LiveATC Discussion Forums
Air Traffic Monitoring => Listener Forum => Topic started by: Lezam on June 18, 2006, 17:13:54 UTC
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Has anyone had any experiences with inexpensive car antennas (Less then $35)? Good? Bad? All coments appreciated...
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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.
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You dont attach it to the outside of your car right?
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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.
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Would that one make a difference if its in the car on a highway or not?
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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! :)
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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.
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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.
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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