Ham Antenna Mount Question

[RainierandTacos]

I finally found and ordered my mobile radio and have been looking at antenna mounting options. In my search for ideas I ran across this product from Rago:


I am going to be fabricating new ditch light brackets when the weather gets nicer and was considering building an antenna mount into one side anyway, but something like this would be much simpler to build since I already have the leftover bar stock from previous projects. Has anyone run something like this before and if so did you have any issues with antenna tuning? Would I be better off getting a lip mount for the hood? Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Prerunner1982]

What type of vehicle?

 

[TerryD]

I finally found and ordered my mobile radio and have been looking at antenna mounting options. In my search for ideas I ran across this product from Rago:
View attachment 141956
View attachment 141957
I am going to be fabricating new ditch light brackets when the weather gets nicer and was considering building an antenna mount into one side anyway, but something like this would be much simpler to build since I already have the leftover bar stock from previous projects. Has anyone run something like this before and if so did you have any issues with antenna tuning? Would I be better off getting a lip mount for the hood? Any thoughts or recommendations would be appreciated. Thank you.

That doesn't look like a good tie into the vehicle body for a good ground. I would be leery of it. Plus you'll need to remove all the paint from both your antenna mount and ditch light bracket at the contact points to make sure you have good RF continuity.

 

[RainierandTacos]

What type of vehicle?

It's a 3rd Gen Tacoma, 2020.

That doesn't look like a good tie into the vehicle body for a good ground. I would be leery of it. Plus you'll need to remove all the paint from both your antenna mount and ditch light bracket at the contact points to make sure you have good RF continuity.

That's what I was thinking would be necessary. Would taking paint off the underside of the hood where the bracket mounts be necessary as well? I would be fabricating these myself so I wouldn't even screw with paint at the contact points.

 

[TerryD]

It's a 3rd Gen Tacoma, 2020.



That's what I was thinking would be necessary. Would taking paint off the underside of the hood where the bracket mounts be necessary as well? I would be fabricating these myself so I wouldn't even screw with paint at the contact points.

It would be best, yes. Also you could use tinned copper braid straps to connect it to the body. That way you'd only have to make sure the surface was bare under the connection points of the braid straps rather than stripping a larger area where the bracket contacts the body.

 

[RainierandTacos]

To add some clarity, took this off of Relentless' website to show how my brackets would be installing.

 

[RainierandTacos]

It would be best, yes. Also you could use tinned copper braid straps to connect it to the body. That way you'd only have to make sure the surface was bare under the connection points of the braid straps rather than stripping a larger area where the bracket contacts the body.

That was something I had considered as well. Please forgive me for my limited knowledge, but the goal on going that route is to keep the strap as short as possible, correct?

 

[TerryD]

That was something I had considered as well. Please forgive me for my limited knowledge, but the goal on going that route is to keep the strap as short as possible, correct?

Yes. You'd want the strap running from the bracket to the nearest body bolt with good metal to metal contact on both ends of the strap. A little copper anti-seize applied to the contact area will help seal out moisture and the anti-seize is conductive so it also helps provide a good ground. DX Engineering provides the Loc-tite brand copper anti-seize with most of their grounding systems so that's what I've always used on my connection points both on my vehicle and around the house.

 

[RainierandTacos]

Yes. You'd want the strap running from the bracket to the nearest body bolt with good metal to metal contact on both ends of the strap. A little copper anti-seize applied to the contact area will help seal out moisture and the anti-seize is conductive so it also helps provide a good ground. DX Engineering provides the Loc-tite brand copper anti-seize with most of their grounding systems so that's what I've always used on my connection points both on my vehicle and around the house.

Awesome, I will definitely look into that then. Thank you for your input!

 

[Sparksalot]

You could always bite the bullet and mount one on the roof. If your concerned about height, there are options available. The two closer antennas are both dual band 2/70 units. The stubby is about 4 inches. The third antenna is a 1/4 wave 2m unit. It’s pretty flexible in itself.

 

[RainierandTacos]

You could always bite the bullet and mount one on the roof. If your concerned about height, there are options available. The two closer antennas are both dual band 2/70 units. The stubby is about 4 inches. The third antenna is a 1/4 wave 2m unit. It’s pretty flexible in itself.
View attachment 141994

While I know this is the most ideal installation, I still get squeamish when I think about drilling through my roof. I know I'll eventually end up drilling holes in things but on a new vehicle I'm trying to prolong the inevitable as long as I can, if that makes sense.

 

[J.W.]

I know what you mean about drilling a new vehicle. I didn’t know how I wanted the roof rack layout so I used two mag mount antennas. They ended up working well so I’ve just kept them.

 

[RainierandTacos]

I know what you mean about drilling a new vehicle. I didn’t know how I wanted the roof rack layout so I used two mag mount antennas. They ended up working well so I’ve just kept them.

Add that to the list of things I forgot to think about. Eventual roof rack installation...

 

[Sparksalot]

While I know this is the most ideal installation, I still get squeamish when I think about drilling through my roof. I know I'll eventually end up drilling holes in things but on a new vehicle I'm trying to prolong the inevitable as long as I can, if that makes sense.

I can understand. This is the first vehicle in my ham career where I've had this kind of installation.

What I'm really enjoying is not having to worry about water infiltration round the coax routed through a door or hatch. The ground plane is closer to ideal. With NMO mounts, I can change antennas out very quickly. I often put a 10m whip at the rear position for longer road trips.

After this experience, I feel i'd be more inclined to bite the bullet and do another vehicle.

 

[RainierandTacos]

I can understand. This is the first vehicle in my ham career where I've had this kind of installation.

What I'm really enjoying is not having to worry about water infiltration round the coax routed through a door or hatch. The ground plane is closer to ideal. With NMO mounts, I can change antennas out very quickly. I often put a 10m whip at the rear position for longer road trips.

After this experience, I feel i'd be more inclined to bite the bullet and do another vehicle.

I've had the water intrusion on past vehicles I've run Mag mount antennas on, which was why I was leaning towards the ditch light bracket. I can have a pretty short run of cable through a grommet in the firewall and not worry about water getting in. Looks like I'm going to be scouring the web for anyone that's done a roof install on a Taco...

 

[Prerunner1982]

The Rago mount would work fine with a 1/2 wave 2m antenna as it doesn't require a ground plane, however for other antennas that do you would have to remove much of the powder coating from the antenna bracket and the ditch light bracket in multiple places.

You could also go with a fender mount instead of the ditch light or hood lip mount for a better ground.

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/toyota-tacoma-lexus-lx450-2015-2019-8953

The generic L brackets are much cheaper.

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/mobile-antenna-mounts-264/fender-bracket-mounts-268/nmo-brackets-no-cable-1038/

 

[Downs]

Even if you don't go with a though roof moun't I'd still go with a NMO base over a UHF base. The NMO mount is far better.

 

[RainierandTacos]

The Rago mount would work fine with a 1/2 wave 2m antenna as it doesn't require a ground plane, however for other antennas that do you would have to remove much of the powder coating from the antenna bracket and the ditch light bracket in multiple places.

You could also go with a fender mount instead of the ditch light or hood lip mount for a better ground.

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/toyota-tacoma-lexus-lx450-2015-2019-8953

The generic L brackets are much cheaper.

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/mobile-antenna-mounts-264/fender-bracket-mounts-268/nmo-brackets-no-cable-1038/

I'll look at those, too. Do you or anyone have experience with how they hold up to on trail use?

Even if you don't go with a though roof moun't I'd still go with a NMO base over a UHF base. The NMO mount is far better.

My intent was to work an NMO mount into whatever I ended up fabricating for it. Thanks everyone for your input so far I've got a lot to look into that i hadn't thought about.

 

[Prerunner1982]

I'll look at those, too. Do you or anyone have experience with how they hold up to on trail use?

Never had a problem. I have had friends who used them, I built my own.

 

[RainierandTacos]

Never had a problem. I have had friends who used them, I built my own.

If I may ask, what material did you use to make yours?