UHF Aerials

[Ekki Adventurers]

I wonder why all this discussion is only on mounting the aerial on the bar - why not the roof rack?
Ekki

[OutBacker]

Hi,

cloughcarib: I seem to remember ZCG making good antenae during the old 27MHz days. Pretty flexible and well made from what I recall. I'm a fan of the GME gear. I have the GME 6/9DB fold down antenna. It performs well but is not really designed for the rigors of bull bar mounting. It seems to have suffered from the vibrations of the diesel engine but still works fine. I saw a site that suggested only the strongest aerials should be mounted on bullbars of diesel 4WDs.

Ekki Adventurers: Roof rack mounts may give better performance but will be more likely to be hit by things. I used to have a roof mount and I had to be so careful with it in the city. If you ever forgot it was on and went into a car park you knew about it even with a small aerial on it.

Brad

[Ekki Adventurers]

Ah
Wooky tells me we haven't been able to fit into a carpark with the roof rack on for years so the aerial is irrelevant. Ha Ha
He does hit the aerial sometimes with the trees overhead but we only run a 900mm tall wire one (looking a bit sad now though). I'd be interested to know if anyone on the O'Tooles trips with us had trouble hearing us. We also have a stubby 125mm one we use in the city.

[OutBacker]

Carparks and garages just weren't made for 4x4s let alone ones with height modifications.

I'd love a roof rack but would hate the extra list of things that I would hit because of it.

I have a Codan 9350 HF Autotune and I have to be careful with that even with the whip taken off. I have seen some campers with one mounted on the top of the roof. That would be nice and help the signal get out a little better (with improved ground plane) but I I could only fill up with diesel at bowsers designed for trucks and I'd have to forget about underground car parks and shopping centres.

Brad

[Yota]

I always carry 2 uhf antennas when travelling a 6.5 and a 9dbi antenna. The 6.5 is good for most of the time especially when dealing with car parks and drive throughs but can switch to the 9dbi for more range when travelling. The roof rack carries a 2.3 metre length of PVC drainage pipe with screw on caps each end. I also carry A spare dual band 6/9dbi 2metre,70cm antenna for use on the ic-706 and a wire dipole for use on HF as an emergency antenna to back up the HF whip.

[Toon77]

Guys, great info on here. Thanks very much. Another newby, now with a much better idea of what I need. Cheers

[hyfly]

Hi Guys, nice topic!

do the antenna's you use fit my 5w dualband handheld aswell? I think it has a SMA connecting. Does anyone has a suitable solution for that?

cheers Stefan

[Yota]

Stefan, It should be possible to get an SMA connector to fit most sizes of coax otherwise you can fit an adapter to change from SO239 to SMA, the first option is obviously the best as the less connectors you have in the line the better. When you say dual band handheld are you meaning a ham 2 metre 70cm rigor a PRS/ 27mhz radio?

[hyfly]

hi Yota, Its a 70cm and 2 meter (uhf and vhf)

[Yota]

Originally Posted by hyfly

hi Yota, Its a 70cm and 2 meter (uhf and vhf)

Stefan, Some of the chinese dual banders use what is called a reverse SMA connection. I understand there are connections available to concert from PL259 to SMA reverse and also N connector to the SMA reverse connector. Visit your local ham store and they should be able to point you in the right connection other wist some of the auction sites such as ebay may have them available. To get a good match you will need a dual banded 2metre /70cm antenna. As a last resort you may have to order from a USA company such as RF Parts.