Electronics · October 2010
Ham Radio Antennas Installed
With the roof rack installed on our Toyota FJ Cruiser it was time to get the Ham Radio antennas installed. Three antennas are needed for my build. The first antenna is used for the APRS radio and the other two are used by the ICOM 2820. The 2820 uses the primary antenna for transmission. For reception two antennas are used with the antenna with the best signal selected.
The mounts are made out of a heavy duty selection of aluminum “L” stock. The brackets are then bolted to the rack and the antenna mounts are then attached to the brackets. I use UHF based mounts which allows an me to attach a cable to the mount if I need to setup a high gain antenna for stationary communications.
Cost: Antenna Mount and cable: $45.00 each
Time: 1.5 hours
Very Nice!
Just wondering if you ever considered mounting a ham antenna on the front bumper. I’ve had a 2M antenna on the left side of my roof rack (held in place by a very nice Fourtreks mount) but it gets clobbered by low-hanging trees. The antenna I’m using is a Firestik 2M quarter-wave, it’s only about 15″ high but gives me good performance, at least on the roof. Other locations, I’m not so sure. I’ve got a Bandi mount on order to try the antenna out on the rear door hinge; others have done it, it might work well enough for short range work on the trail, and I can always screw on a longer one (Firestik makes a 2M 5/8 wave as well) for the highway. The only shortcoming with these antennae is that they use a PL-259/SO-259 mount, and the newer cables are more readily available with NMO mounts. The NMO mount’s wider base is what’s making me consider mounting the antenna (at least one of them) on the front bumper (I’ve got an Expedition One) where there’s more room.
The problem with the Bandi mount or a bumper mount is the lack of ground plane. FM antennas are going to perform best in the center of the roof.
I’m currently researching the parts list necessary for a roof rack mounted 2m/70cm antenna. I’ll be installing a FT 857d with a little tarheel on a bandi mount on the rear for 6m on down, so snaking the cables for that is not that big a challenge (grounding will be and that will be a pain, LOL). My question is where did you snake the coaxs for the roof antennas? Did you bind them to the rack and bring them back to the rear door? Or did you come through the roof somehow?
You’re guidance and experience is greatly appreciated.
Here is a link to the post on how I accessed the roof: http://www.myfjcruiser.org/2938/roof-access-wiring-ports/. Here is a link to my post on installing the antennas: http://www.myfjcruiser.org/2924/ham-radio-antennas-installed/