Neal Howard
Cleared for Takeoff
Somewhere out there on the interwebs, there are plans for making a dirt cheap ground plane antenna for scanners to receive the VHF aviation band. I think Jim Weir published the article.
Antenna for my Scanner?
- Thread starter Ted
- Start date
denverpilot
Tied Down
Spike, most vehicle glass has metal in or on it these days. Thru the glass antennas won't work with most of the tint types out there.
If your handheld uses BNC, just pick one of these and stick it inside (suction cup version) up high, or outside the window, the RG-174 is tiny and can handle the abuse of being closed in a window or snaked between the foam on the door and the door frame, and you can take it off when not in use.
http://www.scannermaster.com/Portable_Mounting_Gear_for_Police_Scanner_Radios_s/32.htm
They probably make a similar one for SMA connectors if you have that variety.
For just talking to ground when on the airport, the duckie on the handheld should work fine.
Technically the aircraft has a license to transmit by nature o being an aeronautical station, and your car doesn't, by the way, if you feel like looking into the legalities. Your vehicle is not offered a free pass to not have a station license like the Bo does within the lower 48.
If your handheld uses BNC, just pick one of these and stick it inside (suction cup version) up high, or outside the window, the RG-174 is tiny and can handle the abuse of being closed in a window or snaked between the foam on the door and the door frame, and you can take it off when not in use.
http://www.scannermaster.com/Portable_Mounting_Gear_for_Police_Scanner_Radios_s/32.htm
They probably make a similar one for SMA connectors if you have that variety.
For just talking to ground when on the airport, the duckie on the handheld should work fine.
Technically the aircraft has a license to transmit by nature o being an aeronautical station, and your car doesn't, by the way, if you feel like looking into the legalities. Your vehicle is not offered a free pass to not have a station license like the Bo does within the lower 48.
One of my goals here is to have the radio hard-mounted in the truck, so I don't have to futz around with grabbing and carrying the handheld - it always seems to end up in the wrong place!
My vague recollection is that the trucks like mine (and your Tahoe, perhaps?) may still have had an antenna-mounting spot on the glass by virtue of having been (at least in some trim levels) Onstar-capable. I know I have seen a number of them scurrying around with the cellular antenna glass mount in place (these days, with the mast removed, of course). Assumption: those locations had metallic tint omitted. Wacky?