I am more into listening to fire and police, and aircraft, than CB, and I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for an antenna. I am debating between a glass mount cellular look-alike and a firestick mounted to the rear bumper. Which antenna would get me better range? Anyone have any pictures of either a CB or scanner antenna mounted to their rear bumper?? Any help would be great.

Sport,

The best place for antennas on Explorers is the center of the roof! I don't recommend using the cb antenna as a scanner antenna. It will work, but a scanner specific antenna will work better. Much depends on what frequency bands the local agencies use in your area, scanner antennas are tuned to optimize reception in these bands. The problem with explorers is they have very electrically noisy fuel pumps, which are located in the fuel tanks...near the rear of the truck. These produce static hash (a wine/buzzing sound) that really reduces the sensitivity of the reciever, and the quietest place on the car is the center of the roof. Placing the antenna near the rear of the truck, hence near the fuel pump exagerates the static problem. There has been a lot of discussion about this static problem and antenna placement here on the forum over the past couple of years, but the messages have been archived.

Good luck!