Posted: 7/29/2013 8:49:09 AM EDT
| I am a new Ham and am looking for some help, I have done my best searching but I am just having trouble nailing down the right answer. I have a 2006 Acura Tsx with a sun roof that I want to put a mobile rig in. Really the only thing I can't figure out is the antenna placement. I have no problem drilling the car to use a NMO mount, but with the sun roof going so far back the antenna will have to be far back on the roof where it is slightly sloped. So I guess my question is should I mount the antenna on the rear of the roof about where it starts to slope some or should I try and mount it on the middle of the trunk lid. Thank you in advance for all of your help. |
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Quoted:
I am a new Ham and am looking for some help, I have done my best searching but I am just having trouble nailing down the right answer. I have a 2006 Acura Tsx with a sun roof that I want to put a mobile rig in. Really the only thing I can't figure out is the antenna placement. I have no problem drilling the car to use a NMO mount, but with the sun roof going so far back the antenna will have to be far back on the roof where it is slightly sloped. So I guess my question is should I mount the antenna on the rear of the roof about where it starts to slope some or should I try and mount it on the middle of the trunk lid. Thank you in advance for all of your help. Middle of the trunk lid. |
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It would be hard to say without testing both locations and actually measuring the difference. With few exceptions you're not going to find a vehicle that is going to give you a texbook ground plane and undisturbed pattern.
Granted, that's not really much of an answer. How much area will you have around the antenna if it's mounted on the roof? |
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Quoted:
It would be hard to say without testing both locations and actually measuring the difference. With few exceptions you're not going to find a vehicle that is going to give you a texbook ground plane and undisturbed pattern. Granted, that's not really much of an answer. How much area will you have around the antenna if it's mounted on the roof? It would be 18 inches back from the sunroof and about 24 inches forward from the top of the glass with 21 inches on each side. I have a mag mount antenna with a Baofeng HT I'm using right now. I think I will try the different antenna locations and see if any notices a change in the quality of the signal as a rough test. |
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I put an NMO mount in the roof of my SRT-4. I put the sunroof all the way back, measured from the glass to the sunroof, pulled down the rear of the headliner, looked underneath, measured more... found the one spot where I could drill that would clear both, and took the plunge. I used the thick metal 3/8" NMO mount, with a couple washers, as I prefer drilling a 3/8" hole vs. a 3/4" hole. Plus the washers help with stiffness with this new thin crappy sheet metal they use nowadays. My roof slopes back a little there, too, no big deal, it's close enough to vertical. I prefer it there, over the trunk, as the trunk's ground isn't as good, usually, it's lower on the vehicle, and when you open the trunk, you'll probably smack the antenna on the roof every time.  |
2 posts in 5 years. Hopefully you talk on the radio more than you talk on here. 
J/k, J/k 
I ran into the same problem with the sun roof on my DD, a Toyota Celica. There is no trunk lid to drill into because it's a hatch back so I ended up getting a lip mount and it works fine. |
| Thanks for all of the help and advice I really appreciate it. I know I am not the most active poster, but I find this forum to be a wealth of information. Also I always try to do my best with the search function. It's stupid but I think I have a fear of being that guy everyone tells to use the search function. I try to be as active as possible on the radio, but the repeaters around here are hit or miss with activity. At this point I think I am going to go with a mount on the roof. I saw they make mounts that tilt so I can get the antenna a little closer to vertical, but it seems like that might be a waste if the angle is very minute. |
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Quoted:
Thanks for all of the help and advice I really appreciate it. I know I am not the most active poster, but I find this forum to be a wealth of information. Also I always try to do my best with the search function. It's stupid but I think I have a fear of being that guy everyone tells to use the search function. I try to be as active as possible on the radio, but the repeaters around here are hit or miss with activity. At this point I think I am going to go with a mount on the roof. I saw they make mounts that tilt so I can get the antenna a little closer to vertical, but it seems like that might be a waste if the angle is very minute. Based on the photos i've seen of the TSX with sunroofs, I think theres enough room for a magmount to try it. I don't think the angle will hurt anything other than someones obsessive compulsiveness. The other option is the trunklid. It just may not radiate as well. Test either or with a good SWR meter though but I think you are good to go. |
| I prefer the rooftop mount for 5/8 wave antenas but as I like to say, outside of the perfection of free space, radiation patterns are fuzzy. I have had 2 sunroof equipped VWs with roof mounted antennas and they worked fine despite the slight tilt and being close to the back edge of the roof. I decided once to bumper mount a tall collinear and it didn't come close to doing what the smaller antenna would do on the roof. |
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Been thinking about doing a mobile setup in my Blazer...but I don't feel like drilling the roof of my blazer as I'll probably be selling it in a year or so for a truck. I was thinking about doing a NMO mount for mobile VHF/UHF and HT transceivers through a quarter inch plate clamped around the bars of the roof rack. Totally removeable, route cable back and though existing openings. |