Base radio antenna?

[firefighter2000]

Im trying to put together a small base radio for our department. If I set it up, inside the station, can I use just a regular vehicle mount antenna attached to a pole outside the station. I have the vehicle antenna/NMO mount that I can put on a pole. Just checking to see if this would work for minimal use, or if I need to do something a bit more elaborate.
Thanks
Craig

[HLA]

if you use that you will need to add a ground plane to it. is it vhf or uhf? if it's vhf in situations like that i usually get a marine boat antennae, they are around 8 feet long, all fiberglass and weatherproof, and don't need a gound plane, and they will take all the use you want, and it screws right on the top of a pipe. price for one is around $35.

[tvsjr]

Personally, I'd buy something like a Maxrad fiberglass stick... you can get a unity-gain VHF stick for ~$75. It's designed for the purpose you intend to use it for, it's easy to mount (couple of stainless steel pipe clamps and clamp it onto the pole you've got sticking up), and is appropriately waterproofed.

http://www.tessco.com/products/displayP ... ventPage=1
$75.68 my cost. Grab some LMR400, the appropriate N-Female to crimp on the end, some RG58 for the jumper (coax-->radio) inside the station, and you're golden. All said and done, depending on your coax length, $125-$150 complete.

Say what you want about cheap Maxrad products - some aren't so great, but I've got quite a few of their fiberglass sticks in service with good results.

[JD]

COMTELCO makes a great VHF base antenna, will last for years and it is around $290.00. Check out their web site.

[Stage 2]

For a temporary setup, you can use your mobile antenna provided you get a ground plane kit as mentioned in the post above. I actually have one in use now myself. http://www.advancedspecialties.net has these kits which can be used for either UHF , or, VHF. They have both NMO and, UHF type mounts for their kits. Cost is 29.99 plus shipping although I'm sure you could find other sources for possibly less out there. My application is in UHF with an SWR of about 1.2 to 1. I'm using a Motorola Spectrum with an NMO mount for the antenna. Temporary though, is the key word here. While I am not familiar with all the brands of antennas mentioned above, I am familiar with Comtelco. They might cost a bit more,but, their quality as well as durability make them worth it. However, if you want to look at Comtelco, then I suggest you look for them at http://www.rfwiz.com/ They sell the full line of Comtelco products,but, at a considerably lower price than what Comtelco sells directly for. For instance, the 4.5 dBd UHF antenna I am going to purchase is $304.50 on Comtelco's website. I am going to get the same Comtelco antenna from rfwiz for $189.00. A pretty good chunk of change to keep in my pocket IMHO. Regardless of which choice you make, a genuine base antenna along with a good lightning arrestor is your best bet especially considering your application.