Some hams have the opinion that J-pole is not a good antenna, yet because they work to some degree, people keep making them, and recommending them to others. I have had some costly antennas, and what separates them from what I have now is cost. So what I would suggest is the Workman Fiberglass duel band ground plane base antenna. You can find it on Ebay, or many other web sites.
How well it will work will be a matter of how you mount it, and your coax run. I put mine up at 38 feet and it works like gang busters.
As far as a mobile antenna is concerned, the best you can do is to mount an NMO mount dead center of the roof. Some will not have the nerve to drill a hold in the roof, and remove the headliner to install it. The antenna I would use, may not be the biggest, but it works really well in the center of the roof on an F150. The antenna can be bought under many company names, but it is a duel band base loaded antenna with one coil to separate the bands on the whip section. Larsen makes a good one, and I have used Larsen, but my current antenna came from a friend that works in commercial radio, and it is made by Laird. You can find that at Tessco.
A lot of the bigger antenna flop around at high speeds, and some are fragile, and if they get hit by anything, they usually break.
The reason you want to mount that mobile antenna on your roof is because it is the highest point of the vehicle, and the large metal area under it makes a great RF reflective surface.
Remember to adjust whatever mobile antenna you get,. You do that with an SWR meter, and usually a small allen key to slide the whip up, and down for the best SWR on the part of the band that you favor. In some cases, you might need to snip a little off, but be very careful with snipping, once you snip, you can't un-snip. if your are not sure, get a local Ham to help you. Hams love to help, and teach.
The antenna looks like that, but is looks really short, and it is not a short as it looks.
How well it will work will be a matter of how you mount it, and your coax run. I put mine up at 38 feet and it works like gang busters.
As far as a mobile antenna is concerned, the best you can do is to mount an NMO mount dead center of the roof. Some will not have the nerve to drill a hold in the roof, and remove the headliner to install it. The antenna I would use, may not be the biggest, but it works really well in the center of the roof on an F150. The antenna can be bought under many company names, but it is a duel band base loaded antenna with one coil to separate the bands on the whip section. Larsen makes a good one, and I have used Larsen, but my current antenna came from a friend that works in commercial radio, and it is made by Laird. You can find that at Tessco.
A lot of the bigger antenna flop around at high speeds, and some are fragile, and if they get hit by anything, they usually break.
The reason you want to mount that mobile antenna on your roof is because it is the highest point of the vehicle, and the large metal area under it makes a great RF reflective surface.
Remember to adjust whatever mobile antenna you get,. You do that with an SWR meter, and usually a small allen key to slide the whip up, and down for the best SWR on the part of the band that you favor. In some cases, you might need to snip a little off, but be very careful with snipping, once you snip, you can't un-snip. if your are not sure, get a local Ham to help you. Hams love to help, and teach.
The antenna looks like that, but is looks really short, and it is not a short as it looks.
