Mag Mount Scanner Antenna works on GMRS

[NC654]

I had bought a pair of Hustler MRMBNC mag mount mobile scanner antennas months ago for my scanners, but since I was moving soon I never did anything with them. Well, I unpacked them the other day and decided to try hooking them up to my Antenna Analyzer today and see what turned up.

 

They actually did quite amazingly well on GMRS, especially on the repeater transmit frequencies. My SWR readings were in a tight range of 1.06:1 to 1.09:1 and this was without any tuning. The results were a very pleasant surprise because I thought they would have been in the barely acceptable range and would need some serious tuning, but evidently I don't need to do a thing.

 

For those who don't want a permanent install (like me) this may be a very viable and cost effective option. When I bought these, it was a pair in one auction which I won for around $18.00 +5.50 shipping. I see they are going for about $22 each on various sites around the internet, and the ones on ebay are sky-high at the moment. You will probably need an adapter from a BNC connector to whatever type connector is on your radio.

 

I have a Radio Shack scanner antenna around here somewhere and will have to check that one out next when I find it.

[sschreiber]

Have you actually tried transmitting on GMRS Frequencies with one of these antennas? If yes then what were your results, and what kind of coverage did you get? I am looking to install a mobile unit in my Jeep Patriot. Thanks.

 

Steve

[NC654]

Have you actually tried transmitting on GMRS Frequencies with one of these antennas? If yes then what were your results, and what kind of coverage did you get? I am looking to install a mobile unit in my Jeep Patriot. Thanks.

 

Steve

I have been using this antenna with excellent results. I think the reason is that it has a broader bandwidth, and is a lot taller than the little GMRS I see on ebay.

The coverage is great as far as I am concerned, I would have to say that it works just as well (probably better) than any of the comparable GMRS specific antennas out there.

And I also use it for amateur radio.

 

Your results will vary because I have mine dead center on the roof of a 2015 Tundra, but your roof is the best location and should work just as well as my setup.

One note: I did cut my cable to leave only as much as I needed to get from the roof to the radio, which eliminated about half or more cable loss which can be critical in the UHF band.