Opinions on Antenna Mount Location

[RamAirZ]

K guys, been working on my CB install; and I originally used a fender/hood gutter mount up front. I like it up there because it'll probably give me the clearest signal out of my 2 location choices (I'm not 100% sure on a roof rack and I don't want a roof mount, I also like Jollyroger's setup but I don't wanna drill external body panels/cladding on this one) and I don't think it looks too bad. Now my other choice is in the rear door channel, I think it looks better back here except for the "lean" thanks to the body shape of the VX (I'd have to bend the bracket across the width to fix it which I don't think is going to happen lol) but there will be more of the vehicle blocking the antenna. What do you guys think:

Hood mount:
http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4939.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4938.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4937.jpg

Rear door mount:
http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/IMG_4948.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/IMG_4949.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/IMG_4950.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/IMG_4952.jpg

[VX KAT]

I vote rear door, looks better/logical to me...

[Tookie]

Found some more of my install

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/2010-08-12_12-03-05_227.jpghttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/1000000011.JPGhttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/1000000014.JPGhttp://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/1000000012.JPG

Antenna is a 42" Diamond, on a Diamond mount that swivels on both axis, so pretty perfect mount for back there. Pretty dang tall antenna though so I hit ceilings kinda often. Has a pull out swivel thing at the bottom so if I really wanna jump out each time I can put the antenna down so it hangs across.

[RamAirZ]

can't see anything lol

[Tookie]

Haha, I suck at forums, so I learned the site faq and made it better for you hahaha

[Riff Raff]

Hmmm, both locations have their pros/cons. One advantage to the hood-mount location is the driver can immediately tell if the antenna will get hung-up on a low profile entrance (garage, carport, fast food drive-thru signage, or low hanging tree branch, etc) and can quickly stop before impact. The rear-door location is totally hidden from the driver's view for any advance clearance warning (until it's already too late). The hood-mount location is on the same side as the hood-support rod, so the antenna really won't interfere with any under-the-hood engine maintenance that the hood-support rod already does.

The rear-door location does look more "traditional" for an off-road vehicle (like Jeep's have done for years on that corner location). Plus, the antenna propagation would be better as the VX's roof ground plane would focus towards the left-front reception pattern (great for advance Smokey-The-Bear reports on the freeway, and to stay in contact with convoy leader). Trying to hide the long cable-run may also pose some interior challenges with carpet/body panels. If you decide to go with the rear-door location, try to slightly bend the bracket or use some sort of shim, so the antenna is a perfect 90-degree vertical angle and not leaning to one side.

Either method would work. You'll have to weigh all the pros/cons and see which one would work best for your lifestyle. I concur with you that drilling a hole in a body panel/cladding might make the VX bleed. Just my 2-cents.

[vt_maverick]

And on a less technical note, I like the hood mount location better. It sends a very clear message of "If the lift and big tires don't tell you I'm a man, look at my 4' mast."

:D

[RamAirZ]

Well with the help of a torch and a gigantic adjustable wrench (to use as my pry bar of sorts), the antenna looks like this now, I'm gonna stick with the rear mount I think. I used a cable clamp on the coax using one of the rear taillight screws and I didn't need to drill any holes in the rear plastic since there was this neat little spot that already had a small gap and the cable fit perfectly. I pulled the side paneling out just enough to slide the cable all the way under to the front and then ran under the carpet over to the CB. I mounted the bracket in a way that I could run the cable real tight without any binding so very little is actually exposed outside the truck.

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4959.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4958.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4961.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4954.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4955.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4965.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4964.jpg

http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss272/RamAirZ/1999%20Isuzu%20Vehicross/IMG_4963.jpg

[RamAirZ]

And on a less technical note, I like the hood mount location better. It sends a very clear message of "If the lift and big tires don't tell you I'm a man, look at my 4' mast."

:D

hahahaha that's awesome

[vt_maverick]

Well thank you. :)

Btw, can you create a 4th thread detailing this mod? :p J/k, nobody is as bad as that sleveritt guy, he creates one for sale thread for each and every individual part he has for sale. Not a problem until he bumps them all, then I've got to click several pages down to find the real threads. Luckily you have so many threads on this subject you won't get lost easily.

Okay T/J over. ;)

[RamAirZ]

lol. Well I wanted to start one for the CB install so if someone searched they could find it easier (instead of searching through all the pages of a build thread) and then added it to my build thread. Then I wanted opinions on the antenna mount so decided to make a poll lol sorry :p

[circmand]

lol. Well I wanted to start one for the CB install so if someone searched they could find it easier (instead of searching through all the pages of a build thread) and then added it to my build thread. Then I wanted opinions on the antenna mount so decided to make a poll lol sorry :p

That large an antenna looks ridiculous that high. I would get a whip antenna (notice the spelling HAHA) and mount it in the front bent back and attached to the back

[Tookie]

I've wanted to do that for awhile, but also to get NVIS, pretty much radio propagation that bounces off the layer that I'm forgetting now and comes back down in a down. And cuz I think an antenna bent like that would look sick. Just gotta find a ham whose smarter(that's easy) than me to figure it all out.

[Luna X]

lol. Well I wanted to start one for the CB install so if someone searched they could find it easier (instead of searching through all the pages of a build thread) and then added it to my build thread. Then I wanted opinions on the antenna mount so decided to make a poll lol sorry :p

I say mount that DirecTv dish right up on your roof.... it matches color, and can receive signals from space!! :bwgy:

[Grif]

Antennas 101 taught me the best place would be to drill thru the middle of the roof and mount up top. That would put the antenna up high and also provide the greatest ground plane, but would be kinda ugly. Mounting on the roof rack would be iffy, you would lose some ground plane action, but if you ran a copper ground strap from the metal mount to metal on the roof, the difference would be negligible. Those would be best for radio propagation IMHO.

However, IMHO the rear mount looks best, but again for best grounding, run some copper to the metal on the body from the mount. Mounting on the rear of course will block some signal ahead of you, prolly measurable signal loss if your a perfectionist. Use a SWR meter to measure the diff, you will see it!

The front looks just OK IMHO, I prolly wouldnt put it there.

I'm coming from a amateur HAM radio background and the serious amateurs dislike any sort of "lip mount" such as you are employing. Same for those magnetic mounts you often see around. Not only can they damage the surface they are mounted on, but unless you run a ground to the metal of the vehicle, it is often impeded by the paint etc, and never makes for a decent plane.

The ultra hardcore (of which I am not one) say that if your not willing to drill into your metal to ground the base directly into its hole, you are not worthy of mobile operation (or i should say, compete in mobile operation competitions)! Of course that's an extreme attitude, but the science behind it is sound.

Thats my 2¢

[VX KAT]

Firestik cust service guy told me the same Grif...put my mag mount antenna smack in the middle of the roof for best ground plane. OK, tried it, put it through the roof rack, worked OK, looked stupid, wouldn't work with spare tire anyway.

So moved it to rear of roof. "Oh don't worry lady, that strong mag mount will stay put, you'll need 2 hands to remove it!"...HUH! Tipped over before I was even off my dirt road. NEXT!

Got lots of good info from other CB mounting threads and Mark Hardeman had great pics of CB antenna mounted to Yakima LoadWarrior bar. Called Firestik cust serv again, described plan...said it wouldn't work because I was putting some black spongy drawer liner stuff around the Yakima bar...sure as heck didn't want to goober the finish all up! :eek: Said I needed metal to metal contact between Yakima bar and antenna mount I tried it anyway...worked great, so did Mark's.
SWR meter tuned it and it was easily within range. Worked great in Moab.

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/DSC_2824.JPG

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/DSC_2832.JPG

[Grif]

Glad it works well enuff for you Kat, that's all that matters.

[RamAirZ]

That large an antenna looks ridiculous that high. I would get a whip antenna (notice the spelling HAHA) and mount it in the front bent back and attached to the back

Well considering you want the longest antenna you can get (that works for you) mounted as high as possible, that's where it's got to be, plus it's not any higher than most of the rack mounted ones most people run on here. Add the crossbars plus the rack then a 3ft antenna or so and it's probably higher than mine. And I didn't even notice the spelling of the thread, I get to typing fast and that happens, oh well fixed now :_confused I PERSONALLY think a 102" whip antenna bent front to back will look ridiculous. And your not going to get the full effectiveness of the 102" whip with it tied down so why have it? The best setup would be the whip on a 6" pot-belly mount (with the internal strap that keeps the antenna constantly connected to the mount, all those little 3-4" ones without the strap are garbage really, yes it's metal but a poor antenna extension IMO) mounted in the center of your roof. Also the 102" whip is really meant to go with the 6" spring which would put it at 108" which is almost perfect. But I know alot of 4x4 groups and parks banned the whip antennas for trail rides. If I ran one it'd only be strapped when I was going to be in parking garages or through trails, otherwise it'd be up all the time.



I say mount that DirecTv dish right up on your roof.... it matches color, and can receive signals from space!! :bwgy:

I thought about that,. I could then watch NFL Sunday Ticket if I'm out and about!


Antennas 101 taught me the best place would be to drill thru the middle of the roof and mount up top. That would put the antenna up high and also provide the greatest ground plane, but would be kinda ugly. Mounting on the roof rack would be iffy, you would lose some ground plane action, but if you ran a copper ground strap from the metal mount to metal on the roof, the difference would be negligible. Those would be best for radio propagation IMHO.

However, IMHO the rear mount looks best, but again for best grounding, run some copper to the metal on the body from the mount. Mounting on the rear of course will block some signal ahead of you, prolly measurable signal loss if your a perfectionist. Use a SWR meter to measure the diff, you will see it!

The front looks just OK IMHO, I prolly wouldnt put it there.

I'm coming from a amateur HAM radio background and the serious amateurs dislike any sort of "lip mount" such as you are employing. Same for those magnetic mounts you often see around. Not only can they damage the surface they are mounted on, but unless you run a ground to the metal of the vehicle, it is often impeded by the paint etc, and never makes for a decent plane.

The ultra hardcore (of which I am not one) say that if your not willing to drill into your metal to ground the base directly into its hole, you are not worthy of mobile operation (or i should say, compete in mobile operation competitions)! Of course that's an extreme attitude, but the science behind it is sound.

Thats my 2¢

I have installed/tuned a few CB's before so I'm familiar with the SWR meter and I will be using it once I finalize installation. I already have some braided copper straps for grounding the mount, it's screwed into the body inside the channel which should help out too. If I was getting REALLY serious about it I would run a few straps from the frame to the cabin, doors to cabin, hood to cabin, fenders to cabin etc etc and then the center roof mount antenna but I don't need anything like that. I ran a Wilson Flex4 on a modified mirror mount on my spare tire rack and a Midland compact CB for a little over a year and it worked great for my needs, got me a tad over 5 miles through the mountains (talking to someone who was 5 miles away with mountains in between us) and an swr of 1.3 before the ground strap on all channels and after a ground from the mount to frame it dropped to 1.0-1.1 on the meter on all channels. I think the front would give me a better ground plane but I don't really like it as much. I don't mind drilling on the VX for certain things just no obvious gigantic holes and I'd like them to be hidden like in the rear door channel or fender etc that you won't really see. I think this setup will work for my trail rides and some highway chatter.



Firestik cust service guy told me the same Grif...put my mag mount antenna smack in the middle of the roof for best ground plane. OK, tried it, put it through the roof rack, worked OK, looked stupid, wouldn't work with spare tire anyway.

So moved it to rear of roof. "Oh don't worry lady, that strong mag mount will stay put, you'll need 2 hands to remove it!"...HUH! Tipped over before I was even off my dirt road. NEXT!

Got lots of good info from other CB mounting threads and Mark Hardeman had great pics of CB antenna mounted to Yakima LoadWarrior bar. Called Firestik cust serv again, described plan...said it wouldn't work because I was putting some black spongy drawer liner stuff around the Yakima bar...sure as heck didn't want to goober the finish all up! :eek: Said I needed metal to metal contact between Yakima bar and antenna mount I tried it anyway...worked great, so did Mark's.
SWR meter tuned it and it was easily within range. Worked great in Moab.

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/DSC_2824.JPG

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/DSC_2832.JPG

Yours looks good Kat! and like Grif said, if it works for you that's what matters!