GMRS Antenna Wire Length and Position Question

[Climber Rob]

i like the convenience and ease of running the thin cable out my door with no issues of squishing or damaging it. I run it under the pillar door seal up to the top of my truck. I couldn’t do that with thicker cable. I need to find a comm shop to see if they can shorten it to 10’ probably would be cheaper than buying the crimpers.

Check out the Comet Deluxe mobile assemblies, such as the CK-3NMO Deluxe (there are other lengths and connectors available in the line, as well). They splice a short section of 1.5D-QEFV, which is very similar to RG-174, onto 3.5D-QEFV, which is a lower-loss cable than RG-58 but handles similarly. The PL-259 connector can be desoldered, cut, and resoldered, but it's not the easiest connector to solder correctly. Best to have a shop or friend do it if your soldering skills aren't great. Good cables, though. I have never had an issue with them and the short length of small-diameter cable at the end is really nice for routing, without having to sacrifice the entire cable run to higher-loss.

 

[DaveInDenver]

i like the convenience and ease of running the thin cable out my door with no issues of squishing or damaging it. I run it under the pillar door seal up to the top of my truck. I couldn’t do that with thicker cable. I need to find a comm shop to see if they can shorten it to 10’ probably would be cheaper than buying the crimpers.

It certainly is a balanced trade-off between convenience and performance. Most things radio are, though. The ideal antenna, ideal placement, ideal feedline, etc. are usually not ideal for day-to-day use. One typical example is drilling a hole in the middle of your roof is best for efficiency but only dedicated radio buffs are gonna do it. And as someone who has it can be a pain if you park often in garages. But sacrifices must be made, oh yes, they must be made.

 

[jadmt]

It certainly is a balanced trade-off between convenience and performance. Most things radio are, though. The ideal antenna, ideal placement, ideal feedline, etc. are usually not ideal for day-to-day use. One typical example is drilling a hole in the middle of your roof is best for efficiency but only dedicated radio buffs are gonna do it. And as someone who has it can be a pain if you park often in garages. But sacrifices must be made, oh yes, they must be made.

I guess I am plenty happy with the performance in fact I am amazed at how far it reaches out.