Hidden 2003 Impala Antenna

radiotekk · Post by **radiotekk** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 11:26 am

I was wondering if anyone out there knows of a source for a discrete hidden antenna for a 2003 Impala. The do not have a whip AM/FM antenna so the Sti-co is out the window. I am prefering on not adding any visible whips.

Thanks,
Mark

USPSS · Post by **USPSS** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 11:50 am

You might want to contact COMPROD Communications, LTD. in Boucherville, CN (Montreal) they can be found via any search engine. They may have some idea's for you, they are doing a lot of the federal government stuff as well as the RCMP now. They make the AM/FM stuff and some other neat items.

Another thing, what freq. band are you looking to hide? There are several idea's that can be done as well as some real covert stuff out there from a few guys I know from NSA.

ExKa|iBuR · Post by **ExKa|iBuR** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 11:58 am

Not to sound like a smartass, but, what about using a portable?

M

radiotekk · Post by **radiotekk** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 12:19 pm

I need to cover VHF high gand @155 MHZ The wider the band spilt the better. Portable use is not an option due to terrain (rolling wheat fields and a large mountain range).

Thanks,
Mark

USPSS · Post by **USPSS** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:00 pm

VHF is tough because of the length of the radiator needed for long range comms. 18"

You can do a loaded item for close range or high density coverage area's but you have stated that you need power based on terrain, then your only option would be the installation of (iron in the sky) you could go with the COMPROD prduct as a lot of fed's have done even when the car does not come with an antenna, or you could go with a Glass Mount with limited range and it looks funky.

There are always trade off's when you use disquise products.

What is the use of this car for?? Is it a police package vehicle??

Radio99 · Post by **Radio99** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 1:50 pm

Try http://www.licenseplateantenna.com.

This should fit your needs adequately. We are using a VHF/800 version with no problems.

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 3:50 pm

When Stan asked if it was a police package vehicle it reminded me of something a bit humorous. I was working for this PD, got into one of the
unmarked vehicles and immediately noticed it lacked a radio console. It
was a new car so I figured it didn't get to the installer yet. I'm driving about 10 minutes when I here the 2 way talking, I pull over look all under the dash and can't find the darn thing but the transmissions start again and I'm able to locate the speaker under the passenger seat. I'm really diggin now and find the control head in the glove box. I do a once around
the car, must be an antenna somewhere, can't find that either but I notice it does have grill lights. Now I'm wondering where's the switch for this ?
Well, finally found the switch in the ash tray along with a Whelen micro size siren control box. (The agency I worked for didn't have Whelen anything else so this must be a big effort to get this all together). Was really wondering why the big effort as I'm sitting behing the wheel of a midnight blue Dodge Diplomat Police Package. BTW- A couple of weeks later while jumping a curb I heard a bb-oo-ii-nn-gg from underneath the
car, there was the last part of my puzzle, a VHF quater wave epoxied upside down under the body of the car- Good Grief !

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 4:10 pm

Radiosouth, you think that's bad, I actually install these quarter waves upside down. We don't epoxy them though. We just drill a 3/4" hole in the trunk area and mount the antenna as usual but upside down. On uhf with a 110 watt radio it doesn't work too bad considering most of their towers are within 15-18 miles from anywhere they are.

KitN1MCC · Post by **KitN1MCC** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:01 pm

you want to hear something funny.
Middletown CT Pd used to have these under covers cars 2 montes and a Blue Volvo .But they stuck out like a Soar Thumb.
they all had a 1/4 havy duty antennas on the trunks and the Volvo had a hustler scanner antenna too.

Now they Got smart and just use unmarked crown Vics or there POV's

I also have seen were they install the antenna on the inside of the Vehicle righ next to the Window and it seems to work good and get a good mach to ground

RadioSouth · Post by **RadioSouth** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 5:13 pm

Yep, the rear deck is a decent spot and if your using a UHF or 800 spike
a baseball cap fits over it nicely and stays on pretty well Presto it's gone !

radiotekk · Post by **radiotekk** » Thu Feb 20, 2003 6:34 pm

Yes this is for a Impala police package vehicle. The car will be assigned to a detective, who likes to be "covert." I don't know why they buy an Impala if they want to be "covert" on stakeouts, but hey...that's what they are asking for. I just installed a Sti-co AM/FM look-alike antenna on a Taurus. It was a great improvement over the a helish job that another radio shop did. They stuck one of those window decal antenna stickers on the front windshield. There was better range with the darn portable. I'm thinking the best option is to install another Sti-co on the Impala. I doubt most people would even think anything of it. I had considered the window cell look-alike, but they are running 110 watts, and I have not been too impressed with them anyway. Does anyone have an opinion on the UNtenna "CR2A?"

Thanks,
Mark

ICEMANTIM · Post by **ICEMANTIM** » Sun Feb 23, 2003 5:27 pm

Has anyone purchased an antenna from here http://www.licenseplateantenna.com. they look like they should work good. Ther web site is not very helpful,looks like it is not finished yet. Tim

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jim · Post by **jim** » Fri Feb 28, 2003 7:04 am

The Untenna CR2A works great. With the radome, it can be mounted under the car on the bottom of the spare tire well. Seal the heck out of it, too.

As for a UHF antenna on the rear package tray.....um.....is this really a good idea to place a 40+ watt RF source right here???

I've already mounted UHF antennas inside of the grille on CVictorias and they work just fine.

F1118 · Post by **F1118** » Sun May 11, 2003 11:23 am

cant a civilian get a covert antenna ?

FMROB · Post by **FMROB** » Wed May 14, 2003 5:49 pm

This sounds weird, but tessco sells a couple of different brands of cellular look-alike antennas...I know you said you don't want to add wips, but if you have to go disguise it really looks great. They aren't completely efficient, but it might work...

F1118 · Post by **F1118** » Wed May 14, 2003 7:27 pm

3 cellular look a likes might look kinda strange on a car. Kinda defeating the purpose of the disguise. Really the low profile antennas would work ok but i'd rather have one that was invisable and a low profile and mabe a cellular look a like. Can't seem to find a vhf low profile antenna that will cover 144-146 mhz though.

Microwave Mike · Post by **Microwave Mike** » Fri May 16, 2003 1:56 pm

Any metal part can be matched and loaded for use as an antenna. It just depends on access to a network analizer, not one of those handheld toys, and time to build up a matching network.

MM

davkenrem · Post by **davkenrem** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 7:36 pm

RadioSouth wrote:Yep, the rear deck is a decent spot and if your using a UHF or 800 spike
a baseball cap fits over it nicely and stays on pretty well Presto it's gone !

how is this done, I'd like to mount my monitor antennas on the inside of my package shelf.

Any ideas?

fire-medic8104 · Post by **fire-medic8104** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 8:42 pm

I have seen them on a magmount just sitting on the back shelf with a ball cap throw on top. I think that is what they were referring to.

70351 · Post by **70351** » Thu Sep 04, 2003 9:17 pm

I especially like the part on the website that say's, "Law Enforcement Sales Only". Like a little antenna is a national security issue or something.

Whatever . . .

ExKa|iBuR · Post by **ExKa|iBuR** » Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:40 am

I've mounted VHF antennas just behind the rear bumper of a car before. Just find a decent vertical piece of metal to chop up. I did this for RX only, and it worked pretty well, so I'd imagine TX wouldn't be an issue.

I've also seen several cars with in-bumper antennas, as well as one ingenious method using some of the rear-window defroster wires to make a quarter-wave.

-Mike

Hidden 2003 Impala Antenna

Hidden 2003 Impala Antenna

Antenna

2003 Impala Antenna

Antenna

Hid an Ant.