Recently purchased a 2014 Toyota Tacoma and wanted to find a way to get an antenna on it for mostly monitoring the RR band. While drilling for an NMO mount was always an option, it was more of a last resort for me. Studying what I could find about the factory gps/XM Sharkfin, I found a VW antenna base on eBay that had a similar mount plus had threads for a FM antenna and decided the try a swap. I set last Saturday morning aside for the project and it wasn't a direct swap but I did get it with a few modifications. My Taco doesn't have GPS other then for the location on the near useless HD radio traffic app, so I only installed the XM antenna out of the original Sharkfin in the VW base along with running a short piece for RG-174 with a female BNC off the FM antenna contact. Dropping the headliner for the install was not all that difficult but did take some time.
After using it for almost a week with a 1/4 wave whip and a Kenwood NX-700 I can report very good results. The antenna is angled back about 35 degrees from vertical but I don't seem to notice much change to an omnidirectional antenna pattern. Hopefully this week I can get the radio installed permanently to wrap the project up.
After using it for almost a week with a 1/4 wave whip and a Kenwood NX-700 I can report very good results. The antenna is angled back about 35 degrees from vertical but I don't seem to notice much change to an omnidirectional antenna pattern. Hopefully this week I can get the radio installed permanently to wrap the project up.
