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Best antenna mount?

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DTLondon

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Hello. I'm new to the CB hobby and seeking advice from saged CBers.

I'm planning on doing a permanent antenna install on my Cherokee XJ. I have a couple of heavy duty standard mounts, but lately I've been considering using NMO instead. However, I just read an Amazon review which claims NMO can't take as much abuse as a standard mount. Sounds counterintuitive to me since the NMO would spread any impacts over a wider surface area. I'd like whatever mount I have to be able to support a 108" whip if necessary (I already have an adapter stud on order I planned on putting the whip on), so obviously I'm looking to start with just about the most heavy duty gear.

Any truth to the wimpy NMO statement? Any advice for how I should start? Thanks!
 
mmckenna

mmckenna

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No truth to the "wimpy NMO" statement, sort of.

I wouldn't try to mount a 102" whip on one of those. without doing some serious bracing around the sheet metal.

However, I have run NMO's for a long time on top of full sized trucks. My work truck has two antennas on the roof, and they've hit a lot of tree branches on access roads. This was a new Ford F350, so aluminum body, to boot. No issues at all. They haven't pulled out, they haven't deformed the aluminum, no other issues.

When I used to have a CB in my truck, I always ran Larsen NMO-27 antennas. While not as efficient as the full 102" whip, they work quite well. Mounted in the center of the cab roof, I never had any issues getting the SWR down to the 1.1:1 range. Performance was good, no amplifier.

If running the full 1/4 wave whip is your plan, you'll likely want to go with the 3/8x24 mount on something better than just sheet metal.
If using a base loaded antenna will work, then absolutely, go with the NMO mount.
 
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prerunner1982

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The Larsen NMO-27 would perform well on the roof. I wouldn't worry about reinforcing the roof, though you could put another piece of metal on the underside if you are worried.
I run a 1/2 wave 2m antenna (36"+ tall) through the roof on my 93 XJ and hit the antenna on tree limbs daily, never had a problem. I also run a 102" whip on my XJs using a taillight mount and it has worked well also. Though the signal will be skewed due to being offset to one corner of the vehicle enough of the antenna is above the body that I never had a problem with SWR. I run my 20m and 40m hamsticks on the same mount and have worked the world with them.
 
mmckenna

mmckenna

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Yeah, I agree. If you go with the NMO-27, no reinforcement needed. Only reason I suggested reinforcement was if you were going to use an NMO <-> 3/8x24 mount with a 102" whip.

The NMO-27 and similar antennas are base loaded whips. The whips are very flexible, even without a spring. You can add a spring base if you wanted, but I've never needed one on a street vehicle.
Looking at the photo you posted, the stock NMO-27 and the similar variants would not have an issue with that.

If you wanted to reinforce the roof, a piece of plate steel with a hole in the center on the underside of the roof would help distribute the load, however you'd also need to step up to an NMO mount that was designed for thicker roof tops. They make and sell them, but the standard ones are designed for vehicle sheet metal, not much else.

I've beat these antennas pretty hard off road. I used the NMO-27 for a years without issue. I've run a lot of similar antennas on different vehicles and never had any issues, including hitting low parking garages, tree branches, etc.
Off road, I have a Polaris Ranger. On the top of the roll cage, I have a 1/2 wave VHF antenna mounted. It has the base spring to help with the higher speed branch strikes, but I don't think you'd need that unless you were running off road really fast.
 
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