Antenna Mounting

After quite a bit of searching and no luck I figured I'd ask the group!

Where do you guys mount your antennas? I ordered an MXT275VP4 with a ghost antenna. I want to mount it on the hood to minimize how much wiring I have to mess with. (I realize this is not a perfect location... but from my understanding it should still work well enough)

I pulled this image from midland's website. Does the Ghost antenna come with this mount or will I need to buy it separately?

I do not have ditch lights or I'd buy the ditch light/ antenna mount combo mounts.




https://midlandusa.com/products/micromobile-mxta25-3db-gain-ghost-antenna

 

If I could I would 100% fix it at the highest point of my vehicle. Sadly it doesn't clear the garage, so I install it on the lower bar.


Me personally parking in public places here in Denver CO I would never mount it near the hood as I'm pretty sure someone will steal it as it require no tools to remove.

My previous antenna had a fixed wire and unlikely be stolen.

 

Forgot to answer this.
Ghost antenna don't come with anything. It's just the antenna. This is what I had to buy.

Antenna - https://amzn.to/4cFOcwi
Wire - https://amzn.to/4cUpfxB
Mount - https://amzn.to/3TYHBWD



If you want the universal lip mount then all you need is lip mount + antenna.

Lipmount (with wire) - https://amzn.to/4cDXl8K
Antenna - https://amzn.to/4cFOcw

 

Thanks @kmeeg those are great points!

The VP4 bundle comes with those items. Although I don't think I'll be using the mount as it doesn't fit my roof rack. (LFD Cross Bars)
I am trying to avoid running wires to the roof and using wire hiders but I will if I need to.

I wish Midland would cite the mounts they show on their website. The one I pictured above is proving difficult to find.

 

A common solution is to use a ditch light bracket.

 

You can try the regular kit that comes with everything needed and see how it goes.
https://amzn.to/3PKWzwO

When you buy VP4 it adds more parts in addition to regular kit. All this time I had the regular kit. Both my install video and range test in city video is with the regular kit comes with MXT275.

 

@kmeeg Nice thanks!

How do you like it?

I'll just be using it to communicate with other vehicles in a convoy without burning through my handheld's batteries. Figured it'll be a simple solution for that.
I couldn't justify the cost of the 575 as I'm not using this system for emergencies and didn't need the extra power. Plus I've read it has higher voltage requirements to work at the full 50 Watts.

 

IMO MXT275 have way power power than whats needed to communicate with other vehicles in a convoy. My 4Runner and my friend's jeep has MXT275s and rest of the gang has handhelds charging via USB.
I love the MXT275 as the package has everything needed. Just plug in to cigarette lighter, mount the included antenna on roof out through the rear hatch, you are ready to rock n' roll. You can even have the main unit under seat and just have the handheld piece visible. I'm very happy with MXT275.

Here's the install video from my TRD ORP. As said the basic kit have everything needed. Later I moved the main unit under driver seat.
https://youtu.be/YDXOgqfC_Ws?feature=shared

 

@kmeeg
Just wanted to follow up and say thanks for the information and the install video!

I decided to go with the MXT575 after watching your video.
Main reason being I didn't want to occupy the front 12v plug and contend with wire tucking there. (Although you did this very cleanly)
I was under the impression there was another twelve volt port in the glovebox, but there is not. And I don't really want to add one.

I'd rather just hard wire the radio to the battery and keep the entire system hidden under the dash. Minus the mic of course.

Returning my MXT275VP4 and exchanging it the the MXT575, +ghost antenna with the midland hood mount.
A little bit more cost and littler more involved of an install.. but I like the fact that it's wideband and will also transmit at a higher power.

 

That is super cool. It would have crazy power. AWESOME....!!!!!

Install ideas -
I don't have an updated video.

• But right now the main box is under driver seat.
• Mouth piece is near transmission shifter mounted horizontally. Last time it was vertical but the mouth piece is too heavy and when 3M tape gets weaken it falls off.
• Power is coming from behind the cigarette lighter, I used a wire tap to power wire and body ground.

If you decide to power directly from 12V battery, I highly suggest to add a fuse and this low battery cut-off unit. Yes I personally have this unit for my full time power line.

https://amzn.to/3xAMFHO

 

I'm about to buy the same MXT575 with the ghost antenna as well. Please share pics of the install if you can. I am a bit unsure whether I can do this job or get some help.

 

Thanks!
I'll likely have to mount the main box under the seat as well. Seems like many people can't find enough space under the dash for this unit.
Good tip on the mic. I may go ahead and utilize the two screws it comes with instead of relying on the tape alone.
The 575 comes with power cables with inline fuses. But no low battery cut off... I'll consider adding this as well in case I leave the radio on when the vehicle is off.

The biggest pain here will be routing the cables and keeping everything as clean as possible. Should be fun

 

So the 575 essentially has an auto shut off if you wire it as described in the manual. Interesting.

 

@kmeeg
Can you send over a picture how you mounted the radio under the seat?

Curious about that

 

Here's a pic before I installed the ghost antenna. Nothing different other than the antenna cable. I'm just using velcro.

 

OP it seems like you already figured out how you want to do this, but the mount you need is a basic NMO mount. If you already know you want it on the hood then the absolute most simple and probably the cheapest mount is a NMO trunk lid slip on / lip mount which mounts very well on the lip of the hood and tightens with two set screws. I have used these for years on various 4Rs and they are low profile and simple.

There's enough room at the main harness grommet through the firewall to get not only the coax through, but an entire PL-259 or similar connector.

 

@MeefZah Thanks!

That's perfect.

For clarity, which firewall grommet are you referring to here?
Can you provide a picture or describe which harness grommet works best; and will I need to cut/drill an additional hole in this grommet?

 

Those "ghost antennas" aren't very good performers, so you'd want to get them up as high as possible (on the roof). Mounting this, or any antenna below the roofline will give you distorted radiation patterns.

Ghost antennas are very narrow banded and have no gain. You'd have better performance with a 1/4 wave UHF "spike" antenna or one like this with a little more gain: EMFLX-M10003: MOBILE, 3 dB Gain - UHF 420-470 MHz - W/ Poly Spring & B – Arcadian - ArcAntenna.com.

Also, use a quality NMO mount. Midland mounts aren't that great. Buy the EMWave mount or one from Pulse Larsen.

 

This is a disjointed explanation but...

If you sit in the driver's seat and then draw an imaginary line straight down your left femur and into the dash and then the firewall, the grommet is right there. It supports a wire bundle that is like 1.5" diameter and there is a fair amount of room to the outside of that bundle to notch a hole and then poke the coax through.

 

Thanks I'll keep that in mind. I'll just be using this mainly for vehicle convoys on the trail so it I'm hoping it will work well enough. If I have trouble with midlands NMO mount, antenna, or interference I will move the antenna to the roof. Possibly upgrade the antenna as well.

For now I will keep this system as low profile as possible as it should still work well enough for my use case.

Beautiful thanks again!

 

I went that route.

 

@OP, &
1SilverRunner,
kmeeg
and others....thanks for this thread and the comments. I got some courage finally and decided to do it. I really appreciate all the comments and reviews which helped me greatly doing this job.

 

Don't take that thing through any car washes without removing the antenna. You should keep a twist on dust cap on there and only deploy the antenna while needed.

 

I'm pretty sure people who love their vehicles do not take them to car washes with brushes or those cloth strip things ones. I go to touch less car washes and didn't even remove the weaker stock antenna came with my MXT275.

 

Sorry but that sounds effete as hell after taking it to the monte and thrashing it through brush, huisache, etc. Yeah I love my 4runner but I am not going to marry it. Cloth strips are the least of your worries unless you plan on showing it at the Concourse d' Never Used in 70 years.

 

Nice! Almost exactly what i did.

Got a little creative with my sons erector set parts for the mic mount. lol

 

Hi everyone. I have the Midland Ghost antenna and the low-profile NMO cable and have some questions about mounting. I intend to mount it to a CaliRaised ditch light bracket. Like this:


The hole in the ditch light bracket is perfect for the center post of the NMO fitting.


Here’s the snag. The cable also comes with this little plastic piece. Are we calling it a spacer? Or an insulator?


If the plastic piece is a spacer, can I omit it entirely? If it’s an insulator does that mean I have to drill out the hole in the ditch light bracket to accommodate it? And if the latter is the case, do I mount it with the flange on top or on bottom?

Thanks for your help

 

It is an spacer IMO. I removed it out of mine. For as long as the antenna is properly screwed in, I don't think you will have any issues. Maybe others might have a different opinion.

 

Kudos to Midland —
Immediately after submitting my post above, I copied it into an email to Midland Support. I posted here first because one can usually get an answer to a question pretty quickly, while vendor customer support can take days or even weeks to get a reply. My question got a response from @ChessGuy in 33 minutes. (Thank you sir.) I received an automated message from Midland right away, but the actual response containing the answer to my question came just 46 minutes after I sent my email. I found that to be impressive.

The answer: It’s a spacer and can be omitted.

Midland even included this nice, well labeled and totally unambiguous drawing.

 

If you still need help please reach out to our customer service team at info@caliraisedled.com and they can assist you