Show us your mounted antennas!

I want a temp antenna for off road camping with buddies. We do hand helds now and maybe that's good enough but I wanna get the antenna outside for a little better range / reception.

Seems like a bull bar mount would be best to get the antenna away from the the vehicle. Of course roof would be best but branches and what knot.

What has everyone done? We'd love to see it!

I would thinking about making a bracket that would clamp to where D-rings go on my bumper to avoid a bull bar clamp maybe scratching the bar. This would be temporary and only used when camping. Would love input and suggestions.

 

Unless you put the antenna up top at the highest point you will not gain much if anything over the handheld. I would use one of those short ones with magnetic mount and just stick it on the roof.

 

Nothing fancy. Just MXT 275 with stock antenna and Midland T71 inside the house.

 

I carry a portable CB in both the 4Runner and the RAV4:

$100 Midland 75-822 Handheld CB Radio & Mobile CB Radio – Walkie Talkie with 40 Channels, NOAA Weather Alerts, Long Range, Compatible with CB Antennas

Amazon.com: Midland 75-822 40 Channel CB-Way Radio : Electronics

And

$19 Bingfu CB Antenna 27MHz, Soft Whip, Magnetic Base, Compatible with Cobra, Midland, Uniden, Maxon Portable Handheld CB Radios

Amazon.com: Bingfu CB Antenna 27MHz CB Radio Antenna Soft Whip Magnetic Base CB Antenna BNC & PL259 Male Compatible with Cobra Midland Uniden Maxon President Portable Handheld CB Radio Car Mobile Radio Scanner : Electronics

 

Hi BearBio, does this antenna require a serious ground? If I use 3M tape on my spoiler like I used my GMRS antenna it would be bad? I have met with some Jeep folks in the past who use CBs. Like to add a cheap CB and maybe pay a little for tuning? Last time I met with a CB tuner he was very suborn and wanted a huge antenna.

 

I went ahead and got a MXT275 and maybe I'm over thinking it. For Temporary use I should do exactly what you're doing. I was a little worried about having pelican cases in my room rack in front of the antenna.

How is the 275? I was messing around with it in my house and it seems LOUD on the lowest volume. REALLY loud.

 

True lowest volume is little loud especially listening to weather. you can disable main unit speaker if needed so you only hear from the handheld.
I like the 275. A nice balance in power. Its strong yet I can power it from a wire tap behind the cigarette lighter. (The more powerful ones you need a dedicated wire to the battery.)

 

Not really=it's a glorified hand-held. Plugs into the "lighter" port or can use batteries. hook up to antenna and stick it on the roof. I like the mobility in case of emergency and no cell coverage!

 

I have my Midland mounted here:



And the magnetic mount with ghost antenna or 6db whip depending on my off roading on the roof. Up high is key!

 

I have the same set-up as kmeeg, but I have mine magnet mounted to my ditch light bracket which works alright.

 

I put my antenna on the gobi rack and mounted the radio in the center console just in front of the add on tray. An easy install, just needed one more KC wire hider and a single hole drilled in the front of the console.
The handset is stored in a stuff sack in the console when the radio is not needed.

 

2 radios and antennas for chasing races in Baja. I bought these for the base:

Anina 3/4 Inch Hole Mount NMO L...

$29 Anina 3/4" Hole Mount NMO L Shape Stainless Steel Bracket, 16 Feet RG58 Pure Copper Coax Cable NMO to PL259, Waterproof NMO Rain Cap for VHF/UHF/CB Ham Radio Mobile Dual Band Antenna

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFFC2CBR?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

and

PCI antennas:
https://www.pciraceradios.com/products/no-ground-plane-antenna?variant=1194047116&currency=USD&gclid=CjwKCAiA8YyuBhBSEiwA5R3-E-JSxxE4ODfDQRQ-BTW66ETeKQp52X7nDxOOHjzAqapK-QvmkZNVTxoCgP8QAvD_BwE

I just got them wired up and had problems last week programming the radios. Heading down to San Felipe next month. Hopefully everything is dialed in by then.

One of my radios is a Yaesu FT2980R and the other is a Icom IC-2730A. I ran one cable out the passenger boot (not the provided hole, the actual rubber boot) and the other out the driver side taillight.

 

i mounted my antenna in the same exact spot, do you find that the wire gets pinched a little when opening and closing the hatch?

also, did you run the wire over the weatherstripping and in or under it? I ran it under but it seems to bulge a bit in the spot where the wire crosses over to get inside

 

This thread is pretty good too. I got my pics in here.
https://www.4runners.com/threads/antenna-mounting.37639/#post-571016

 

Mine doesn't really get pinched since its a thin cable, but i did use a split wire loom cover my Comet mount that also is thin and it pinches that a bit. I did it over the weatherstripping since i was not happy with running it underneath and loosing the seal. Though i did run under the weatherstripping for my ditch lights (cut into metal to help fit), and it did effect the seal under the weather striping bad, only a slight pinch on the outside, totally fine.

GMRS backup


Ditch lights, only a slight pinch even though its a thicker wire.


2M 70CM




Comet mount with thinner end wire:


My other GMRS antenna:

 

Thanks for all the info!

this is where I put it but I may readjust how and where it enters the rear cargo area.

https://ibb.co/7t12BpT9

 

That's really fine, center of the front part of the roof is best. But that will come when you decide to upgrade your antenna for big gains.

 

Thank you. I will leave it for now.

Do you think I should be concerned with this section of weatherstripping where the wire enters? I covered in RTV just in case. I went a little heavy on the RTV just to make sure lol

https://ibb.co/KBJ5CY3
https://ibb.co/V0mPFZ95

 

That should be fine, i did similar. Just check it every year.

Eventually i was getting some leaking after ~2 years, but i just taped the entire top of the weatherstripping and no issues now. Going to redo this spring.

 

Just took some pics. Now I have the ghost antenna. The wire is way more thicker than the stock antenna. Not my taste. So far the wire does not seem to have any pinching but have scratches with hatch open and close.
Will do a detail video when time permits.

Top view -hatch closed



Rear view - Hatch closed - Already showing signs of sun burn




Top view - How antenna is mounted to roof rack -
(Due to high crime rate here in Denver I mount the antenna inside on roof rack so it's less visible and hopefully thieves won't be tempted to steal.)



Top view - Hatch fully closed




Inside view - Hatch half way closed - Can see some scratches on the wire



Inside view - Hatch half way closed -





Bottom view where the wire go inside the car - Can see some scratches but no pinching on the wire but rubber weather strip is pinched.

 

Thanks guys, appreciate the help!

 

I ended up getting myself and my buddies matching MXT 275's and we just close our rear doors on the cord and magnet to our roof or roof racks.

I was overthinking this and just looking for more projects.

One of my buddies is in law enforcement. Says he likes the 275 more than the radio in his squad car. Not a bad endorsement.

 

I just installed my radio today
Now with anyone familiar with midlands or possibly any NMO?…my ?s

I was gifted ditch light brackets by a forum member when I bought something else from him, n the intention was always to use them for antenna…I’m going to sand powder coat off
(Stock img)

Essentially the tall, skinnie threaded part fits PERFECTLY through ditch light hole n then on top of ditch light(sandwiching it) I thread the fat threaded part? So do I have that oriented correctly



second
Do I need to utilize these parts?
Spacer kinda plastic thing n then the metal tooth clamp? i turned on the radio, even without the sanded bracket, n reception was clear but i just wanna make sure i have it in the right order per say or if need to put the spacer on, meaning i drill the bracket hole a lil bigger or what?

 

Wilson 5000 magnetic to a cobra 29 ltd CB tuned by CB shop to max legal 4W power. Orientation to passenger side rear puts antenna pattern to forward slightly left into oncoming traffic. SWR 1.1 to 1

 

I’ll be installing the Ghost Antenna for my MXT275 high up on the roof rack (protected by the cargo boxes.)

 

You shoukd post this on reddit /r amateurradio should get a very quick and accurate answer

 

Yeah…N IM FRICKIN TERRIFIED OF THE MATRIX RADIO JARGIN ANSWER I’LL GET!!!

haha I’m still learning allllll the terminology; however, I feel like someone’s gonna say “dude, it’s a plastic spacer…toss it you schmuck”

side note:
I’d have to start a new thread on here just to find out how to post on Reddit…

2 side note: please someone step up n not let that happen lol

 

You're hilarious. That black thing makes me think that it insulates the antena from the car. But I don't know. The nerds in the subreddit will set you straight real quick. They'd be thrilled to help.

 

Shouldn't need to drill the bracket hole out more if it slides through. Picture of it finished?

Should be like this:

 

I have the Midland ghost antenna mounted next to my ditch lights.
My radio nerd friend told me it won't work there... Then it out performed his MXTA26 which is mounted correctly... So we agreed it worked just fine.

Sad hams are funny.