Need a little antenna help. 2m/70cm

[Ripper]

As the title says, I need a little help choosing an antenna for my mobile ham set up. I will be mounting on the lip of the fender of my Xterra. Ive been wondering if I need to clear the roof rack. I dont want to put one on the roof rack as I am in the Northeast, and we have low ceilings with all the trees on the trails here. In addition to that I use the roof rack quite often.

A thought Ive had is to run a longer when when on the road or out west where there arent any trees to rip it off and run a smaller while on the trails for simplex.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Here in a pic of where my GMRS is installed, and where I will be putting the dual band.

 

[Airmapper]

I use this in the same exact position:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00QJ27OY8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Been quite happy with it. I'm set up identical to you, snorkel, NMO fender bolt mount on drivers side, and soon I'll have a GOBI. I don't anticipate the GOBI will throw it off much but I can't be sure since I haven't got it yet.

That antenna linked is longer than your GMRS antenna, but it's not much taller than the stock rack on the X. It folds but I've only had to tilt it a few times in thick brush, even then just pull up, and it will tilt over on the windshield where the snorkel protects it.

 

[Frdmskr]

Larsen NMO270. Indestructible, no goofy lobes. Simple and effective. Last mobile V/UHF antenna you ever buy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Robert Bills]

Larsen NMO270B. Indestructible, no goofy lobes. Simple and effective. . . .

^^^ This.

Larsen NMO2/70B (34.5" simple open coil) or NMO2/70SH (19" closed coil with spring).

 

[Crom]

A third vote for the Larsen.

 

[conifers4]

Bookmarking

 

[Frdmskr]

Personally I use the open coil since its maintenance free (almost.) If it gets iced up or snow give it a whack and the coil is clear.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Add another big fan of the Larsen 2/70 with open coil.

 

[conifers4]

DaveInDenver, can you provide the mount info on your Tacoma please.

 

[DaveInDenver]

I repurposed a CBI Fab ditch light bracket. Had to upsize the hole to fit an NMO base and sealed the back side with silicone.

I did have to do a little custom fitting to make the bracket fit cleanly, nothing too difficult and this would have had to happen even if I was using it for lights as intended.

http://www.cbioffroadfab.com/products/2nd-gen-toyota-tacoma-products/t2-ditch-light-brackets/

 

[Ripper]

Purchased the Larsen today. Hopefully it clears the roof rack. Think I needed something like 55" to clear it. Hopefully it will work and I'll get the distance I need.

 

[Broko]

I used a vehicle specific mount for my 2016 F150. I can't do a roof mount as I carry too much stuff on my ladder rack. I don't see any for an xterra, but maybe one can be repurposed. I got mine from dx engineering. Linky below. I am using the tram 1180 dual band 5/8 antenna. Can't comment on transmit as I am writing tech test on Thursday, but so far is receiving great.

ETA: oops, sorry, I see you already have the mount and were asking about antennae

https://www.dxengineering.com/searc...t&sortby=BestKeywordMatch&sortorder=Ascending

 

[Tennmogger]

The Larsen is a robust antenna (and the only brand I will buy) but having the open coil will be a headache if you pass any limbs, even small ones. The coil will catch the limbs. I put a new dual band Larsen on my truck a couple of months ago, went to the woods, and never saw the antenna again. It jerked right out of the set screws.

For the woods, a simple single-band whippy antenna like the BASE/WHP UTY 136-512 MHz is intended to be cut for either 2m or 70cm. At $19, I have one for each band, for the woods.

A good plan is to have a tall antenna for highway/town, and a small antenna for trail and local comms.

Bob
WB4ETT
52 yrs a Ham and counting.

 

[Ballbearing]

Somewhere I read about putting heat shrink or tape on the coil section to avoid the limb problem.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Heat shrink can be used over open coils if you want.



FWIW, I leave the coil open so that it stays clear of ice in the winter. I prefer an open coil over a closed one for a couple of reasons. One it's more robust, wound coils are usually delicate and the magnet wire thin. Second, being closed they usually end up leaking and that causes corrosion and sometimes a freeze/thaw cycle ruins them.