Magnet mount vs Trunk lip mount

[xpawel15x]

Is one mount better than the other? I think the trunk lip mount has better ground because the trunk has good metal to metal contact with the screws as opposed to a magnet that justs "sticks on". Which is the better method to mount an NMO antenna on a car? What do you guys think?

 

[FFPM571]

By far the best is to drill a hole. But if given the alternitve. The trunk lip will work many times better You have a better ground and wont risk loosing it to vandalism or other means.

 

[tatanka01]

Mag mounts work fine -- ran a Larsen NMO for many years on 2 meters and 440; worked great!

BUT, they do have their drawbacks. Once on Field Day, a nephew of mine decided he wanted a closer look and dragged the mag mount across the roof of the car, leaving a nice deep 2' scratch. And yeah, easier to steal, etc.

A mag mount is my last choice these days, but not because of performance.

 

[W9WSS]

Mag mounts work fine -- ran a Larsen NMO for many years on 2 meters and 440; worked great!

BUT, they do have their drawbacks. Once on Field Day, a nephew of mine decided he wanted a closer look and dragged the mag mount across the roof of the car, leaving a nice deep 2' scratch. And yeah, easier to steal, etc.

A mag mount is my last choice these days, but not because of performance.

In my 40+ years of owning motor vehicles and driving, I have NEVER had a vehicle lose it's value because of NMO mounts drilled into the roof, trunk, or otherwise. Matter of fact, I've had a demand for my cars from radio enthusiasts because they DID have antenna mounts, cables run, etc.

Car dealers haven't devaluated my other vehicles on trade-in because of mounts, rubber hole plugs, or otherwise where I had radios or antennas mounted. I did have someone mention where I had a magnetic mount which I never really liked; it took off part of the paint and the finish, and had remnants on the weather stripping where the coax came into the interior of the car.

Bottom line for performance? DRILL THAT HOLE, dump those magnetic mounts and enjoy your communications equipment when installed properly.

 

[popnokick]

Don't throw out the mag mounts entirely. Some advantages:
- Can instantly be mounted in the center of the rooftop for omnidirectional pattern
- Can be instantly moved to different locations on the vehicle and tested with your RX and/or TX to find the optimal mounting location for something more permanent
- Unlike a permanent mount, will "break away" if you forget to the remove the antenna when you drive into your low clearance garage (I found this out the hard way with a permanent mount tearing a hole in my roof)
- Goes with you to another vehicle, and can be optimally mounted for performance
- Totally invisible if you take it off the roof when you park the car (anti-theft attracting)

 

[tatanka01]

In my 40+ years of owning motor vehicles and driving, I have NEVER had a vehicle lose it's value because of NMO mounts drilled into the roof, trunk, or otherwise. Matter of fact, I've had a demand for my cars from radio enthusiasts because they DID have antenna mounts, cables run, etc.

Car dealers haven't devaluated my other vehicles on trade-in because of mounts, rubber hole plugs, or otherwise where I had radios or antennas mounted. I did have someone mention where I had a magnetic mount which I never really liked; it took off part of the paint and the finish, and had remnants on the weather stripping where the coax came into the interior of the car.

Bottom line for performance? DRILL THAT HOLE, dump those magnetic mounts and enjoy your communications equipment when installed properly.

Oh, I largely agree, Will. Drilling the hole IS the right way to go. But there are lots of reasons to not discount the mag mount. They're easy to put up, portable, etc. And like I said, performance is largely a non-issue. It'd be the last choice here for anything permanent, though.

A lot of newer cars use molded headliners -- a real pain to remove and reinstall (compared to the old fabric design). I'm going to use a trunk-lip mount just for ease of installation (this is for a scanner). Should the day ever come that I want to tackle the headliner, I'll put in at least two NMO mounts.

 

[jackj]

Is that so?

In my 40+ years of owning motor vehicles and driving, I have NEVER had a vehicle lose it's value because of NMO mounts drilled into the roof, trunk, or otherwise. Matter of fact, I've had a demand for my cars from radio enthusiasts because they DID have antenna mounts, cables run, etc.

Car dealers haven't devaluated my other vehicles on trade-in because of mounts, rubber hole plugs, or otherwise where I had radios or antennas mounted. I did have someone mention where I had a magnetic mount which I never really liked; it took off part of the paint and the finish, and had remnants on the weather stripping where the coax came into the interior of the car.

Bottom line for performance? DRILL THAT HOLE, dump those magnetic mounts and enjoy your communications equipment when installed properly.

How many of your cars have been leased? How many company-owned cars/trucks have you put holes in? A mag-mount may not be the best way to go for performance but it might just be the only viable option some of us have.

 

[mrweather]

Given the choice I would go with the lip mount. It's mechanically stronger and (somewhat) provides a ground connection to the car sheetmetal. A mag mount is not secure and barely provides capacitive coupling to the sheetmetal.

About the only advantage I see with a mag mount is the ability to deploy and take down quickly. It's an ideal solution for a temporary situation.