Magnetic Antenna Mounts

[pepper kay]

Does anyone have experience using a mag mount for their antenna ? ...

I have a Cobra 75 installed and an ICOM ham radio ready to install and would prefer not to be drilling holes in my truck ...

I have seen some pretty hefty mag mounts but wonder if they really are secure enough for everyday driving ...

Offroading is of course another thing entirely ... I have no problem with taking the antennas down in areas that are heavilly wooded ... sorta like taking it all down to park in my garage ...

Suggestions ?? ...

[rednec]

If it's a true CB mag mount then it should be fine. I didn't want to drill any holes in my truck either. I had a small mag mount antenna for a while but decided I wanted something bigger. I went to radio shack and bought a fend lip mount. It worked out pretty good. I used one of the bolts that holds the fend on to secure it then put 4 self tapping screws in it to make sure it doesn't go anywhere. I like this setup alot better. In my experiance you get better RX/TX with a solid mount. Just my .02

[Lance]

I have the Cobra HH 45 WX ST (Hand Held w/ built-in ant.)...works great for trails, even w/o exterior antennae...but was short compared to the over the road units, gets me about a 2 mile range. I added a magnetic mount whip, and that boosted the range to more like 5 - 7 miles depending upon conditions. The magnet holds tight, no problems. Just make sure the metal you stick it to is spotless...or you will be sanding that spot as you drive...the whip bends as far as it needs to when you hit branchs, etc...it doesn't jar the ant mount.

I jump in and out of an assortment of rigs...for work, so a perm/drilled mount is impractical unless I buy/install a batch of ant's ahead of time...(Hence the hand held....like a mike with every thing built in...no cords, but lower wattage than the boosted built-ins, only 4 watts)

A tuned perm mount would of course give even better range/clarity, but for me, I'm at the point of diminishing return when I tune the ant length on each mag mount point, and then mark the circles, so I can reattach to the same spot w/o re-tuning the ant the next time.

The clip ons are good, and if just to avoid a hole, a good way to go too....just seal the contact points in, after getting a good ground, to prevent rust.

As for parking garages...the whip gives as it hits each beam across the ceiling decks, as no damage has been noted (Lots of different garages too....) ...so I leave it on and let it whip the ceiling decking...the sound when the whip whacks those hanging metal signs can be a surprise for other parkers sometimes...but no sign, mag mount/ant or truck damage occurs....kind of fun after a while... )

Good Luck!

[Toy Man]

I have used a HD Radio Shack magnetic mount with 3' whip on various trail runs with no problems. Worked ok.

[wilburburns]

As a Ham radio operator, I have used many different kinds of antenna mounts. Quality is usually good with a magnet mount that has been proberly tuned, but if it is left on the vehicle for a long time, it will scratch the paint. Water/mud/grit can and will get under the magnet with time. Then, the small vibrations caused by driving will grind into the paint. Also, Paint fade could also ba an issue if the antenna was left on long enough. Now, there's the problem of haveing the wire always in the way. It will get tangled in someone's feet and get broken, or worse could drag the antenna off the vehicle. Makeing one big scratch on the roof.

My preference is a hard mount antenna somewhere. Possible building a mount that attaches to the roof rack for the X. My Father and brother-in-law have done this on their Suburban and Durango's. Hide the wires under the carpet, and you will be much happier.

Be sure and stay away from window mount antenna's though. They just suck. Don't ask me how I know. My Wallet still hurts from trying them.

All that being said....If you are in a situation like lance and are always changeing vehicles, then go with a Magnet mount, otherwise don't. Magnet mounts should be used for temporary use. There are plenty of other options that don't require drilling holes.

Cliff
--------
Normal Discalimer here.....These are my opinions and you don't have to agree. Info gained from my experience.

[pepper kay]

Hi Guys:

Good advice from one and all ...

I built a sheet steel flat plate that fastens to the basket rack of the Xterra ...

It's wide enough to hold 3 4" mag mounts for various antennas ...

The wires exit under the basket and come through the rear left door, where I've tucked them behind the molding and then snaked them under the carpet to the various radio positions ...

I now can have all 3 antennas up or 1 or 2 or none and it takes less than a minute to either remove or install them ...

As the flat plate is bolted to the basket, the mounts don't even touch the paint, so will have no problems there ...

[Schludwiller]

Welcome to the board Pepper!

[Toy Man]

I built a sheet steel flat plate that fastens to the basket rack of the Xterra ...

I did a small plate for my magnetic antennas. Had erratic results so I got rid of it. I assume the ground plane was too small.

[Goliath the X]

Originally posted by pepper kay

It's wide enough to hold 3 4" mag mounts for various antennas ...
...

I can't remember exactly how much room should be between antennas but if you've got 3 antennas side by side. Be prepared for interference and/or weak performance.

[pepper kay]

Hi Schlud ... glad to be here ... getting weary of wading through 100 posts at XOC to get one nugget ...

I don't think the mounting location that I'm going to use will be a problem ... I won't have 3 radios on and in use at the same time ... one of them is a scanner, so it's RX only ... I'm still not sure if I'm going to use a CB, so it may just wind up being the ham antenna and the scanner antenna ...

Also, I would turn off the scanner before doing any TX with the ham/cb, so that shouldn't bother the scanner at all ...

Now, wouldn't the entire roof be part of the ground plane ?? ... I wasn't depending on the sheet of steel mounting plate to act as the ground plane ...

Suggestions ?? ...

[Powerguy37]

My experience with the roof mounted magnetic mount was horrible. At ECXC, I was stopping every 5-10 minutes to put it back up after being knocked over by branches ets. I even zip tied it to the roof rack. I broke the zip ties too. I now have a 4' antenna mounted on my front bumber.

-Dana :sun:

[Synchro]

the problem you may end up with by using that mount plate is that you are affecting the radiation pattern from the antenna. with that plate you are creating a reflector like in a yagi antenna depending on the size of the plate. so your radiation pattern before was a largish sphere, it will now be broken up and bit perhaps and reflecting strangely.

the other possible problem will be that the plate may act as a 1/4 wave antenna spines which need to be seperated and a certain length, not a solid sheet. this too can effect your radiation pattern.

just sort of thinking off the top of my head here. it could be a multitude of things.

but without question the size of that plate is going to effect your radiation pattern.

[pepper kay]

I cut the steel plate size down so that the mag mount covers it completely and nothing projects from underneath ... therefore, the entire roof will act as the plane ...

Testing the past few days shows a marked improvement in the performance of the scanner ... when I install the ham radio, I'm going to do the same thing and just be sure that I have the scanner turned off when I transmit on the ham ...