bending antenna, ok?

[threeofnine]

I am installing a police scanner antenna on a Tesla Model 3. Due to the shape of the body the antenna sticks out to the side at about a 60 degree angle. Would it hurt anything if I gently bent it to where it was vertical? The antenna is a 16.5" Larsen NMO tri-band antenna if that matters.

 

[mmckenna]

It's not going to hurt anything.

The argument could be made that it's messing with the angle relative to the ground plane, which it is and will maybe impact performance slightly, but for scanner use it's going to be fine. If absolutely perfect performance was required you'd have it mounted dead center of the roof.

 

[threeofnine]

It's not going to hurt anything.

The argument could be made that it's messing with the angle relative to the ground plane, which it is and will maybe impact performance slightly, but for scanner use it's going to be fine. If absolutely perfect performance was required you'd have it mounted dead center of the roof.

Thanks for the response. Related question, if I left the antenna like it is where it’s not vertical, would it also not hurt reception to a terrible degree?

 

[vagrant]

It’s fine like that. If it was at 90 degrees it would not be friendly to polarity and there would be loss. If it really bothers you there are larger mounts that allow you to adjust the angle to vertical.

I would leave it as is for scanner use.

 

[merlin]

For the existing angle, I don't see much benefit in bending to straight vertical. Performance should be fine as is.

 

[OpSec]

Leave it as is or get a Comet or Diamond antenna mount that articulates.