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Anyone found an auto antenna that isn't obnoxiously huge?

edin508

edin508

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Would love to put a radio in my truck but don't want the huge antenna that goes with it. I have to bring my truck in parking garages quite frequently for work so my options are limited. I also have a cover over the bed of my truck to lock up my tools and such so that is also limited use for an antenna. Tried the magnetic one and man does that thing look stupid on the roof of the truck, looks like something a teenage redneck would use.
 
Looking for something to work with a Kenwood-281. It's a 65 watt 144 MHz radio.
Specs | TM-281A | Amateur Radio | Communications | KENWOOD USA
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There are some dinky dimond window mounts which look invisible to the cattle. (They think you have an old school cell phone.)

I prefer 5/8ths wave whips on mag mount for some reason. Mfj is my favorite cheap stick. Have had 3-4 over the years and all work pretty well, plus are just a thin spring stick in the air.

Thinking low hanging trees is the only downside. And going in parking decks. (I hate parking decks and avoid them as much as I can )
 
edin508 said:
Would love to put a radio in my truck but don't want the huge antenna that goes with it. I have to bring my truck in parking garages quite frequently for work so my options are limited. I also have a cover over the bed of my truck to lock up my tools and such so that is also limited use for an antenna. Tried the magnetic one and man does that thing look stupid on the roof of the truck, looks like something a teenage redneck would use.
Click to expand...

This is called "how to compromise performance and drastically limit usability". With a pickup you're better off going bed rail mount though. (either diy or similar) You'll still hsve to remove or lower it though. It's part of operating. If you can't deal then don't install lol.

Instead of thinking smaller antenna most guys are like "whats the largest thing i can run in practical terms".
 
I had Larson NMO 2/440 in a geotool stake-pocket mount. I think I still have that around - I sold my pickup a few years ago. It fits the For stake-pocket.
 
On my last truck I had a Diamond K400 trunk-lip mount attached to the lip of the truck's hood. It was directly opposite the fender mounted factory AM/FM broadcast band antenna so there was some symmetry to the look. Ran the cable alongside others through an existing grommet in the firewall.

Diamond® Antenna ~ K400C Trunk/Hatchback Mount

yImKjMM.jpg


As far as the antenna goes my opinion is that anything that does not present 5/8 wave at 2 meters is a waste of time.

:emoji_satellite::emoji_tiger::emoji_satellite:
 
Drill the hole for an NMO mount and put a 1/4 wave black whip on it, you won't even notice it. You will also have the option to use a base loaded whip in the future if the 1/4 wave doesn't meet your needs.
 
I did buy an NMO mount and an antenna, but the bed cover on my pickup folds too much to be able to use it. A stake pocket mount may work, I think I need to look into them a bit further, the ones I have seen so far look like garbage.
 
edin508 said:
I did buy an NMO mount and an antenna, but the bed cover on my pickup folds too much to be able to use it. A stake pocket mount may work, I think I need to look into them a bit further, the ones I have seen so far look like garbage.
Click to expand...

Put the NMO mount on the roof where it belongs.
 
Uzi2 said:
Put the NMO mount on the roof where it belongs.
Click to expand...
Can't put it on the roof as I need to fit into parking garages for work. My pickup doesn't leave much room as is, that is why I was looking for alternate antennas and methods.
 
edin508 said:
Would love to put a radio in my truck but don't want the huge antenna that goes with it. I have to bring my truck in parking garages quite frequently for work so my options are limited. ...
Click to expand...

Uncaged fluorescent tubes in the parking garage ceiling, eh?

Piss away money on this:

K9000TM Motorized Mount

K9000_5.jpg


Even if your pickup doesn't have the moral equivalent of
a trunk lip to set-screw that onto, you can unbolt the mount's upper
from the lip base, and jury-rig it to a stake mount.

They also have them for luggage racks; you could probably strap that
to side-view mirror tubes if you can stand that kind of ugly.

drgrant said:
This is called "how to compromise performance and drastically limit usability". With a pickup you're better off going bed rail mount though. (either diy or similar) You'll still hsve to remove or lower it though. It's part of operating. If you can't deal then don't install lol.
Click to expand...

OK, but at least we've established he even operates.
So he's got that going for him.
Which is nice.

drgrant said:
Instead of thinking smaller antenna most guys are like "whats the largest thing i can run in practical terms".
Click to expand...

Go Hamsexy, or go home.

dsc01287.jpg


 
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I did see those motorized ones, can't imagine they work very well. Think I am going to look for a decent stake pocket mount and try that route. Tempted to get a long NMO connector and mount it on my bed liner with a small ground plane, I have a 5/8" thick fold-able bed cover. But if I go this route I will need to make the antenna easily removable in case I need to fold the cover all the way to the cab.
 
I've had decent luck with the Comet SBB-1. I use it as my parking garage antenna. It's a compromise antenna for sure, but it looks a whole lot better than 40" of metal coming out of the top of the truck.
 
Just wait until you want to put a HF rig in your truck if you think a 2M antenna is big.
Maybe you should be a 70cm guy. Then you can have a tiny antenna.
 
radioman said:
Just wait until you want to put a HF rig in your truck if you think a 2M antenna is big.
Maybe you should be a 70cm guy. Then you can have a tiny antenna.
Click to expand...
Won't do it, can't do it. As I said before, I do a lot of work that makes me go into parking garages. I am limited to what I can do if I want to keep working, this is flexible enough to bend out of the way when it hits the concrete above me.
 
edin508 said:
Won't do it, can't do it. As I said before, I do a lot of work that makes me go into parking garages. I am limited to what I can do if I want to keep working, this is flexible enough to bend out of the way when it hits the concrete above me.
Click to expand...

Make sure your windows are rolled up before you drive past the tollgate.

Otherwise you're gonna get a face full of phosphorus-coated/mercury-contaminated glass shards the first time you whack a naked fluorescent tube.


Also, reserve the option to put it in a stake hole at the rear of the truck. More symmetric radiation pattern without the cab disrupting the antenna. And you won't glow in the dark so much when you Push To Talk.
 
IMHO the noise a whip makes hitting the beams in a garage is terrifying. I drove my Tempo once through one of the garages at Umass hospital and I made it about 10 feet before I got out of the car and took my wilson 5K roof mount and my SG7900 off the trunk.... no thanks.

-Mike
 
AHM said:
Make sure your windows are rolled up before you drive past the tollgate.

Otherwise you're gonna get a face full of phosphorus-coated/mercury-contaminated glass shards the first time you whack a naked fluorescent tube.


Also, reserve the option to put it in a stake hole at the rear of the truck. More symmetric radiation pattern without the cab disrupting the antenna. And you won't glow in the dark so much when you Push To Talk.
Click to expand...
In the vid I saw, the guy had his mounted in the front pocket as well, and tested it in the back and didn't see any difference. Or at least not enough difference to really make note of, I am sure if extensive testing would be done there would be but not enough for me to worry about. Now I just need to find someone with a meter to help me tune it.
And this is mounted behind all my truck windows, so I will just see a cloud of dust in my rear view. Whoever is behind me might not like it, but I am a Ma**h***, so I have been trained to not care about them on the road. Same reason I don't use directionals, it's none of their damn business where I am going. :)
 
edin508 said:
In the vid I saw, the guy had his mounted in the front pocket as well, and tested it in the back and didn't see any difference. Or at least not enough difference to really make note of, I am sure if extensive testing would be done there would be but not enough for me to worry about. Now I just need to find someone with a meter to help me tune it.
Click to expand...

I can think of at least three possible consequences of placement:
  1. RF in the shack (cabin).
  2. Asymmetric radiation pattern (really both alt/azimuth).
  3. Altered antenna resonance over the band(s).
One of my favorite hack stories was from
some Yaesu FT-857 user in the UK.

He had the Yaesu ATAS-120 screwdriver antenna
on the rear of his mobile for HF.
The rig supports everything from 160m on up,
but the antenna only supports 6m-40m.

However, the guy discovered that if
he cranked the antenna to be at the end of 40m,
then watched the rig's SWR as he
slowly backed into one of the parking lot's spaces
with a lamp standard right behind it,
the antenna/lamppost system would resonate on 80m.

So he loved driving his wife downtown
for Saturday morning grocery shopping,
because then he could make contacts on 80.
 
edin508 said:
In the vid I saw, the guy had his mounted in the front pocket as well, and tested it in the back and didn't see any difference. Or at least not enough difference to really make note of, I am sure if extensive testing would be done there would be but not enough for me to worry about. Now I just need to find someone with a meter to help me tune it.
And this is mounted behind all my truck windows, so I will just see a cloud of dust in my rear view. Whoever is behind me might not like it, but I am a Ma**h***, so I have been trained to not care about them on the road. Same reason I don't use directionals, it's none of their damn business where I am going. :)
Click to expand...

As long as your antenna doesn't hit the cab while under way, it probably will be fine, but too close and you can get a capacitive effect which will f*** up your SWR etc when that thing is swinging around.

One of the best 11/10M setups I've ever seen was my friends taco with a 102" whip on the bed rail of his pickup, on a piece of AL plate and a
custom bracket attached to the bed rail right behind the window. No spring douche-ness, either. We brought the base impedance down (or is it up, I forget?) with a beta/shunt match. I really wanted to get him into an ATU but he had too much power at the time...

-Mike
 
drgrant said:
Instead of thinking smaller antenna most guys are like "whats the largest thing i can run in practical terms".
Click to expand...

This. I started with a cheap 18" mag mount from Amazon, then went up to a 24" mag mount, and now I have a 40" hard mount Comet on my work bench waiting for me to have the time to install it. It does fold just above it's base, that might be something to look at.
 
edmorseiii said:
This. I started with a cheap 18" mag mount from Amazon, then went up to a 24" mag mount, and now I have a 40" hard mount Comet on my work bench waiting for me to have the time to install it. It does fold just above it's base, that might be something to look at.
Click to expand...

That widebanded comet that covers 2M and part of the VHF business band is a nice rig... I forget what the hell its called. I have two of the damned things I can't remember what they are.

Now that I have a 2nd, beater car for the winter/commuting I really need to get back into radio... one of my Icom V8000s is begging to be
installed.

-Mike
 
Got the radio installed after work today and was listening to someone from Orlando FL and Long Island NY. Was getting the Woburn repeater loud and clear too but I didn't cue up the mic yet to see how they were hearing me. They had a detailed conversation going so I didn't want to interrupt. Had my Beofeng out there too and could also hear them on that, so far so good. Still want to have someone look at it that really knows what the hell they are doing and get it tuned.
 

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