Car Camping / Trip Reports / Photos / Buildouts / “Overland” / Expedition Rigs Area (homeless?)

Thats a pretty awkward place to mount the antenna but meh, i've got mine on the roof.

 

I like it there. I see jeeps with there's mounted on the swingout not even clearing the roof!

 

Jeep problems... :roll eyes:

 

If I'm not mistaken, that's what the tabs are meant for. Look at ARB's Facebook or website and they almost always have their HAM/CB antannae a there. It's where I'll be mounting mine when I get an ARB. It's also better for reception. Having them close to the body will interfere with range.

 

Had a productive day. I changed my rear diff and transfer case fluid. I added some more gasket material under my topper hopefully that will stop the little leak I had upfront. Mounted my new cobra 75 and mag mount antenna and I bent up a panel to hold my blue seas aux fuse panel.


My truck looks weird without the topper on it. But thank god for using the over head crane in the hangar made it pretty easy.


Ran the coax the same as my last antenna


And where it will be plugging in and in its holder when in use. But I will just keep it in the center console when it's not in use .

 

Get install. I have that same CB and put my antenna on the corner of my ARB by the headlight right behind headlight hoop. The antenna doubles as a corner guide.

 

I use mine as a roof guide for entering garages.

 

False. An antenna mounted in the center of a roof is well documented as the ideal location for an excellent ground plain.

 

The only thing worse than the jeep example, would be to do some kind of mount to the tow hitch, which would place the antenna even lower, increasing ground losses and introducing more obstructions.

Yeah basically, what Trump said, antenna mounted on the roof in the center of the vehicle is ideal. You want as much metal directly under the base of the antenna and no adjacent metallic obstructions.

 

I don't think he was saying that the front bumper is the best location, just that its better than up close to the body. Which is true.

On the roof has the least interference but a lot of people don't like to use magnetic mounts or have the antenna wire loose along the roof. So after that, the front bumper is the next best option IMO.

 

or drill a hole in the roof.

 

Hmm...maybe I should have been more clear. Having it on the front bumper is better for reception than where Jeeps typically have them or behind the cab of the truck on a bed rail like have seen as a common mounting place on Tacos.

Also an example of a less than ideal mounting place would be like where colinb17 has his in that GIF ^^^.

 

That'll be happening on my rig sometime this year.

 

What bothersme about all this optimization antenna talk is no-one ever says how much range its going to cost them. I had the guys at hro whining about my mount location, crying I'm losing range, but not one would even venture a geuss as to how much.

 

My Cobra 29LTD BT could only get about two miles on a good day with this set up. I should have easily been able to reach five miles.

 

I've picked up guys 6 miles behind them on the highway running Wilson 1000 on the roof. And they could maybe hear me at 1.5-1 mile back with my tailgate mounted firestik.

 

I've got my antenna mounted on the roof. It is a Browning base with a stainless steel whip, cut down to 45.5", screwed onto a permanently mounted base. It may not be the ideal spot aesthetically, but I have a radio for reasons other than aesthetics and I want it to work when I need it. When I was in this picture, I was picking up radio traffic from the highway; I was close to 6 miles off at that point. Granted, I was on high ground, but the weather wasn't clear either. I do want to test my setup's range for both receiving and transmitting, as I do know that those are different.

 

Too many variables to pin it down. You'll get way more distance on the highway through Kansas than you will in a canyon in Utah. Weather, air particulates all play a factor too. Antenna location is just one piece to the puzzle. The radio itself makes a difference, the cable used, how it's routed, how its grounded, length of the cable, other electronics causing interference. Lots of stuff that can affect how well a radio receives/transmits.

 

My roof has to much going on...