Radio Antennas

philyumpshus

Member
Jun 20, 2010
1,281
Malone, NY
I just bought a Kenwood TK-760HG on the board. I will be using for EMS duties on VHF high (155 range). I also have a Uniden Bearcat scanner that I had hooked to a multi-band scanner antenna. Now that I have the highband radio I am only going to use the scanner to monitor another dispatch on VHF low (46 range).


What I want to do is hook permanent mount antennas to both devices. I went to the Antenna Farm's website but I have no idea where to start. I will obviously need 2 antennas with their respective ranges but other than that I am shooting in the dark. Any advice? Thanks in advance!
 

GaryErrol

Member
May 28, 2010
308
Indianapolis
Personally since you say you know nothing about what you need, I would recommend you go to your local radio shop, talk to them about your needs and then have them install the antennas. Permanent mount means drilling holes, probably in your roof, that if improperly done will be very costly to repair. It may cost a few more dollars but having a professional do it is cost effective in the long run.
 

philyumpshus

Member
Jun 20, 2010
1,281
Malone, NY
I can install them; I've done radios before. I don't know anything about antennas like waves and what mounts to use. My post makes me sound like a nube; I just don't want to buy antennas that won't work with what I need.
 

Respondcode3

Member
May 23, 2010
1,936
Northen Il USA
Are you goning to dill the mounts into the roof? If so 2 NMO mounts and 1 VHF whip and 1 multiband scanner antenna . The low band may present problem because most scanner antennas are sort of deaf the lower you go. What I have found that works the best for that might be another VHF whip If possible space them a minimum of 24 in apart to avoid overload
 

philyumpshus

Member
Jun 20, 2010
1,281
Malone, NY
I am most likely going to mount both of the antennas to the roof of my truck. I might go with fender mounts but am leaning more towards the roof.


I looked at scanner antennas and they are optimized for 150-800 Mhz. Wouldn't I be better off to get an antenna made for VHF low? I need this to work as good as my RadioShack scanner antenna; it works great but the mounting isn't doing it for me.
 

Respondcode3

Member
May 23, 2010
1,936
Northen Il USA
For good low band reception you need a larger antenna base loaded almost like a CB so a fender mountt would be good for that. But with that antenna you are stuck with mostly lowband as they are deaf on the upper bands. The VHF is a decent alternative if you plan on using the scanner accross multiple bands
 

philyumpshus

Member
Jun 20, 2010
1,281
Malone, NY
That's the thing- I am only going to use the scanner on VHF low, 46.3800 to be precise. That's why I am asking about dual antennas. I can talk on the highband frequencies but I can't talk on the lowband frequencies so I am going to use the scanner for listening to that one channel.
 

Respondcode3

Member
May 23, 2010
1,936
Northen Il USA
OK.. My suggestion is the NMO with the VHF on the roof. The Low band on a fender mount with a Low band base loaded antenna. Its a pretty common set up as the whip for the lownband is almost 3 ft long. Unless you really want to roof mount the long whip.
 

Radio Tech

Member
May 27, 2010
39
Vermont
For your scanner, you'll probably be able to get away with a second VHF NMO style whip. While it wouldn't be ideal for TX on low band, a scanner will use just about anything connected to it as an antenna without too many issues.


Get yourself a normal VHF 1/4 or 5/8 wave antenna for the VHF-Hi radio.
 

tnems7

Member
May 21, 2010
407
USA Nashville Tennessee
Respondcode3 said:
OK.. My suggestion is the NMO with the VHF on the roof. The Low band on a fender mount with a Low band base loaded antenna. Its a pretty common set up as the whip for the lowband is almost 3 ft long. Unless you really want to roof mount the long whip.

I agree with this concept, and we did it back in the 1970's. This was a pretty common set up using a base-loaded low band antenna. We used this method for cross band communications among several emergency response agencies, including rescue squad (37.90 MHz) and ambulance service (47.50 MHz) when High-band radio systems were being integrated. I used drilled antenna mounts (Antenna Specialists, popular before NMO became the standard.) I could receive their low band signals, and on a high band receiver, they could listen to me and surrounding counties on 155.205 MHz).


Also, turn off the scanner when you transmit. Even though you don't have high-band VHF frequencies in the scanner, you may overload the front end receiver in the scanner receiver when you transmit and desensitize the VHF high band for future use. We used to get an RF switch that was made for muting car radios when a CB radio was keyed, but it worked on our systems as well.
 

70 cutlass 442

New Member
Sep 17, 2010
7
WI
Respondcode3 said:
OK.. My suggestion is the NMO with the VHF on the roof. The Low band on a fender mount with a Low band base loaded antenna. Its a pretty common set up as the whip for the lownband is almost 3 ft long. Unless you really want to roof mount the long whip.


I like this idea, and have plans to do a similar setup on my truck, except with a UHF antenna on the roof, and a 3db VHF whip on the fender. antenna farm should have everything you need, fender style nmo mount as well as the through roof nmo mount... just need to select the appropriate whips then!
 

philyumpshus

Member
Jun 20, 2010
1,281
Malone, NY
I ended up buying two identical whips for VHF high. I couldn't find a low band whip with as spring mount and if it doesn't work I can easily sell the antenna and get something else.


Thanks for the tip about turning off the scanner.
 

Forum Statistics

Threads
53,962
Messages
449,805
Members
19,102
Latest member
Hilux01

About Us

  • Since 1997, eLightbars has been the premier venue for all things emergency warning equipment. Discussions, classified listings, pictures, videos, chat, & more! Our staff members strive to keep the forums organized and clutter-free. All of our offerings are free-of-charge with all costs offset by banner advertising. Premium offerings are available to improve your experience.

User Menu

Secure Browsing & Transactions

eLightbars.org uses SSL to secure all traffic between our server and your browsing device. All browsing and transactions within are secured by an SSL Certificate with high-strength encryption.