Batboard

I am trying to find a "bag phone" style antenna to use on a P25 mobile radio. We are converting from an 800Mhz system to a 700Mhz system and will need to swap out some antennas. Not sure if there are any out there. Does anybody know where I can find some or can give me some recommendations as to what type to get. I do not want to have coiled up cabling right behind the radio with a standard mobile antenna. I am looking for something similar to this.



This was the close I could find to what we currently have.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Isaias

Your objective is not entirely clear, but the best source I've found for oddball and strange antennas of all kinds is Tessco Electronics in Baltimore. The variety and total number of antennas in their catalog is mind boggling.

Bag phone antennas like that were popular cellular accessories & thus easy to find & use with 800MHz trunking radios. Since cellular wasn't, and isn't, used in 700MHz, the likelyhood of finding one made for 700MHz is slim. Not to say they don't exist, but a quick check with several of our suppliers' websites turns up nothing.

I suspect you'll find very little practical difference using them in 700MHz, as opposed to their performance in 800MHz. The 1/4 wave stubby antenna available for the XTS portable radios to use in 700MHz is the same it's always been for 800MHz, although there is a 'dual band' offering for the 'standard' length antenna.

The other option is to use a mag-mount with a nice low-profile 1/4 antenna and cut the cable to a desired length.

Tom in D.C. wrote:Your objective is not entirely clear, but the best source I've found for oddball and strange antennas of all kinds is Tessco Electronics in Baltimore. The variety and total number of antennas in their catalog is mind boggling.

He means for a control base setup I think. I too would recommend tessco, they don't have any 700 mhz antenna that look good at the moment, but I would try to get a 90 degree sma male to mini uhf male adapter, or two adaptors to make that combo and slap a xts series 7/800 whip on it

Batwings21 wrote:

Tom in D.C. wrote:Your objective is not entirely clear, but the best source I've found for oddball and strange antennas of all kinds is Tessco Electronics in Baltimore. The variety and total number of antennas in their catalog is mind boggling.

He means for a control base setup I think. I too would recommend tessco, they don't have any 700 mhz antenna that look good at the moment, but I would try to get a 90 degree sma male to mini uhf male adapter, or two adaptors to make that combo and slap a xts series 7/800 whip on it

Thanks, this is exactly the setup we are attempting, a control station setup. I may try the sma-mini adapter route. Thanks all for the info.

Isaias

Some mobile radios, when set up on a desk with an antenna connected directly (no cable) to the back of the radio do crazy things, like shut down when keyed with the PTT, so if that occurs you'll have to "remote" the antenna by a few feet.