Ever forget about your antennas and drive into a parking garage?

[unixfreak0037]

I can't imagine I'm the first one to do that. I completely forgot and drove into an underground parking garage in downtown Cincinnati. It knocked my mag mount off into my truck bed, and my Larson 2m made an awful lot of noise as it hit all the overhanging pipes. I had to drive up a couple of levels like to find a place I could let the cars behind get by before I could get out and take them down.

Whoops.

At least no serious damage. Larson is a little scratched up now.

 

[canav844]

I've barely clipped the 2m antenna if the garage door is still in the process of going up as I roll into the garage but it's been a few months since I've done that. I've gotten kind of used to the Larsen CB27 clipping tree branches and the occasional parking garage or drive thru overhang but at 48 or so inches of thin wire it's got a ton of flex in it. It would also just catch the rubber lip of the garage door when it was mounted so it hasn't been on much since I've been able to get a spot in the garage.

 

[n4yek]

Bang....Bang.....Bang....
Yep, I've done that too.

 

[WouffHong]

Me too - so fixed THAT

I can't imagine I'm the first one to do that. I completely forgot and drove into an underground parking garage in downtown Cincinnati. It knocked my mag mount off into my truck bed, and my Larson 2m made an awful lot of noise as it hit all the overhanging pipes. I had to drive up a couple of levels like to find a place I could let the cars behind get by before I could get out and take them down.

Whoops.

At least no serious damage. Larson is a little scratched up now.

Now, This works: ATAS-120 and two dual-band foldovers

Wouff

 

[W2NJS]

Ah, now you all see the advantages of UHF, with a quarter wave or a doughnut on the roof of the car. I gave up on a 20 inch dualbander after I got tired of hitting sprinkler pipes in parking garages. Trunk lid mountings will solve some of these kinds of problems but I've always believed that rooftop is best.

 

[kb2vxa]

The awful BONG scrape BONG scrape BONG reminded me to change from the 2M 5/8 wave to the quarter wave before entering a high rise parking garage. Thank goodness the whip bends or it could have been a disaster. (;->) Now let's hear about the forgetful with HF antennas!

 

[Skypilot007]

I think you all need to lay off the BONG hits and remember what's on the roof of your vehicle before you drive into low parking garages

 

[FFPM571]

I cant tell you how many antennas I have reparied that have been done in by car washes, garage doors, and tree branches on police cars. One looked like a can opener tore open a roof mounted pig tail. The only fix was a trip to the body shop once it came back re-drill a new hole.

 

[kb2vxa]

Yeah, to borrow a lyric from The Animals: "Sky Pilot, how high can you fly? You'll never... never... never... reach the sky." (;->)

 

[DPD1]

Still not as bad as watching somebody drive into a garage with their hatchback up. Which I saw happen not once, but twice.

 

[FFEMTCURRENCE]

yup it happened last saturday when i went to the Caps hockey game...went intot the garage heard bang bang clunk...i thought awesome.......

 

[Baylink]

I've been back and forth about putting a Safety Devices rack on the top of my (already too fricking tall) Land Rover Discovery...

Imagine hanging *that* on the pipes.

 

[commscanaus]

Now that I have antennas on the luggage rack of my station wagon roof, I do the "Parking Garage Cringe" when entering an unfamiliar underground lot.

Even though I deliberately kept my antennas to under 19" tall (to clear my home garage door) it is still a cringe worthy experience passing under sprinkler heads, cable trays, and florescent lights.
Why do they seem to put low hanging stuff directly beneath a speed hump?

The tilt over antennas are great- but you have to get out and tilt them which is not so great with cars queued up behind you.

Back in the 80's I remember seeing a large Land Cruiser with a 9ft stainless whip going smash, smash, SMASH!! as he drove under a gas station parapet roof and took out ALL the lighting!
The attendant was left to sweep up the glassy mess in near darkness!

Commscanaus.

 

[02intlbluebird]

My vehicle is restricted to several places now that I have a permanent antenna on my roof. I can't get in my garage, can't go to the car wash, can't go in small places, and low hanging tree limbs.

I've had my Wal-Mart mag mount antenna fall off my roof several times, and the last time it came off, I broke and lost some parts on the highway so I junked it.

 

[Mojaveflyer]

Forget An Antenna When You Go Into A Garage

It's worse if you forget and go in to a car wash with mag mount antenna(s) on the roof... Makes ugly noises!

 

[MOGA]

I have had them caught on overhangs while approaching a drive through window but not in a garage. I usually step out and separate the radiating elements from their coil. Remembered to do this at the last moment on Friday going into the mall. It's very quick/easy to detach the whips from the roof with Larsen antennas.

 

[davidgcet]

i've knocked my mag mount off many times pulling in my garage. i run a dual band VHF/UHF antenna connected to my service monitor and soemtimes i forget it is there. makes a heckuva a racket when it hits the side of the truck too.

the worst people about it are ambulance drivers though. i can't tell you how many times some of them can rip an antenna off in a week. we had one guy do it 2x in one day! they pull in at Sonic and the antenna gets caught in the overhang. when they back out, it pops it right off. at least with the thick roof and thick mount it only damages the antenna itself.

the worst damage i have seen was when a guy peeled his roof back about 18". the coax pulled tight and damaged the door trim as well as the headliner. he was none too happy when i told him we could mount in a new locaiton but he would have to get a body shop to fix the rest of it!

 

[kb2vxa]

"Why do they seem to put low hanging stuff directly beneath a speed hump?"
So cars can drive over without damaging them. Now if they were ABOVE the speed bump it would be another matter altogether.

"I've had my Wal-Mart mag mount antenna fall off my roof several times..."
Had you bought a quality antenna with a strong magnet... but we'll chalk that up to a bran fart, shall we?

Thanks fellas, this site is SO entertaining even without the bong hits. (;->)

 

[KG4INW]

I haven't done it myself (yet, I suppose!) but it happened while I was in a CAP van while we entered a parking garage. Made an awful noise but luckily it was a magmount. It rolled off the side and dragged a short while but still worked later!

 

[313RADIO]

nmo150 on top of a f150... at a local parking garage with a high ceiling, the antenna only gets hit on the top. so i just hit the gas, people look, i dont care. the thing takes a beating