Batboard

i was wondering if there are any antennas out there that are not so noticable or short enought that you could hide under a toneu cover. i like a stelth look and looking to have 3 radios in my truck 33.xx ?159.xx? and 450.xx ranges. the uhf is not bad but i know that the other two have longer antennas. just wondering about this and any ideas would be great thanks alot.

smitty

There is a license plate antenna out there somewhere that can be ordered in multiple bands, but I'd imagine it doesn't work that great.

there is an antenna that replaces the stock radio antenna
I've seen it but I'm not sure what its good for replacing.

The stico's that replace the existing antenna would be fine for vhf and uhf but I don't think you are going to find anything short of a nmo 1/4 wave base loaded for the lowband.

It will still be at least 30" long.

I have had success with lowbands on spectrum base loaded antennas but I don't think there is anything "low profile" for lowband.

The Stico work great, but pricy and they take awile to order.

"Stealth" and "low band" are mutually exclusive.

va3wxm wrote:"Stealth" and "low band" are mutually exclusive.

That's basicly what it amounts to. I had to put a 'low profile' low band antenna on our new rescue due to it's height compared to the overhead doors. It's a similar concept to the UHF & VHF low profile antennas. The difference being UHF/VHF/800 low profile antennas look like upside-down salt shakers while the low band model looks like an upside down sause pan.

Sti-Co does make a low band antenna to replace your am/fm. It is not very wide banded. I have seen them on some local county cars in my area. They had to back and be retuned by Sti-Co. So put one window mount for VHF/UHF and then a Sti-CO for the am/fm. You are covert as you are going to get with 33.XX. Good luck.
Radio Kid

actually.... I think most people would see a LB 1/4 wave and think it's a CB antenna..especially on a pickup truck..just make sure to mount it square in the center of the roof... I dont think that'd be a problem...

At 33MHz a quarter wave will be rather large for the roof. But the CB look-alike idea might be your best bet. Any of the low band base loaded whips will fit that bill.

Good luck.

lol..sorry.. I meant a baseload 1/4 wave...... lol.. I can just see a 90+ inch SS whip flowing in the breeze.....reach 70 and it rips itself out of the roof...

what would happen if i put an antenna in the bed under the bed cover

I used to know someone who had a 102" CB whip under a bed cover. They basicly mounted it sideways, in a "U" shape, with the feed point and tip both on the drivers side of the bed, and the center of it tied with string to the passengers side to hold it up. It was horizontal, and I'm not sure how good it worked, but I think he used it mainly for RX.
You could try to just mount it in the center of the bed, and make a upside-down "U", running it front to back, and maybe get dectent signal.

A thought.... With a vector network Analyzer, a PI matching network for the low band of intrest, you might be able to use the Hood as a antenna.
Kind of like a big patch antenna. I can't tell you what all that RF might do to the computers and sensors under the hood. Another thought is to use or develope a luggage rack antenna. I do know that a while back there was a 27 Mhz antenna for van roof tops. It looked like a chrome loop near the back, like a luggage rack.
Barring that, go with a Stico for Lowband and use a dual band glass mount
Cel-Phone look alike for the V and U.

mm

I agree - go with the STI-CO antenna. It will handle LB very well. My past experience with the antenna has been outstanding. Their leadtimes have improved greatly and their quality is worth the price.