Mobile metal sticky thing that catches radio waves

ESDA20 · Post by **ESDA20** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:26 pm

Yo. I'm going to be sticking a mobile antenna on my car (Impala) in the next few weeks (VHF, Kenwood, 40w).

Does anyone have any recommendations for magnet mount, or lip mount? I'm not looking to drill holes.

Smaller, the more covert, the better. Just testing the waters for suggestions. Thanks!

nmfire10 · Post by **nmfire10** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:38 pm

A 19" whip is about the smallest you are going to get. That is a 1/4 wave unity gain antenna. You can get one of those trunk edge clamp mount thingies if you don't want to make a hole.

ESDA20 · Post by **ESDA20** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 12:53 pm

19" would be fine. When I say covert, I don't mean like certain individuals here have with the huge 5" magnets and longlonglong antennas for their ham rigs.

JohnWayne · Post by **JohnWayne** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 1:19 pm

If you want super covert, then you could use some "stealth" antennas. I like the Antenex Phantom series. The only problem with them is that the bandwidth is not very wide - about 1MHz. Maxrad also makes a similar model.

I don't know if you've bought your stuff yet, but I sell trunk lip mounts and antennas if you need them.

Thanks,
Jeff

wa2zdy · Post by **wa2zdy** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 2:12 pm

Ahhhhh Lubbock; Red Raider land.

The hams use BIG antennas because of the frequency involved. I'm sure you've noticed, higher frequency = smaller antenna. A 19 inch whip as described here is 1/4 wave long on high band. A 1/4 wave long at 7MHz is 33 FEET!

See what I mean?

I say drill, but if you're dead set against it, the trunk lip will work fairly ok. Not as well as the same antenna in the middle of the roof, but a mag mount will scratch the paint, no matter HOW careful you are with it. And the cable will eventually permanently warp whatever weather gasket it passes through.

Good luck.

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 4:30 pm

this is a nice low profile trunk lip mount.

Its currently got a 1/4 wave 800 mhz antenna on it for my nextel, although, i'm going to swap it out with a VHF 1/4 wave antenna when it comes in.

ESDA20 · Post by **ESDA20** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 4:48 pm

Cool. What brand is that?

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 5:05 pm

Dont know what brand it is.
However, here is the link to the item from the seller i got it from.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... egory=4672

I paid $20 plus shipping, had it in like 2 days.

kb9suy · Post by **kb9suy** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 9:08 pm

I recommend a cellphone look alike window mount antenna. they work pretty descent for those who dont like drilling holes. though if you want the best signal nothing beats drilling the hole dead center.

007 · Post by **007** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 11:19 pm

NMO mount 1/4 wave, center of the decklid.

FFParamedic571 · Post by **FFParamedic571** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 3:46 pm

For some of the departments Ive done that want a decent no holes is a Maxrad lip mount . Its the small one like Gerbil has and a Maxrad 150D " Undercover " antenna ..Looks like a Cell phone antenna. Its semi covert and works pretty well for what they use it for. Its in black so its not as blatantly obvious. And even if you have an impala it looks pretty " fed"

Oh did I mention I have a good used one I had on my old car I would be willing to sell???

ROSDJS · Post by **ROSDJS** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 3:49 pm

Gerbil,
How well does that lip mount work on the Jeep being mounted on the hood with the loss of height???

Matt

Gerbil · Post by **Gerbil** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 7:14 pm

honestly, it would probably be better on the roof, and that little 800 antenna will be mounted on the roof soon, and tha lip mount will have a VHF whip. I just dont have the motivation to do it.

However, its hooked to a booster kit for my i530, and it works pretty well.

SlimBob · Post by **SlimBob** » Sun Mar 28, 2004 10:47 pm

I'm looking at doing an install with a Larsen 2M70, but having second thoughts... The VHF radio is 100W, the UHF radio is 100W, the diplexer will take the heat, but the antenna is only rated for 100W -- so, do I buy another antenna and install the 70cm seperately?