GMRS Antenna mounting solution (I think)

[diabetiktaco]

I've currently got a Midland MXT115 micro mobile w/ the shorty antenna it comes with on the roof. It works fine on repeater channels but I'd like more range. I'm looking at this antenna on Amazon right now and you can purchase a hole mount for it. I'm wanting to install the antenna on the front light bar I've got (Pics below) so I can have the longer antenna but mounted lower so I can fit in the garage. Two questions...

1. Will I benefit from a longer antenna w/ higher gain mounted lower than my current shorty antenna?
2. Does it look like this will work for mounting in a small 1" diameter hole? (I can drill it out further if I need to)

You can see to the left and right of the intensitys there's another tab there for mounting lights. I want to mount it behind the fishing pole holders.

 

[RoarinRow]

What if you were to get a magnetic roof mount antenna for better reception/range? If you put the antenna in front then I would think the range for anyone behind you would be hindered?

 

[diabetiktaco]

What if you were to get a magnetic roof mount antenna for better reception/range? If you put the antenna in front then I would think the range for anyone behind you would be hindered?

Because I want to keep the truck in the garage and not mess with the antenna on and off all of the time.

 

[SubeeBen]

Duh I was looking at the fishing pole saying wow that’s a big antenna must get out there. :)

 

[Desert Runner]

Because I want to keep the truck in the garage and not mess with the antenna on and off all of the time.

Could you not mount it on one side of the front bumper, and then, depending on the overall length, use a small strap & clip to attach to the antennas end? This would create a bow, either long-wise, or crosswise) that should clear your garages upper door frame. I do this with a Wilson 5000 steel whip that is mounted behind the cab in a stake pocket, with the clip attached near the tailgate. By doing this i can go in under commercial covered parking areas without damaging the tip. It takes just a few seconds, and you don't have to unscrew or detach from the mounting base.

 

[RoarinRow]

Because I want to keep the truck in the garage and not mess with the antenna on and off all of the time.

The President’s CB antenna I am using for my GRMS Midland MTX105 screws on and off if mine could fit in the garage lol.

 

[Prerunner1982]

In my opinion that is too low, it would be severely blocked by the vehicle and being that close to the front sheetmetal and/or radiator it may cause problems with the SWR.
The hole for the NMO style mount needs to be 3/4" or 3/8" depending on which version you get.

I would not be surprised if the small antenna on the roof performed better than a longer antenna down on the light bar.

Depending on the budget you want to put towards this, there are fold over mounts both manual and motorized.
Manual: Diamond Antenna K515 Series Luggage Rack Mounts K515SNMO
Motorized: Diamond Antenna K9000 Series Mobile Motor Drive Mounts K9000LRMO

 

[diabetiktaco]

In my opinion that is too low, it would be severely blocked by the vehicle and being that close to the front sheetmetal and/or radiator it may cause problems with the SWR.
The hole for the NMO style mount needs to be 3/4" or 3/8" depending on which version you get.

I would not be surprised if the small antenna on the roof performed better than a longer antenna down on the light bar.

Depending on the budget you want to put towards this, there are fold over mounts both manual and motorized.
Manual: Diamond Antenna K515 Series Luggage Rack Mounts K515SNMO
Motorized: Diamond Antenna K9000 Series Mobile Motor Drive Mounts K9000LRMO

I'll take a look at those, thanks for the help.

 

[Commander Overlander]

I agree that spot on the front light bar is too low. Put it on the roof.
The mounts the other gentleman recommended are excellent .
Here is an antenna that should do the job. Before going into the garage
Pull it up and lay it over, works great.

Ultra Wide Coverage VHF/UHF Dual-band Antenna for Public Safety and Amateur Radio

This antenna is a VHF/UHF Dual-band, wide coverage antenna which is ideal for Search and Rescue, Public Safety agencies including, Fire, EMS, and Amateur communications with a handy lift and fold over hinge antenna with NMO type mount.

powerwerx.com

 

[Graeman]

You can also fab a small bracket to attach to the light pods on the hood. I just did the same thing with my new dual pod mounts on my JK. I used the lower mounts for my lights and the upper mounts for my antennas. Ham on one side and CB on the other. The ham mount is also going to have a dual switch inside so that I can either use the ham radio or the GMRS Midland MXT115 and still use the same antenna. I will post pictures of the setup once I complete it.Jeep is in Tucson and parts are in Phoenix. Hope to finish it up this weekend.

 

[Graeman]

This is what I did to my light pods.

 

[Paris0514]

I have both my 2m/440 antenna and a GRMS antenna on lip mounts on the front hood. I have experienced little to no loss.

My range has also not been effected. I can reach my repeaters 40 miles away on my 2m radio. My simplex operations have also not been effected. The length of the antenna should be considered and making sure the antenna is matched to the frenquencies you are wishing to operate on.

I would encourage anyone to look at Tri-band antenna’s which work for 2m/440/GRMS. I have used them for redundancy if one breaks or fails on the trail. I had this very instance happen where a tree limb broke one of my antenna’s. I then switched the antenna to the GRMS for trail coms and then later to my ham when we were traveling on the highway.

 

[Commander Overlander]

Love it, nice job man, lip mounts are a good way to go!

 

[eagle_A40]

I went with the hood lip mount and a Comet CA-2X4SR Dual band fold-down antenna.

 

[Commander Overlander]

Good choice, looks good!

 

[Downs]

Roof would be the best obvious choice and GMRS antennas even in a half wave format aren't that long, what about 16 inches or so. The advantage of mounting it on the roof is you can go 1/4 wave (8ish inches) and still get good performance since you have the roof working as an excellent ground plane. ANything other than that is going to be a compromise. The lowest I would personally go is a fender mount as pictured above. Down on the bumper is going to be too much of a compromise and you'll probably have better range with a HT.

Here's the one on my XJ. In this photo I'm running a Comet SSB5 but I'm currently running a slightly shorter SSB680.

 

[Commander Overlander]

Looks great, that position works just fine, they need to make much stronger antennas for Bush vehicles, gone through a few of those!

 

[Downs]

Looks great, that position works just fine, they need to make much stronger antennas for Bush vehicles, gone through a few of those!

Check out the HP-32FHN. Its not a GMRS antenna but was built specially for motorcycle mobile radio and the vibrations of a motorcycle can kill the best electronic equipment. They beefed it up quite a bit to survive that environment.

 

[TheRealMcCoy]

Excellent ideas, suggestions, and links to help this newbie entering into the GMRS setup. I recently got my radio Midland MXT400 and license. Now the fun part comes in figuring out how to mount the system in my truck. I am really glad to be part of this OB clan site just for the reason of the open sharing of ideas and help.

 

[diabetiktaco]

I don't have a winch bumper because of the weight and I don't need it but I have this brand new to market Midland 6Db gain antenna mounted on my lightbar.