700mhz glass mount antenna

[Tripertoo]

I have installed a 700mhz Motorola XTL 5000 in my unit but do not want to have to drill the roof to mount the antenna.
Will a window mount antenna work for this application and if so, can anyone recommend one that they have had success with?
Thank you in advance- Fred

 

[K4EET]

<snip> Will a window mount antenna work for this application… <snip>

Hi Fred and welcome to Radio Reference!

To give you the best possible answer, we would need to know what your vehicle is. For example, mounting an antenna on the rear window of a tractor-trailer rig with a 60 foot trailer in tow, radiation to the rear will be diminished by the trailer. The same would be true for a pickup truck with a camper box in the bed. You get the idea. Knowing your vehicle type would enable us to also give you some possible alternatives to a window mount installation.

I know a lot of us have practical real-world experience in this area so we look forward to helping you out.

Again, welcome to Radio Reference and I hope you will gain a lot of knowledge in our postings, both here and in other threads.

Dave

 

[Tripertoo]

Thank you for the response.
It is a F-350 with a low service body. If I mounted on at top of rear window I would think it would be above the top of the cab with nothing behind it.
-Fred

 

[K4EET]

Hi Fred, you have a decent plan then. Another possibility would be a mag-mount antenna on the service body. Actually, that is probably where I would go — — on top of the service body if it is metal. On my 1988 Ford F250HD SuperCab, I had antennas screwed on to the ladder rack frame. Dave

 

[mmckenna]

Thank you for the response.
It is a F-350 with a low service body. If I mounted on at top of rear window I would think it would be above the top of the cab with nothing behind it.
-Fred

Larsen KG-3E786UD, and have them install the mini-UHF connector for you.

Larsen KG3E786UD 786-846MHz Glass Mount Antenna

786-846 MHz Glass Mount Antenna. Features 5/8 over 1/2 wave collinear design whip with Super Flex enclosed coil. Gain (dB) 3,Maximum Power 60(Watts), Mount

theantennafarm.com

If this is a work radio, and your employer supplied the radio, I'd talk to whoever does the radio programming for them and ask them about which radio shops they recommend.
A glass mount antenna can work fine, but you have to be careful where you mount it. You cannot place it over any defroster wires, or on some tinted glass.
A good shop can install a permanent mount NMO antenna on the roof of the truck. That'll give you better performance without the mounting challenges of the glass mounts. They'll also cut the coax to length and test everything out afterwards with their antenna analyzer.

It is not hard to install permanent NMO mounts on these trucks. I have an F350 at work with a service body and 3 NMO mount antennas on it, as well as a blade LTE/GPS/WiFi antenna. Full size American pickups are some of the easier vehicles to install in.

 

[Tripertoo]

Thank you to everyone for their responses.
Our radio shop just does programming and the Motorola dealer is $130 hour with a minimum so it’s not worth that.
Will get the recommended Larsen.

 

[nokones]

Sti-Co is another glass-mount antenna brand. Sti-Co is very good antenna product and they also specialize in covert/disguised antennae. However, Sti-Co antennae are extremely pricey probably in the $500+ range for a 700 Meg glass-mount antenna these days.

The Larsen Glass-Mount antenna is a great quality antenna and will perform very well. You won't regret purchasing the Larsen antenna. I have one on my Jeep for UHF freqs and I was surprised on the performance of the antenna. My VSWRs on my most use freqs is 1.2:1 and is 1.6:1 on the 5 Meg off-set of that freq pair.

I don't operate below 460 Megs so I don't know what the VSWRs are like below 460 Megs.