Through the glass antennas

[ROSDJS]

Hey all, after reading a recent post I became discouraged in running a though the glass antenna for my UHF in my Blazer. After talking to another friend he said his worked just as well as his NMO's. Yes, my rear glass is factory tinted, I've also been considering that. Can anyone give me some feedback on either side??

Thanks in Advance Guys!
Matt

[JohnWayne]

I think that you already know the answers to your own questions from what other people have told you. The NMO mount antenna is going to work a lot better than the glass-mount antenna. This is especially true as you get lower in frequency, such as a VHF antenna.

I never understood why people are so paranoid about putting a little 3/4" or 3/8" hole in their roof. There are millions of these installations and they all work fine. As far as resale/trade-in value, it is going to have just about zero effect. Put a plug in the hole and paint it and no one will ever notice, especially on a SUV like yours.

Bottom line is go with the NMO and you'll be happiest. You can get all your supplies at http://shop.waltel.com .

Jeff

[Tom in D.C.]

Thru glass uses the glass as a capacitor, and the characteristics of a cap. is to pass AC and block DC. RF is an AC waveform, and that's how it works. Properly tuned you can get a 1.1:1 SWR on VHF. The VHF tuning box (inside the glass) has a screw adjustment on it, as does the UHF box. The cellphone box does not have an adjustment on it (at least I've never seen one) due to the different characteristics of the tuned circuit at 800 mHz compared to 150 and 450 mHz.

Tinted glass of the factory-installed type does not, in my experience, cause any RF transmission problems. Heavy, locally-applied tints may be a problem, especially if they are an actual plastic film placed on the glass.

My new Outback has a hole in the roof for an NMO and a thru-glass cellphone antenna. Both work fine.

The only big downside of a glassmount antenna is that you never know when it's going to decide to fall off.

[n3kvp]

I have been using the 'Larsen" Glass mount duel band antennas for over 10 years, they measure out with a Wiltron Sitemaster between 1.1 & 1.2:1 on UHF & VHF, I also use the 220MHz version, the reason I use them is that thay are on a company vehicle, (no holes allowed by the leasing co.) I have used them at 50 watts no problem, I don't know how other brands attach to the glass, but the "Prep alcohol patch" and then some kind of catalist in a crushable tube is used before applying the hardware to the glass, I have never had one come off on its own, and had to use a heat gun and alot of time to remove them when I change vehicles, they also sell "remount Kits" to install them on a different veh. for about $6.00

Also the plastic (non-metalic) or factory tinting is not really a problem, it is the windows with the Metalic type tint, usually mirrored, that is on some vehicles, or a black film that extends 2 to 3 inches in from the outer edge, the instructions tell you to place the antenna just past this area on the glass, and to keep clear of any window defogger or AM/FM in glass grids.

Butch

[Glen W Christen]

Older model GM vans with the very large, sloping windshields, have very thick glass which did not match the designed capacitance and would not work on cellular.

[joe1234]

I install them all the time with a county that has crapy radio system and the car radios have no problem as far as getting into the system.... and no problem recieveing........ I for my vote I would rather use a glass mount rather than putting a whole or ven a L-bracket..... depending on how many atennas you will be useing......