Ok, so where's a better place to mount an antenna?

[MaritimeMan]

SHould I do a hood mount or a tire carrier? I'm goin with a 4' whip as per Mr. P's suggestion, and I'd like it to mount on or near the carrier. I see some cool body mounts too, and I was thinkin just above the outter edge of the right tailight housing, so I could just run the coax in there. Thoughts? ideas? Thanks

 

M.M.

[TrailChaser]

I had my firestik mounted on the spare tire carrier on my the pathy. I was told by a few people that it's not a good idea because of grounding issues..? I never had a problem.. As for the grounding issues, you could always attach a small ground wire from the carrier to the frame. Something that has room to move when you open and close it.

[Mookie]

The ideal place is on the roof in the center for the best ground plane. GG made reference to this in another thread I think. Depending on the mount and the type of wheeling you do, garage height, etc, this usually doesn't work for some people.

 

I have an 8foot fibreglass whip that I put on the rear passenger side bumper. For trail and hwy, this gives me ok range. My Ham is on the roof 'cause I need the ground plane for Distance.

[Trainman]

I have a 40 watt UHF radio for communicating with logging trucks as I drive a lot of radio controlled roads. Best is on the roof but as noted by others not always practical.

 

I have mine mounted on the left fender, opposite of the AM radio antenna. I have been told to do this for two reasons:

 

1) If I am transmitting AND the AM radio is on AND the two antenna touch, that is 40 watts blasting into the AM radio. Result? One fried radio, maybe two.

 

2) Left fender is away from the curb, less likely to be vandalized/pinched.

 

My antenna is tuned to the frequencies I am licensed for so it is not as long as the ones mentioned above but I still get good range.

 

I realize you are using a different type of radio but maybe this will help