Hello. I have a Jeep Wrangler JK. I currently have a CB installed with the current configuration:
I've been mostly okay with it's performance on trails, but when I'm on the road, I have to be less than a mile away from others before we can have a conversation.
Additionally, a lot of the off-road community is shifting over to GMRS and I'd like to run both as efficiently as possible.
I've been eyeing the new Midland MXT275 MicroMobile, and would likely pair it with their MXTA26 6 dB Gain Antenna.
Additionally, I've been toying with the idea of re-doing the CB install, and running the antenna to the hood area, and getting a taller (4ft) Firestik to match. Additionally getting rid of that 12v adapter and running power straight to the battery.
Questions!
1) If I mount the GMRS antenna on driver's side, and the CB antenna on the passenger side, is that far enough away from each other to prevent problems? Do I need to also calculate in the proximity to the FM radio antenna?
Yes, that's far enough away.
As for the FM radio antenna, that will likely be an issue with GMRS. When you transmit with the GMRS radio, it's going to overload the FM radio. Likely won't damage anything, but will blank out the FM radio reception while transmitting on GMRS. Ideally, you do want separation between the antennas, not only to prevent desensitization of the FM radio, but to also prevent it changing the radiation pattern of the UHF/GMRS antenna.
I'd recommend putting the CB antenna on the same side of the Jeep as the FM antenna. CB is going to be running 4 watts or less, and less likely to cause desensitization of the FM radio. Move the CB antenna away from the FM antenna, too. Putting it closer to the front of the hood will help.
1b?) I've also read about guys removing the
hood bumpers and instaling antennas here. I don't think I can fit a GMRS antenna here, can I? if I could, are these two close if I put CB in one, and GMRS in the other?
I suspect that would work, however….
1. Putting a transmit antenna that close to the passengers is not ideal. CB, being 4 watts, isn't a big issue, but the higher power used by the UHF/GMRS radio would require some additional spacing. It's not the end of the world, not going to give you cancer, but ideally you want it farther away.
2. It's not uncommon to have metallic film in some window tinting. If your windshield has any tinting at all, it my reflect a lot of signal and create more issues.
3. Consider clearance when you open the hood.
4. Coax on the underside of the hood will be exposed to a lot of heat. Likely not an issue, but again, not ideal.
The mounts I'm looking at are
fender/under hood mounts. I'd have to drill it out to 3/4" for the GMRS NMO type mount.
You can get mounts like that with the 3/4" hole in them already.
Issue is see is that having a UHF antenna down that low is going to impact performance. For UHF, you want the antenna up high and in the clear for best performance. Sticking it down at hood level is going to impact performance. Issue is, with a Jeep, there are not a lot of options. Some have mounted 1/2 wave UHF antenna off the top of the windshield with a 90º bracket. The 1/2 wave antenna will deal with the lack of ideal ground plane a whole lot better than the other options. But then you have to deal with coaxial cable routing, etc. Catch 22 situation. Jeeps are hard (not impossible) to properly install antennas on.
2) While this is used recreationally, I appreciate using quality parts / accessories. Are there better or recommended coax cables other than the Firering or the Midland NMO cables I should look at?
In fact, broader, are these antennas recommended, or even the mounts?
Here's what I'd suggest:
The Midland GMRS radios are OK, not great, but OK. You can do better, but it's a bit difficult to do right. Most of us that use GMRS (I did for a long time) used repurposed UHF commercial radios. Better radio, more options, more durable. Midlands are sort of low tier radios, not much better than the cheap walkie-talkies. Yeah, they have more power, but they also have some drawbacks. Technical stuff I won't dive into right now.
A good commercial radio that has the -required- FCC Part 95 certifications, will work better and allow you to program them up exactly as you want.
But then you are adding a complexity of having to program the radio correctly. Programming commercial radios is not something for the newcomer.
I'd say try the Midland and see how it works. If that is what all your buddies are running, it might be a good approach.
I'd skip the Midland brand NMO mounts. Likely they are relabeling Chinese crap products. You can do better.
For the NMO mount, use this:
Larsen makes high quality antennas and mounts. That's what they do. I've been running Larsen for 30 years, no issues.
Since these NMO mounts are designed to go through the roof of the vehicle where the cable connection point is inside, you need to take some precautions if you are mounting it off a hood bracket. Where the coaxial cable enters the mount, slide a piece of marine grade heat shrink tubing over it. Heat it up to shrink it around the point where it attaches. This will keep water out. Water and copper will corrode, and if you use the exposed NMO mounts, you will eventually have a failure.
That NMO mount has no connector on the end. You want to cut the cable to the exact length you need to run from the antenna mount to the back of your radio, with a few inches of slack. No more, no less. All coaxial cable has some amount of loss, and bundling up all your excess coaxial cable is just a waste and will impact performance. You'll need to install a connector, but likely you can find someone locally that can assist.
Again, I'd recommend not putting the antenna down at hood level. It's going to impact performance. But, since you may not have any other options, here are some mounts that will work:
If you can do the windshield frame mount, you can use one of these:
As for the antenna,
Again, stick with the name brand stuff. Larsen is a proven performer and stands behind their products. Laird is another good name.
Avoid Tram, Browning, Comet, and Diamond. Those are all hobby grade antennas and not what you want hanging off a trail rig. You may save a few bucks in the short term, but you'll be replacing those in short order. Tram and Browning are specifically Chinese made knock off antennas. You've no doubt put a lot of work into setting up your Jeep with high quality durable components. Don't cut corners when it gets to the communications.
As for CB….
The Firesticks are good, but heavy antennas. One option you may want to consider is to go with a similar Larsen CB antenna. It'll use the same NMO mount. The whips are very flexible and will stand up to a lot of abuse. I'm still using the same Larsen CB antenna I purchased 30 years ago.
