WA Radio Scanner Users' Group

What is the difference?

Well ... nothing actually

A whip is just one type of antenna, and probably the sort that you're most used to seeing when you think of "an antenna".

It's usually a thin metal rod, sticking up vertically from its mounting point (be it a car, a building, or whatever...)



There's a whip antenna on a four wheel drive as an example...

But they're not the only kind of antenna out there. The TV antenna on the roof of your house isn't a whip, for example, but it's still an antenna.





And so on ... there's a wide variety of different types of antenna, each one works slightly differently, some are better for some uses and others are better in other ways.

Hope this helps

cheers
i watched a clip on youtube and there was a guy who said there was a difference?
any idea?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip_antenna

LMWTFY

this is the clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r32FiZrX84c

I assume you mean at about 50 seconds where he says "it's not an antenna, it's a whip", as if that makes it somehow magical and special

He really doesn't appear to know what he's talking about. It's a whip antenna, yes. But the two that he's taken off (that he shows at the beginning of the video) are also considered whip antennas.

Will a longer antenna give better performance than the one he's taken off his ute? Possibly - it all depends on the construction of the antennas themselves, their radiation patterns and a whole bunch of other stuff.

I think he's just going from the theory that if he puts a massive antenna on his ute, it must be better. Which ... it might be. Or it might not

I would reckon just about any vertical antenna with no ground plane appendages could be considered a whip.

In that video, the two black antennas are helical whips, while the other is a solid steel whip. Both whips, though they employ different methods of construction.

I have messaged him I will give you the reply

You guys just gave me an idea ... I have a whip antenna lying on the back seat of my car ... next time someone ask me for money again at the carpark I will use it as a whip against them ... (I'm serious)

Zebedee wrote:I assume you mean at about 50 seconds where he says "it's not an antenna, it's a whip", as if that makes it somehow magical and special

That sounds like when Crocodille Dundee said : "That's not a knife ... This is a knife!"

Reminds me of...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIEVqFB4WUo

Would love one of their hats!

Zebedee wrote:I think he's just going from the theory that if he puts a massive antenna on his ute, it must be better. Which ... it might be. Or it might not

Like the ute I see driving around quite often with two marine antennae on it, one either side at the front. About 2 metres long.
(holds up pinky)

This may have been answered elsewhere but any help appreciated - other than Prestige Communication, where else can you get a scanner antenna in Perth. Want one for external use for a 93XLT for the vehicle. Thanks

Some Dick Smith stores but I think they were selling them out and not getting any more.