NMO magnet mount

[sonm10]

I've been looking at a PCTEL Maxrad antenna over at antenna farm. Wondering what to use for a magnet mount. PCTEL has like 4 versions as well as several other companies.

Can anyone recommend a NMO magnet mount that works well?

 

[W9WSS]

Magnetic antenna mounts are a compromise at best. For a rental or leased car, you are losing performance due to a poor ground, causing severe damage to the finish of the vehicle it's affixed to, etc. If you're not going to drill an NMO in your vehicle, consider a trunk lip or groove mount. Just make sure that the screws holding it in place make contact with bare metal, or run a separate ground to the chassis of the vehicle it's mounted to.

Antenna Farm is a good vendor to patronize. They have various connectors available for termination to particular radios.

Here are some choices:

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=264_265

 

[cmjonesinc]

+1 for The Antenna Farm. As noted above a mag mount is a compromise. It's understandable for a lease or a temporary application though. If you are doing a permanent installation you will be much happier with a permanent nmo in the roof. Or if clearance is an issue, a fender or deck nmo will still be better than a mag mount.

 

[W9WSS]

There was a regular RR member who had a "signature" after his name, "H.A.M.M," which was an abbreviation for "Hams Against Magnetic Mounts." I'm not necessarily against magnetic mounts, but they are so inferior to permanent NMO's, that there's almost no comparison in performance.

In 52 years, I've been an owner of cars, each and every vehicle had a minimum of 3 NMO mounts on them. My current CVPI (in the photo below) has 13, yes THIRTEEN NMO mounts with respective antennas, all connected to ham radios, scanners, and two VRS-750 cross-band mobile repeaters.

I have never had any depreciation in my cars when I sold them, as a matter of fact, two of my past cars I sold to fellow hams with the antennas still attached to their respective NMO mounts. One of them, in particular, was sold with not only the antennas but all the radios and accessories that I utilized when I owned that vehicle.

 

[trentbob]

WSS, I noticed your vintage Crown Vic police interceptor has an unfamiliar plaque to the right of the license plate where the police interceptor plaque should be affixed. I tried to blow it up the best I could to read what it says and maybe it's just too big of a blow up and it does say PI.

Your 13 antennas are... Interesting ... I assume that there's no room for anyone to sit in the front or back of the car? Any chance you would post the interior of your car in the appropriate forum for home and mobile installations?

 

[W9WSS]

Actually, the Police Interceptor logo is located in the correct place on the left side of the trunk lid. The logo you are attempting to read says, "Pursuit Vehicle" which came on the vehicle when I purchased it. There is PLENTY of room for the driver, front-seat passenger, and three passengers in the rear seat. I have a Jotto Desk "Lazy-L" console. It was previously in my 2001 CVPI; Now in my 2009 which I've owned since April of 2013. I will be taking some new photos of the interior which I will post in the vehicle installation forum, instead of clogging up this "Scanner - Receive Antennas" forum. The existing photos are not the true depiction of the interior because several things have changed.

 

[mmckenna]

I've been looking at a PCTEL Maxrad antenna over at antenna farm. Wondering what to use for a magnet mount. PCTEL has like 4 versions as well as several other companies.

Can anyone recommend a NMO magnet mount that works well?

I only use magnetic mounts for testing before doing a permanent install, or for very temporary use. I think the last time I actually used a mag mount was 20 years ago.

But….
I do still have my Larsen NMO magnetic mount. It's the old rectangular style and I've had it for probably 30 years. Never had any issues with it.

I've got a crap-load of the Laird NMO mag mounts that were used for temporary base station mounts at work, and they've been good.

Doesn't really matter what kind you use. You want the largest mount you can get as that increases the capacitive coupling to the ground plane under the antenna. Still not going to be as good as a permanent mount….
Just make sure you get one with good coax and the correct connector on the end to match your radio. Don't use adapters if you can avoid it.

 

[KevinC]

But….
I do still have my Larsen NMO magnetic mount. It's the old rectangular style and I've had it for probably 30 years. Never had any issues with it.

I still have 2 of those as well. Workhorses as far as magmounts go and perfect for testing purposes.

 

[trentbob]

Actually, the Police Interceptor logo is located in the correct place on the left side of the trunk lid. The logo you are attempting to read says, "Pursuit Vehicle" which came on the vehicle when I purchased it. There is PLENTY of room for the driver, front-seat passenger, and three passengers in the rear seat. I have a Jotto Desk "Lazy-L" console. It was previously in my 2001 CVPI; Now in my 2009 which I've owned since April of 2013. I will be taking some new photos of the interior which I will post in the vehicle installation forum, instead of clogging up this "Scanner - Receive Antennas" forum. The existing photos are not the true depiction of the interior because several things have changed.

Ah that makes sense. I've only been around the police interceptor sedans of 2013 and it's on the right.

Yes post whatever you want on the appropriate forum, thanks.

 

[JoshuaHufford]

First off, as others have said, if at all possible don't use a mag mount, they are fine for rental cars or for a temp use on a vehicle, but for any kind of permanent use they are just a pain to deal with and will damage the finish. The thought of drilling a hole in my vehicle used to make me cringe, and I went with a mag mount for a while, then a luggage rack mount, now I have 3 NMO mounts in both my work vehicle and my main driving vehicle and always wished I had just done that in the first place.

As far as what antenna to get, depends on what frequencies you want to receive. If you want something wide band the Larson Tri-Band is a good choice.

Can you elaborate on what you want to receive?

 

[mmckenna]

Ah that makes sense. I've only been around the police interceptor sedans of 2013 and it's on the right.

The appropriate position for the "Police Interceptor" tag is on the toolbox of the installer. I've got a few. When the Crown Vic's were retired, I was talking to one of our captains about them, I pulled the "Hey, look, it's the Goodrich Blimp!" thing and quickly peeled them off before they left our yard. I think he had a couple also. I know none of them remained on the cars when they left.

 

[kb3isq]

The appropriate position for the "Police Interceptor" tag is on the toolbox of the installer. I've got a few. When the Crown Vic's were retired, I was talking to one of our captains about them, I pulled the "Hey, look, it's the Goodrich Blimp!" thing and quickly peeled them off before they left our yard. I think he had a couple also. I know none of them remained on the cars when they left.

I can only remember the teg being on the left side!

 

[sonm10]

Guess I should have elaborated more

It's going to be used more as a base station antenna and sometimes mobile

The antenna is the PCTEL Maxrad muf 4505

I wanting an omnidirectional for use in an apartment

 

[mmckenna]

OK, won't really change any of the recommendations.

At home, drop it on top of the fridge/file cabinet, something to provide a ground plane under it. Cookie sheet, pizza pan, slab of sheet metal, something at least 12" in diameter. The ground plane will be necessary for low SWR if you are going to transmit and will help with performance if just receiving.

On your car, make sure it's got 6" of ground plane in all directions under the base. On the roof is ideal. Putting it on the trunk or fender will work, but shadowing from the body can reduce performance.

Route the coaxial cable carefully. Pinching it in windows/doors can damage the cable.

 

[6079smithw]

<snip>
At home, drop it on top of the fridge/file cabinet, something to provide a ground plane under it. Cookie sheet, pizza pan, slab of sheet metal, something at least 12" in diameter. The ground plane will be necessary for low SWR if you are going to transmit and will help with performance if just receiving.

This Dollar Tree 13" steel pizza/cake sheet does a great job indoors on top of a bookcase with a Kenwood TK-940 monitoring CalTrans
Kingvale on 856.9875. It also eliminated SWR (Severe Wife Reaction) problems that arose when I attached the mag mount to various
kitchen appliances.

For a buck, I'd say it's worth trying in an apartment; worst case scenario can always be used for take-out pizza while watching ESPN...

 

[n5ims]

And don't forget that you can drill a hole in those pizza pans and install an NMO mount on them as well. It'll help you practice for when you take the drill to your car for that NMO mount. The only issue with a real NMO mount on a pizza pan is you need to remember that the bottom of the pan is no longer flat but this can be solved simply by using some 1" scrap lumber to keep from scratching what you place the pizza pan on.