Batboard

Looking for some information feedback on installing a standard mobile 700 trunking antenna on the roof of a boat? My thoughts are to use a thick NMO mount with a metal plate on the underside of the roof. Roof is about 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick.

Jim

Same rules still apply that you used to follow on HB, UHF, or 800 MHz in this situation. A thick NMO with metal foil tape (or an 11" aluminum pie plate) on the underside of the roof will get you there. If you are installing on a vessel that runs in rough water, use only the quarter-wave "spike", not a 3 dB pigtail or other gain models.

Sorry for the delay in posting a reply. There was a lightning strike that took out my Internet connection. Made it back to operational status.

Thanks for the confirmation of my plans.

Jim

And I too am sorry that as usual I was overthinking the math. Adjust the size of the aluminum foil pie plate to USA food industry standard size of NINE inches. When you squash it flat and duct-tape it to the underside of the cabin roof it will be almost perfect. Or you can use a metal pizza pan 12" or larger.

The PCTEL K332 is a ground plane intended for mounting antennas to fiberglass vehicles and are usable from 406-1000 MHz. this is a link to the K332:

https://www.talleycom.com/viewProduct?rlProdNum=MXRK332

This should provide a professional installation on the boat with a thick mount cable assembly...

Bill

FYI, PCTel also offers no ground plane antennas. We have found the 700MHz version to work very well:

https://www.pctel.com/antenna-product/n ... gp-series/