Communications Support Forums

So yesterday I was in Federal court watching a friend take a 2 year plea deal. The bailiffs at the metal detector had VHF XTS2500's, & most of the radio traffic was the US Marshals getting the prisoners into the courtroom to see the judge. The VHF radios had short antennas, about 3" long, & 1/2" dia. Not the 8" wideband antennas. These short antennas remind me of the elusive VHF Visar antenna. Has anybody had any experience with these antennas? I'd be interested in a few if they work well. By the way, don't steal $347,000 from your employer. GARY PS, the antenna looked like the one on this radio.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Motorola-XT...036?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item541aa96574