Glass mount scanner antennas...

[KC9NTO]

...how good are they??

I'm looking to get a antenna for my scanners when I go mobile (the rubber duckies don't do well in my car) and I have my eye on a couple of different glass mounts.

Just wondering if they're any good, or would I be better off getting a magnetic mount for the scanners?

Any advice / info / comments and-or sugestions will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

Adam

 

[IMD262]

Personally I would go with a mag-mount.You can get a dual band (2 meter/70cm) amateur antenna for under $20.That would give good reception at VHF and UHF frequencies and so-so performance on 800MHz.It would be too short for VHF low band except for close in reception.

 

[W5LZ]

If it's an "either/or" choice, take the mag-mount option. There are very few, if any, advantages with a 'thru-glass' antenna, especially with newer cars. Just too many possible complications. The AM/FM car radio antenna would work just dandy, but that's not too practical, huh? No real need to worry about 'matching' as such, scanners just aren't all that 'picky'. And with any multi-band antenna, bigger is better to some ridiculous extent.
But, if for some reason the 'thru-glass' thingy is your best option considering other things, try it. Can't be much worse than the rubber-duck.
- 'Doc

 

[park]

...how good are they??

I'm looking to get a antenna for my scanners when I go mobile (the rubber duckies don't do well in my car) and I have my eye on a couple of different glass mounts.

Just wondering if they're any good, or would I be better off getting a magnetic mount for the scanners?

Any advice / info / comments and-or sugestions will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

Adam

:thumbdown: You will not be happy (I have tried) with a glass mount for many reasons.

 

[Wire Weasel]

Agreed, go with a 5/8 dual band 2m/440 magnet mount ham antenna. Way better reception and very good gain.

 

[Bronco]

I had a glass mount on a previous vehicle and I may as well had no antenna at all

 

[rfoverlord]

If it is only for scanner the glass mount will be fine, Iv'e been using one for 10+ years for my scanners and i've never had an issue not hearing anything within 25(800mhz)-40 miles(VHF).

 

[Peddler]

If your area is on 800MHz, then a cell phone antenna should work like a wilson or such.

 

[cobranut]

If it is only for scanner the glass mount will be fine, Iv'e been using one for 10+ years for my scanners and i've never had an issue not hearing anything within 25(800mhz)-40 miles(VHF).

What you hear is being received only within the limits of what the glass mounted antenna is capable of receiving which is very low db gain, but that will not include all of the signals that are out there being received by more efficient antennas. I currently use a 7 db gain magnet mount scanner antenna and can receive approximately 75 to 100 miles. It's not so important to me to receive that far but it give me more confident that I'm receiving the closer signals that I do want to hear.

 

[Randall]

glass mount antennas can be good over a narrow frequency range, the mount to the glass is a capacitor using the glass as its dialectic. But i would think that the bandwidth would be too narrow to be practical with a scanner that covers a wide range of frequencies.

 

[sea_goin_dude]

Glass mount NOT!!! do not waste your money, also do not buy the "scanner mag mount" from radio shack. I have one and makes a good paper weight. :thumbdown:

You can get a cheeep mag mount from MFJ for 2mtr/440 and it will do a good job for you mobile or at home. I use one in house for my scanner and it works fine. Good for ham/air/police fire etc. Otherwise just connect it to a random length wire that may be tacked to wall in house.

Rubber duck antennas are about useless, use them to scratch with :headbang

MUST have something more than the "duckie" for good reception. When you buy a mag mount etc just get the adapter for the antenna connection on your scanner. My scanner, one of them, is a PRO 82 from radio shack. 200 channels but don't try for too many channels after a while you will listen to less stuff. I only use three banks on mine so have plenty of extry room for more freqs if I want them.


Go ahead and get a lighter plug adapter if you are going to use your scanner mobile. and or extra batteries, keep them in the fridge (do not freeze) they will last forever until you need them.

There is so much "stuff" out there to listen to. So enjoy
TIP in case you do not know. Really bad weather stuff listen to ham band....around 146/147 meg hz for ham repeaters..you might contact local hams for your local police fire and other freqs to monitor during severe weather or other natural emergencies.

 

[Captain Kilowatt]

Nothing quite like making recommendations a couple years after the last post in a thread.

Depending on what the OP wanted to listen too there could be nothing wrong with a glass mount antenna. I used a dual band Larsen glass mount on 2m/70cm and it worked very well. A lot of the problems people have with glass mount antennas is not the fault of the antenna itself but with improper mounting locations or on passivated glass. Passivated glass is used in most automobiles today but not all and any glass mounted antenna on such glass may not perform very well at all but may perform great on regular glass. The passivation process used to block UV rays and basically function as a solar block is what effectively shields the RF from passing between the two antenna parts. Properly mounted a glass mount antenna works quite well.I was happy with mine for five years on my truck until I bought another vehicle with better mounting options.