Mobile antenna system patch panel

apco25 · Post by **apco25** » Wed Nov 05, 2003 9:32 pm

I've been contenplating building one of these for the Suburban to make the RF setup more flexible.

I can have a stainless steel bracket punched out for whatever connector size.

I'm thinking TNC connectors.

Worth doing?

I've got 6 mounts on the truck using MMF low loss NMO mounts with LMR-195 cable

jim · Post by **jim** » Thu Nov 06, 2003 6:48 am

If you plan on changing your setup every week, it might be a good idea- otherwise it falls under the "technical masturbation" category (my term for the "ooohs and aaahs" that really aren't needed)!

TNC would work. BNC would be simpler yet and most of them are rated for at least 1GHz.

motorolamonster911 · Post by **motorolamonster911** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 7:32 am

I wonder how much loss you would experience with one these. I have seen it done on Communication Trailers and such, but never in a vehicle. Hmmm. May be interesting.

Nick

w7com · Post by **w7com** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 1:30 pm

I'd go with BNC. You can find a lot of cheap BNC patch panels left over from the ThinNet days.

K4WTF: How do you think a Telec DS3 patch bay would work on various bands?

commtek · Post by **commtek** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 3:55 pm

I don't think the DS3 patchbays would work well for RF. Maybe on the lower freqs, but I think the losses would be too great the higher up you go. Might be a fun experiment, though.

I like the BNC idea, Quarter turn lock and

you're done.