Amateur Radio Problem

[Actus542]

There are quite a few reviews and videos on youtube. It operates better if placed near the edge of the vehicle closer to the rear if possible, and not in the center of the roof.
Simply moving placement on the vehicle can have an impact on performance and swr.

To clarify I do not own one. Watched many videos and read reviews. I have been contemplating using one on my car. My fj looks perfectly fine with antennas poking out everywhere. If I add a radio to my sedan, I will be using this antenna.

I’ll dig into it more. I plan on using a trunk lip mount for the Outback so at the back on the edge would be exactly where it goes. Thank you for letting me know about it because that could work out really well especially with just how small it is!

 

[KyleGrant]

I plan on showing her a picture of an HF screwdriver antenna and say “see, at least I’m not asking that”.

I won't show you the back of my Roadtrek then

 

[Actus542]

I plan on showing her a picture of an HF screwdriver antenna and say “see, at least I’m not asking that”.

I won't show you the back of my Roadtrek then

Now I want to see it lmao

 

[WareWolf MoonWall]

I have a Compactenna SCAN-III that I got to try on my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee because she was concerned about anything blocking her view and needed to be able to easily still get into / out of a parking garage and home garage without jumping out every time she wanted to park. We personally didn't think it worked as well as the Comet 2x4SR that we installed on a lip mount to her hatch. We put the mount low on the hatch, around the brake light so that the top of the antenna only adds maybe 1.25' to the vehicle height.

Visually, it's like a tall aerosol can in the 24-30oz realm which I personally think is more distracting than a thin whip antenna. We also tried mounting it on the hood of her Jeep on both the driver and passenger side as shown on that pickup above and it was massively obnoxious and made 4 way stops seem dangerous to my wife. I wouldn't be surprised to get pulled over by a cop thinking you had obstructed view.

That isn't to say the CompactTenna isn't good, but it did not outperform my personal favorite mobile antenna as we were able to configure them for our needs, on her Jeep. I also tried the Compactenna on a tall tripod mount using the counterpoise kit they sell as a base antenna, and it also doesn't not quite seem to be as effective as the Comet on the same setup with the counterpoise. I personlly need more time to keep playing with it, but I don't think it's the magic bullet that many people want it to be, or the particular nature of an optimal for this antenna eludes me (and others based on online feedback).

YMMV

 

[WareWolf MoonWall]

On a side note... If you can find a solution to deal with temporary placement of the antenna that keeps the wife happy - I can recommend you check out the VR-N7500 as a dual band solution. You don't have to mount anything in the car because your phone becomes the head unit / speaker / mic. You can stick the receiver (small like a pack of hotdogs) under a seat or behind the glove box / spare tire. Additionally, if you have your phone connected to the vehicle stereo through Android auto, your radio will play though the built-in stereo which may help if you tend to find you need to install dedicated speakers.

 

[KyleGrant]

Now I want to see it lmao

Here it tis! Actually just got this thing working today (not connected in the picture below). It's a Tarheel screwdriver HF antenna, made a quick contact using my ICOM 705 from the driveway, 10 watts from Wichita to a guy running Parks on the Air at Park K0030 (Grand Canyon). This will probably be my go-to Parks on the Air rig (not the 705, that's my hiking/motorcycle radio) and I'll just leave everything setup in the van, drive to a park and in minutes I can be on the air without throwing my antennas in a tree or other setup. I do have an antenna mount on the Rover I plan to use as well, just haven't gotten to configuring it quite yet.





The black antenna is my dual-band VHF/UHF, used for an FTM-400 typically while mobile only.

 

[El Viking]

I have an IC-7000 and a Wouxun KG-1000G in my Jeep, I remote mounted the radios so they are out of site which keeps the install looking cleaner.
My antennas are permanently mounted, I modified an aluminum light bracket for rear of Jeep for the antennas. Not perfect in terms of ground plane, SWR is decent.

 

[OkieMountaineer]

That is slick!

Hide it something like this.