Coms Setup & Location

I suppose if a guy had a headache rack that was bonded properly, he could mount an antenna on a small rectangular or round metal plate up high in a somewhat central location.. nothing beats the metal skin of the roof for a good ground plane and an omnidirectional radiation pattern though..

 

I personally don't have input on the antenna, so I'd say go with the suggestions from others here. The review for this radio I had seen poked fun at the antenna that midland gives you, but he says it works well enough so I'm just going to send it now with the cheap mag mount it comes with. Interested to see how you do with the upgraded antenna.

 

He might not be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoy this guy's perspective and sense of humor.

 

Yup, I like this guy too. No nonsense and knows his stuff without nerding out.

 

@Sandman614 had a comment a few comments down the thread https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/cb-antenna-hood-mounts.477360/#post-14501229 with regard to "fire ring" mounting and nylon washers. I assume this has to do with the bond. But with my very limited knowledge, I agree that a centered antenna in the center of the metal ground plane is best. The stock magnetic antenna that comes with the Midland 15w mounted that way would likely get better range than the Ghost style mounted in the ditch light location...but that's a total guess on my part.
Regardless, it wouldn't be a good fit for the style of wheeling I do in low-hanging branch 2 tracks.

 

Another question, do Ghost style antennas need to be mounted in a perfectly vertical orientation to be effective?
If not, I like the CBI A Pillar Mount. https://cbioffroadfab.com/product/3rd-gen-tacoma-antenna-mount/ It appears to follow the slope of the windshield which would make the antenna less susceptible to limb and brush damage. Or better just to go with a tunable 3' GMRS Firestick?

 

To best understand the antenna pattern. Picture the antenna surrounded by a donut. As the antenna tilts off the vertical axis, the donut (representing the isotropic antenna pattern) tilts with it. This creates reduced coverage in the horizontal plane.

 

Thanks!
That's crystal clear and a hard pass on the CBI slanted mount.
Leaning toward the Ghost Style antenna mounted at the ditch light location.

 

I am liking the filling in the blank plug next to the ETC button on my rig for sure!

 

If you get it, let us know! I’m only 99% sure it will fit based off of cross referencing different sites that carry it but I haven’t seen anyone on here with it since it’s an obscure part.

 

Will do! I'm surprised @CaliRaisedLed isn't all over these. They seem to be in demand.

 

Also torn where to put my gmrs antenna.
The roof if I can fish wire through the existing shark fin antenna. I wouldn't mind drilling a hole in that plastic.
Also there are some rubber plugs in the back of the cab. Only issue there is the cable flapping in the wind.
Also thinking about just bolting a metal plate to those 2 bolt holes at the front of the bed and magnetically mounting it there. I know less ideal, but I'm not drilling or scratching paint.

Hmmm.

 

I meant to ask, for routing the antenna, if I route the cable through the driver's side main electrical penetration will I get interference/static? Or should I mount and route through the passenger side to avoid cable contact with the OEM electrical system?

 

I went through the main electrical grommet to the passenger side hood. I zip-tied the antenna cable to the cable running in the same direction and kept all the slack against the firewall inside the cab. No static or interference so far. Oh, and its a Midland 3db antenna for GMRS use.

 

Where’d you decide to mount the antenna again? I went through a floor grommet and kept it away from anything electrical just in case. Would really suck to go through the effort of routing the cable only to have interference issues. I don’t know how susceptible the cables are to that though.

 

I'll use this hood mount https://www.victory4x4.com/product/VT3CB-BARE.html and solder a NMO style connection. I just wasn't set on driver or passenger side. If static is an issue keeping it close to the driver's side I'll run through the AC drip port on the passenger side.

 

Just a friendly reminder to anyone running RF cables/radio chassis harness etc, make sure you're not physically interfering with airbag deployment zones

 

I saw that Radio and also have been waiting on Midland to release the MXT575, which it sounds like will be a

$160 MXT275 MicroMobile GMRS Radio - 15 watts Two-Way Radio with Integrated Control Microphone - Overland Caravanning Tractors - Detachable External Magnetic Mount Antenna - 8 Repeater Channels

MXT275 with 50W, wideband capability and I think it has the capability to transmit on more channels than the 275. Honestly the 275 is plenty of radio for my use, but it would be nice to have the extra power and channel/wideband capability if things got really hairy and I needed to communicate.

I'll be interested to see your setup and performance. Antenna mounting is one thing I have some hesitation about. I would like to use the hood hinge mount type antenna brackets but that gives a poor ground plane AFAIK.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZeBmj9_UNMoqDHSO7QtzXg has some good no-nonsense reviews for "real world" applications of the

$160 MXT275 MicroMobile GMRS Radio - 15 watts Two-Way Radio with Integrated Control Microphone - Overland Caravanning Tractors - Detachable External Magnetic Mount Antenna - 8 Repeater Channels

MXT275. If I remember correctly he's getting out past 10 miles with an imperfect ground plane and the stock antenna. He gets more distance with the Ghost NMO and 6dB antennas, obviously.