Antenna mounts

[java]

looking for opions on a hood lip vs. roof rack mount. im leaning toward a comet fold over antenna and i think the roof rack is a good spot because i can then just fold it down and leave it, but its aweful tall when its up. there are alot of trees around the PNW.
the hood lip just doesnt fold up as nice, thats my draw back.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Assuming you are talking about VHF. Higher is better. Use a whip with a spring and don't worry about it. I found with a fender mount that in trees you still hit the whip, which on my truck wore the paint on the edge of the hood away after a while. I move the antenna up to the roof and drilled a hole. In trees I use a Larsen NMO2/70SP, stubby 19" dual band antenna with a spring. You'll find the fold-over feature is fine for what it is, but climbing up and folding the antenna up and down gets old and with it folded you can't use it, so what good is it for trail runs? Also it seems that trails with lots of trees have a bit more clearance right down the middle and so it's possible that with the antenna in the middle of the roof you will hit less trees than the ones along the edge waiting to grab stuff.

 

[java]

Assuming you are talking about VHF. Higher is better. Use a whip with a spring and don't worry about it. I found with a fender mount that in trees you still hit the whip, which on my truck wore the paint on the edge of the hood away after a while. I move the antenna up to the roof and drilled a hole. In trees I use a Larsen NMO2/70SP, stubby 19" dual band antenna with a spring. You'll find the fold-over feature is fine for what it is, but climbing up and folding the antenna up and down gets old and with it folded you can't use it, so what good is it for trail runs? Also it seems that trails with lots of trees have a bit more clearance right down the middle and so it's possible that with the antenna in the middle of the roof you will hit less trees than the ones along the edge waiting to grab stuff.

looking for a 2m/70cm antenna, the rack stays on my truck full time so i dont really want something in the middle of it. so it would be an off center mount. do you think a stubby 19" on the roof is better than a 38" whip on the hood?