Manager


Manager - NA4M
Manager Notes

Reviews For: Larsen glass-mount dual band antenna

Category: Antennas: VHF/UHF+ Omnidirectional: verticals, mobile, etc

eMail Subscription

Registered users are allowed to subscribe to specific review topics and receive eMail notifications when new reviews are posted.
Review Summary For : Larsen glass-mount dual band antenna
Reviews: 31MSRP: 80 approx.
Description:
Larsen's version of the thru-glass VHF-UHF mobile antenna
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.radialllarsen.com
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00314.4
KF0W Rating: 2004-10-01
works great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my Larsen glass-mount dual band antenna from a ham friend, and it turned out to be a really nice antenna. I have made terrific contacts with it both with my handheld VX7R and later with my FT-7800. I have read some of the less than "5" comments about the antenna but they all seem to be due to a bad installation. If you read the instructions and install it according to the instructions it will perform quite well. It also looks good on the Cherokee, mounted on the rear quarter glass. I just have to remember to unscrew and remove the whip before going into garages, hi hi.
KG4SSY Rating: 2004-05-27
Nice antenna, poor customer service Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The Larsen antenna was bought for my wifes car after her Radio Shack thru the glass antenna quit working after 3 years. I read these reviews and the HRO and AES catalogs and decided to get one. I ordered one from HRO online and got it in 2 days. Read the instructions and installed the antenna. SWR was way high. 3:1 or worse. On the 440 band swr was great so was 2 above 147, but as you got closer to 145 it got bad fast. When I was troubleshooting I re-read the instructions and saw the spec chart. The spec chart is the only place I see the swr listed as 2.5:1 or better. Even the catalogs proclaim a 1.5:1 or better swr. I called HRO in Atlanta and the person I talked to was pretty rude and told me a thru the glass is better than nothing and if I didn't like the antenna to send it back , then he hung up on me.
I wrote to Larsen and got this response:

Dale,

Thank you for your email.

As it relates to the specifications for the antenna, they are stated at 2.5:1 or better. While we always strive for 1.5:1 or better, when in fact we won't make this specification, we are required by our quality system to list the actual maximum spec. Many people do achieve the spec closer to 1.5:1, but not everyone in every installation will be able to achieve that level.

The design of a dual band, glass mount antenna is such that there are compromises that must be made. In addition the extreme variances in mounting and installation are "uncontrollable" and can have very signifcant effects on the performance.

For your specific application, the performace could be somewhat effected by the "limited" ground plane, the size and thickness of the window glass, etc.

I apologize if you feel you were incorrectly informed, but the antenna's performance is within the stated specifications.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Best regards,

Laura CHAMBERLAIN
Manager - Wireless Business Area
Radiall/Larsen Antenna Technologies
3611 NE 112th Ave. Vancouver, WA 98682 USA
PH: 360.859.5028 (direct) TOLL FREE: 888.268.1149
FX: 360.944.7556
Laura.Chamberlain@radiall.com
www.radiall.com
www.radialllarsen.com

This response puzzled me. I wrote and asked for help with their product and instead got, we have your money , tough beans. My wifes car is not antenna friendly. A 2002 Camero with T-tops. The whole top of the car is either plastic or glass which is why the antenna sounded so good to me. Also the fact that she doesn't want holes drilled in her car made it more attractive. Not sure what I will do at this point but one thing for sure,I am not buying Larsen products again!
K5AD Rating: 2004-05-22
Well Made, Durable. Happy with it. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I placed the Larsen on my '95 Yukon 8 months ago. I was planning to trade the SUV in in the near future so I wanted something "non-permanent." It was installed on the driver's side near the top back corner of the rear glass with about 2/3 of the antenna projecting above the roof line.

I tested it with a AES antenna analyzer. The SWR was about 1:1.2 across the 440 band and about 1:1.5 and up in 2 meter. There was a good minium SWR of 1:1.1 just out of the 2 meter band.

Since I was only using it on 2 meters (with a Yaesu FT-1500) I trimmed the antenna 1/8" at a time until this minimum was in the middle of the 2 meter band. Took about 1.5 inches off total. Boy is that sucker hard to cut! - I was using short bold cutters and notched the blade. I think I'd use a grinder in the future.

Anyway, tuned it to 1:1.1 in the middle of the 2 meter band and it was under 1:1.2 across the whole band. On 10 watts I am able to hit the local repeater at 50 miles; I don't know anyone mobile who can do better, though several have just as good range. All quality reports have been good.

SWR on 70cm is shot, but I didn't end up with a dual bander (I got the antenna anticipating getting a dual bander, then found the FT-1500 on closeout for $100 and couldn't resist for a first mobile unit).

I pried the base off yesterday when I traded the the Yukon (goodbye old friend, 10 years of 100% satisfaction). Unlike other's results, there was zero corrosion or water ingress. I live in Louisiana with over 80 inchs of rain a year and the truck was in the weather 100% of the time, so it's not for lack of exposure.

My suggestion is to clean the glass with both alcohol and then acetone. Press the mount on firmly from one edge first so no air bubbles are trapped. Then apply pressure as long as you can. If you can rig up something to push on it overnight, all the better. It can take 24 hours for the contact adhesive to "set" even on double stick tape.

I am going to get some more double stick tape today and remount it on the new SUV. Probably will end up ordering a replacement whip from Larsen and putting in a dual bander (going to use the FT-1500 until I get the other rig delivered and installed - putting in a FT-8900).

NOTE! Be sure you install the inside "transducer" with the proper orientation - there is an arrow on the inside and outside components that _must_ align. I think this may be part of the poor results some get.

I think the Larsen is a top notch model. It's base is larger than most, so there may be better coupling through the glass.

73 and good luck
Joe, K5AD
ZS5J Rating: 2004-02-20
Good results Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have owned 3 of these antenna's over the past 8 years. My first was on a new Merc Benz, then on the back of a BMW car, and currently have one on the back of my 2003 BMW X5 SUV, and also one on the back of my 2004 JEEP Grand Cherokee. Performance is incredible - in fact my most memorable contact has been with antenna. I was driving in the merc, and heard hams 150 miles away on a repeater talking about the space shuttle about to come above the horizon. They were sitting in their shacks with 160 watts and steerable beam arrays. I changed to the shuttle frequency and heard them calling. I gave the shuttle one call and he came straight back to me. This while I was mobile on my way to do some shopping. I spoke with the astronaughts using 50 watts and my Larsen dual band on-glass. The hams with their big arrays were completely confused.
There are 2 problems with the Larsen, which is why I give it a 4. Price - fairly expensive, and it whistles when cruising the highway. Otherwise a perfect antenna.
73
John ZS5J
KG6TBT Rating: 2004-02-18
Careful! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I got this antenna to put on the front windshield of my convertable top Jeep. The only glass on the whole thing. When I read the mounting instructions they said not to mount the antenna on the front windshield! This was a limitation not stated anywhere else. Not in the catalog, not on their website. A lot of wasted time and shipping for a $80++ antenna.
The seller was good about taking it back, but I was still out the shipping charges. Expected more from someone with Larson's reputation.
AD5X Rating: 2003-06-20
Had one for 3 years Time Owned: more than 12 months.
Had this antenna for three years mounted on my VW New Beetle right rear passenger side window. No problems experienced at all. I adjusted the SWR by sliding the position of the outside piece before sticking it down.

Phil - AD5X
WA4ET Rating: 2003-06-20
works for abt a year Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I have had two of these antennas,, one I bought and one I received from larson as a warranty replacement.

I can say the antenna works great for about a year, that about how long it takes for the water to seep and trash the outside mount. I had the Same problem 3 or 4 times,, got tired of fooling around with it and replaced it with a standard lid mount antenna.

The other problem I have found is larson has made the assumption that all glass windows are the same. This is not true of course. The problem is depending on the thickness and composition of the glass, the SWR can very widely. With different thickness of glass, comes different amount of capacitance. Some sort of tuning slug is really needed to optimize the SWR by varying the capacitance or inductance.

I used spacers by varying the closeness of the inside coupling unit to achieve the optimal SWR.

But this only worked until the water leaked in the outside base unit and destroyed it. They need to either incorporate drains in the out side unit, or seal it better.

Oh another thing,, the center loading coil, get used to it whistling at highway speeds,, it is so obnoxious,, I put tape on it so I could think straight


lIKE I SAID, it really worked good for a 1-1 1/2 years every time

DAvid
KF4WXM Rating: 2003-03-03
Nice Antenna Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have had the Larsen dual band glass mount on my car for a week know and I have to say that I have been really impressed with its performance. It easily out recieves the Comet SBB2NMO that I had magnet mounted on the roof. It at least equals the Comet transmitting, which is pretty impressive for an antenna that isnt even touching the metal body of the car. My only complaint was the cost. $80 is a bunch for a glass mount antenna but if it works well and doesnt mess up my paint then I guess it is worth it. If you need a glass mount I can honestly say this one works.
W6NR Rating: 2002-11-26
Works great Time Owned: more than 12 months.
This antenna performs well, is easy to mount and is very stealthy. In addition, if you happen to accidentally break off the swivel, Larsen will send you free replacement parts just an easy phone call away.
K9GLN Rating: 2000-08-26
Great/Rugged Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I put a Larsen Glass Mount on my Pickup truck nearly one year ago and it has worked great.I wanted an antenna that worked w/o holes.I have a Larsen NMO trunk lip mount on my car. I have an Alinco DJ195 5WT HT that I switch between vehicles. I have not noticed any difference between the signal quality between the two antennas. (Both work great) The glass mount is very rugged and the daily garage in and out (thunk/bend over) has not bothered it at all. SWR is negligible. I'm 100% satisfied.