who brought it up.
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