Mobile antenna help

bobbyminchew · May 4, 2016

I'm looking to mount a 2m /70cm antenna on my 2 door jeep.

The problem, the hardtop is plastic. 3 piece top but none of its metal. So that leaves the hood ([emoji85] ) or some other type of aftermarket or home brew mount. Not sure there will be enough metal for proper grounding.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

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prcguy · May 4, 2016

I can't remember if the Jeep hardtop has any headliner but if your willing to drill a hole in the top you can make a ground plane with some self adhesive 3" wide aluminum tape from Home Depot.

Drill the hole for the antenna then lay down some aluminum tape in an X or star pattern with about 20" of tape heading out in all directions from the center of the hole. Make sure the ground side of the antenna mount clamps or attaches to the aluminum tape and it will work great.

For anything lower in frequency than 2m the ground plane should be bigger.
prcguy

bobbyminchew said:
I'm looking to mount a 2m /70cm antenna on my 2 door jeep.

The problem, the hardtop is plastic. 3 piece top but none of its metal. So that leaves the hood ([emoji85] ) or some other type of aftermarket or home brew mount. Not sure there will be enough metal for proper grounding.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

_____________________
Semper Fidelis
Nemo me impune lacessit
Molon Labe
Nos narro pro silentium

mmckenna · May 4, 2016

I'd agree with prcguy. I did a similar install on a Polaris Ranger with a hard plastic top. Worked well.

Other option would be to find a ground independent antenna. A separate 1/2 wave VHF and 1/2 wave UHF with a diplexer may be required. The 1/2 wave designs will work without a ground plane, however they do work better with one.

Subsequent installs on other Polaris Rangers I've done have used 1/2 wave antennas with good results.

As for mounting on the hood, I have a co-worker who did exactly that. Works fine, but looks funny. Then again it pretty much matches the rest of his Jeep that has parts welded back on using two batteries, jumper cables and some welding rod.

bobbyminchew · May 4, 2016

mmckenna said:
I'd agree with prcguy. I did a similar install on a Polaris Ranger with a hard plastic top. Worked well.

Other option would be to find a ground independent antenna. A separate 1/2 wave VHF and 1/2 wave UHF with a diplexer may be required. The 1/2 wave designs will work without a ground plane, however they do work better with one.

Subsequent installs on other Polaris Rangers I've done have used 1/2 wave antennas with good results.

As for mounting on the hood, I have a co-worker who did exactly that. Works fine, but looks funny. Then again it pretty much matches the rest of his Jeep that has parts welded back on using two batteries, jumper cables and some welding rod.

Sounds like my kind of welder!

_____________________
Semper Fidelis
Nemo me impune lacessit
Molon Labe
Nos narro pro silentium

bharvey2 · May 4, 2016

Based on your description, it sounds like a hood mounted might be your best bet especially with a 1/4 wave antenna. Some people mount it to the rear door but you might find that you have matching problems.

N2AL · May 4, 2016

I have heard of people mounting an antenna to the spare tire at the rear of the vehicle. My neighbor did that and it works well for him. Those mounts are sold online.

Andrew | N4AWL
www.n4awl.com

SteveC0625 · May 4, 2016

bobbyminchew said:
I'm looking to mount a 2m /70cm antenna on my 2 door jeep.

The problem, the hardtop is plastic. 3 piece top but none of its metal. So that leaves the hood ([emoji85] ) or some other type of aftermarket or home brew mount. Not sure there will be enough metal for proper grounding.

Any suggestions? Thanks.

All the Jeep/4x4/off road aftermarket companies offer lots of different antenna mounts, most are specific to the Wrangler style Jeeps. I'd check out some of them first.

There's also some Jeep specific off road forums with good discussions on this, too.

A quick google or yahoo search should turn up plenty of both.

NDRADIONUT · May 4, 2016

1/2 wave no ground plane antenna....

SteveC0625 · May 4, 2016

If you think you want to mount the antenna on the roof and fab up a ground plane, there are several other methods besides the aluminum tape. If there's anything resembling a headliner, you can drop that and then use metal (copper if you can get it) window insect screen for a ground plane. If I was doing that, I'd turn the whole underside of the roof into a ground plane.

bobbyminchew · May 4, 2016

Good info guys. Thanks

_____________________
Semper Fidelis
Nemo me impune lacessit
Molon Labe
Nos narro pro silentium

Mobile antenna help

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