Railfan Technology > Antenna recommendations for a new car

I've had my "new" Subaru Forester for about a year now, and I'm about to put a semipermanent scanner into the dashboard cubby hole that normal people use for sunglasses and other stuff.

I'd been using a magnetic mount Railscan antenna in my old Ford Focus, but it has lost sensitivity over time. I used to be able to run the cable out through the back seat and into the trunk, then up to the trunk lid. The trunk lid gasket was good enough to seal around the cable, and not pinch the cable too much when I opened and closed the trunk.

But unfortunately the Forester has no trunk, and I'm at a loss as to where to place the antenna, and how to get the cable to it without crimping it in a window and making the window leak during rain storms.

Any suggestions?

Don't some states prohibit use of a scanner in an auto that can listen to police ?

yup, thus the reluctance to mount a really obvious antenna.

I've been pulled over twice, both times was able to show that I didn't have police frequencies entered in the scanner. If I'd been up against a real hard-ass officer, I suppose he could have interpreted "capable of" more literally. But in both cases, I was able to reason w the officer and go on my way.

It's your business, but I wouldn't put anything semi-permanent in there. Hide you portable scanner under your seat, or have an old one easier to spot that you don't care about losing to hand over to "bear" when requested. If you are pulled over for some other reason, he could create an issue of the scanner to make his day.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/08/17 12:08 by joemvcnj.

Congratulations on your new Forester, I'm on #3 but I think they had at least 9 lives each.

If you're in one of those states consider hanging a 1/4 wave antenna upside down off the rear seat safety handles above the windows. Not the best but closer to being outside is better.

There's also ways to mount an angled sheet metal from the separation between the engine hood and carbody, looks ok on large pick-ups but I don't think it's appropriate for a Subaru. I have seen that same mount used on the upper gap of a rear brake light assembly, didn't look bad at all. The CB retailers have that mount for sale for the engine hood trick, it's just angled sheet metal with screw holes and a large hole for the antenna, which could be covered with sheet metal for a smaller antenna.

The first Subaru I had used a thru-the-window mount, worked pretty good for a few seasons but was washed off by an opposing snowplow. Those don't work well with tinted windows though. Then I put a magnetic mount on the roof with the cable jammed into the rear window, not weather-tite but great reception with a 5/8 wave. Every time I went under a low overpass the antenna would scrape on the bridge and the front wheels would come off the ground.

Well ok, maybe not.

The best way to mount an antenna without police interference is to go to Ham Test Online.

milepost180 Wrote:
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> The best way to mount an antenna without police
> interference is to go to Ham Test Online.

Although it's not the "end all" answer, I do second and third this statement! Get your ham radio license, that usually trumps (heh) most state laws about scanners. BUT!! Do check with your local vehicle code enforcement just to be safe.

Regards,

-Frank C.

Frank Christ
Cloverdale, CA
FranksRails Photography, LLC.

A roof mount on an SUV like the Forester is your best bet. I use Comtelco 1511B antennas cut to the 161 mHz range on several SUV/truck vehicles--they work well and are generally short enough to fit in garages, etc. Yes, get your No-Code-Tech amateur license. While you're at it, throw your scanner in the trash and get a Kenwood TM-281A amateur mobile. It's the closest thing in radio reception performance to a high-quality commercial analog radio that is available in the amateur market. With that setup you should be stunned at the excellent performance that you will get. Leaves most of the scanner junk in the dust.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/17 07:01 by WW.

Years ago I bought a device (coupler?) that allowed me to use the car's antenna. I recall that it worked OK, but that was on a car that had an external antenna typical of cars of that era. Lots of cars today no longer use that kind of antenna.

Anyone have thoughts on this?

I no longer have the device, by the way.

colehour Wrote:
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> Years ago I bought a device (coupler?) that
> allowed me to use the car's antenna. I recall that
> it worked OK, but that was on a car that had an
> external antenna typical of cars of that era. Lots
> of cars today no longer use that kind of antenna.
>
> Anyone have thoughts on this?
>
> I no longer have the device, by the way.

Junk. Car radio antennas are poorly tuned for anything in the railroad band.

joemvcnj Wrote:
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> Don't some states prohibit use of a scanner in an
> auto that can listen to police ?

That's true, for civilians. Get yourself a 'Ham' radio
license (no code required these days) and never worry
again about a county mounty going up against the mighty
Federal Government. Curious about Ham radio? Check out
arrl.org (American Radio Rely League) for info on
getting started.

(Worked for me.)

K6KMJ, aka, John.

kg6nlw Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> milepost180 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The best way to mount an antenna without police
> > interference is to go to Ham Test Online.
>
> Although it's not the "end all" answer, I do
> second and third this statement! Get your ham
> radio license, that usually trumps (heh) most
> state laws about scanners. BUT!! Do check with
> your local vehicle code enforcement just to be
> safe.
>
> Regards,
>
> -Frank C.

Feds trump State and Local. It's in your current
constitution.

John.

WW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> colehour Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----

........ SNIP .......


> Junk. Car radio antennas are poorly tuned for
> anything in the railroad band.

Not really important for listening, but a poorly
matched antenna will quickly fry the final output
stage of the transmitter. Do the 1/4 wave or
5/8 wave and be happy with all the extra stuff
that you hear.

John.

I agree with the other posters about having a ham license to avoid any police issues. I studied for a couple of weeks using online materials and took not only the Technician class but the General class test at the same time and passed both.

I have a Kenwood TM-281 in my truck along with a Comet SBB5 dual band antenna. It's mounted on a fender-mount on my left front fender. You can buy cables pre-made that use the smaller coax for the part that goes out the hood to the antenna and the larger coax for the connection to the radio. The fender mount is specific to my truck (a Ram 1500) so it is bent the correct way to match the hood profile and attaches to one of the front fender bolts under the hood so there was no drilling or other fabrication necessary. It was all just bolt-in. If they don't make specific mounts for Foresters, you could probably use a standard generic fender mount for the antenna.

I've been very pleased with my overall performance for railroad radio scanning, and now everything stays in the truck all the time. No more messing with a magnetic mount antenna whenever I want to go railfanning!

MAB
K0MAB

Interesting info:

Mounts/Brackets only

http://www.cometantenna.com/amateur-radio/no-holes-mobile-mounts/antenna-mounts-and-brackets/

Dual Band antenna:

http://www.cometantenna.com/amateur-radio/mobile-antennas/ma-dual-band/

Good luck with your new hobby.

mopac1978 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I agree with the other posters about having a ham
> license to avoid any police issues. I studied for
> a couple of weeks using online materials and took
> not only the Technician class but the General
> class test at the same time and passed both.
>
> I have a Kenwood TM-281 in my truck along with a
> Comet SBB5 dual band antenna. It's mounted on a
> fender-mount on my left front fender. You can buy
> cables pre-made that use the smaller coax for the
> part that goes out the hood to the antenna and the
> larger coax for the connection to the radio. The
> fender mount is specific to my truck (a Ram 1500)
> so it is bent the correct way to match the hood
> profile and attaches to one of the front fender
> bolts under the hood so there was no drilling or
> other fabrication necessary. It was all just
> bolt-in. If they don't make specific mounts for
> Foresters, you could probably use a standard
> generic fender mount for the antenna.
>
> I've been very pleased with my overall performance
> for railroad radio scanning, and now everything
> stays in the truck all the time. No more messing
> with a magnetic mount antenna whenever I want to
> go railfanning!
>
> MAB
> K0MAB

Fender mounts are a good alternative if having a rooftop antenna is impractical, however, their reception tends to be somewhat directional--the hood acts as a ground plane in one direction, but not very much in the other. Years back, I had a vehicle with the antenna mounted on the driver's side cowl. If the radio signal was coming from the passenger side direction of the vehicle, I had great reception, considerably worse reception if it was coming from the driver's side. For reception, the best place for an antenna on a vehicle is to have it mounted near the center of the roof of the vehicle.

Stop fussing around and have a radio/cellphone outfit put a permanent mount on the roof! Use a Larson NMO mount and use a1/4 or 5/8 wave antenna depending on your clearance needs.If you don't need it for awhile unscrew the antenna and put a cap on it!

trkinsptr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Stop fussing around and have a radio/cellphone
> outfit put a permanent mount on the roof! Use a
> Larson NMO mount and use a1/4 or 5/8 wave antenna
> depending on your clearance needs.If you don't
> need it for awhile unscrew the antenna and put a
> cap on it!

Good advice . . . That said, while I've used a number of Larson antennas, Comtelco (which I believe has been absorbed by another company) and couple of others also make good antennas. The key is to have them mounted in a optimum location on the vehicle (which the pros know how to do) and have the antenna cut (tuned) to around the 161 mHz band. I posted this some time ago, but it bears repeating:

Bad quality radio + bad quality antenna = bad reception
Good quality radio + bad quality antenna = bad reception
Bad quality radio + good quality antenna = bad reception
Good quality radio + good quality antenna = good reception

There is no free lunch when it comes to having good reception in a railfan radio.

I use a mobile ham radio with removable front control panel in my Forester. Put the panel in the glove box when not in use, works great. Put the radio under the front passenger seat - it's been there for over 14 years and no trouble with thieves, overheating or anything for that matter.

I'll probably get fried from other hams for suggesting this, but I use an on-glass Larsen 5/8 wave antenna on the right rear 1/4 panel window. Tuned for 146 MHz, but works quite well at 161 mHz. Unscrew it when not in use and throw in the back seat before going thru the car wash. Been on the window since 2003 and still holds on perfectly.

I've had 5/8 wave antennas on the trunk lid of a Honda Accord, and also used 1/4 wave antennas on the roof. Got tired of the tree limbs, low overhead parking garages and such so decided to try a compromise with the on-glass antenna on the side of the car. It works surprisingly well and I've been into mobile radio since 1976 and I'm typically quite picky about good reception. Now I don't have to even think about the antenna; just plug in the radio control panel, place in the front dash space, turn it on, and away we go.

Remote speaker in the back seat. And yes the radio/antenna setup picks up the Heds, Freds and Dups amazingly well. I know it shouldn't, but it does !

On a vehicle as tall as a Forester, I would stick with a mag-mount. One forgetful trip into the parking garage and that through-bolted Larson will look like spaghetti and your roof not much better. I just put my dual band radio in my new CX-5, and have a short dual band antenna mag-mounted on the rear hatch. It works fine, and I can screw on a longer one for trips.

Scott Schifer
Torrance, CA
TinyTrains Website