Right Now all I have is a handheld and a mag mount. I dont want to drill a hole in the roof yet. which trunk mount and antenna should should I get from Antenna Farm? I don't want nothing real big. something like a 1/4 or 1/2 wave. I live in a relatively small town in the woods and the bigger cities are an hour or more away. It's also pretty flat since I'm right off Lake Huron. I basically want to try something that will be better performance than a mag mount. Also, who makes a better mount Larsen or Laird?
Larsen/Laird NMO Trunk Mount
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mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
That's kind of a hard question to answer.
Trunk mounts have some issues that I don't like.
- They put the antenna on the edge of the trunk, which gives a lopsided ground plane.
- If you mount them on the front edge of the trunk, it puts it up close to the vehicle body, which isn't good.
- Constantly pinching the coax in the gap isn't good.
Magnetic mounts let you mount the antenna in the center of the ground plane.
Maybe you wouldn't notice enough of a difference to matter.
As for which antenna….
1/4 wave and trunk mounts can work, but less than ideal. A short antenna down below the vehicle body is going to impact performance.
It really depends on what amateur bands you are interested in.
As for which brand, both are pretty equal. I've used both brands, and my favorite is Larsen, but Laird makes equally good stuff.
Trunk mounts have some issues that I don't like.
- They put the antenna on the edge of the trunk, which gives a lopsided ground plane.
- If you mount them on the front edge of the trunk, it puts it up close to the vehicle body, which isn't good.
- Constantly pinching the coax in the gap isn't good.
Magnetic mounts let you mount the antenna in the center of the ground plane.
Maybe you wouldn't notice enough of a difference to matter.
As for which antenna….
1/4 wave and trunk mounts can work, but less than ideal. A short antenna down below the vehicle body is going to impact performance.
It really depends on what amateur bands you are interested in.
As for which brand, both are pretty equal. I've used both brands, and my favorite is Larsen, but Laird makes equally good stuff.
Oh I'm sorry forgot to mention. I was just primarily interested in 2 meter. I'm not really scared to drill a hole but it's still pretty cold here and I have no idea how to remove headliner and all that. Have to read up on it. I'm looking at a Kenwood that does 136-174 MHz receive. So I was thinking about using a 1/4 wave. Which antenna would you recommend for that?
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
If it was me, I'd stick with the mag mount and a 1/4 wave on the roof of your car. No point in buying a trunk lip mount if you are just going to replace it in a few weeks/months.
When the weather improves, do the permanent mount right in the center of the roof. Use a 1/4 wave antenna. Dropping the headliner is rarely required.
As for antennas, The 1/4 wave have a nice broad bandwidth that can work well for monitoring, and will perform well on the 2 meter amateur band. Avoid the gimmick antennas that the ham radio shops like to sell.
My all time favorite is the Larsen NMOQC
The cut chart will get you very close to where you want it. Quarter wave antennas are very broadbanded, so even if you don't have an SWR meter, it's going to be really close to where it needs to be.
Recently I've been trying out a few EM Wave antennas. So far I really like this one:
When the weather improves, do the permanent mount right in the center of the roof. Use a 1/4 wave antenna. Dropping the headliner is rarely required.
As for antennas, The 1/4 wave have a nice broad bandwidth that can work well for monitoring, and will perform well on the 2 meter amateur band. Avoid the gimmick antennas that the ham radio shops like to sell.
My all time favorite is the Larsen NMOQC
The cut chart will get you very close to where you want it. Quarter wave antennas are very broadbanded, so even if you don't have an SWR meter, it's going to be really close to where it needs to be.
Recently I've been trying out a few EM Wave antennas. So far I really like this one:
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