airtraffic

Author Topic: Antenna attached to a car  (Read 11760 times)

Offline Lezam

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Antenna attached to a car
« on: June 18, 2006, 01:13:54 PM »
Has anyone had any experiences with inexpensive car antennas (Less then $35)? Good? Bad? All coments appreciated...



Offline FlyCMI

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Re: Antenna attached to a car
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2006, 05:01:54 PM »
I have the mobile scanner antenna radioshack sells.  Yes, it does much better than trying to get a signal from inside your car.  Things probably come in twice as good.  It's still not going to be as great as a discone antenna though.

Offline Lezam

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Re: Antenna attached to a car
« Reply #2 on: June 18, 2006, 10:07:26 PM »
You dont attach it to the outside of your car right?

Offline kkjlai

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Re: Antenna attached to a car
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2006, 01:47:29 PM »
I use this one "WSM-225 Airband magnetic Whip"

http://www.wsplc.com/acatalog/Airband_antennas.html

which is about $38US, a few bucks off your price range

It pulls out airband signals pretty good.   I have not done a test scientifically but I would say it is about 10-25% better than a "regular" 2.3db gain VHF antenna I am using (on the airband itself) on my car roof. 

However, the antenna bends quite a bit on highway speeds which may affect it's performance while driving.


Offline Lezam

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Re: Antenna attached to a car
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2006, 10:09:54 PM »
Would that one make a difference if its in the car on a highway or not?

Offline Tomato

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Re: Antenna attached to a car
« Reply #5 on: July 03, 2006, 09:59:28 PM »
I use a very similar one to kkjlai - magnetic mount, and sticks to the car good, even at speeds of 90mph but it does bend like crazy (which is why I don't usually mount it when I know I'm doing highway driving.  It definately does improve the signal though!  :)

Offline Schmetzy13

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Re: Antenna attached to a car
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2006, 12:07:59 AM »
I bought the "through the glass" antenna that Radio Shack sells and i am very pleased with the performance. It greatly improved my reception, especially in the aviation VHF band.

Offline FlyCMI

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Re: Antenna attached to a car
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2006, 10:47:05 AM »
The radioshack antenna has a very strong antenna so it won't fall off.  Only thing bad is that is whistles a little when going down the highway.

Offline Lezam

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Re: Antenna attached to a car
« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2006, 07:58:55 PM »
The radioshack antenna has a very strong antenna so it won't fall off.  Only thing bad is that is whistles a little when going down the highway.

Not too many highways in the city  :-D