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Thread: Going mobile again

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    Going mobile again

    Go on and cut it I double dawg dare ya!
    ...and done.

    Mounted up in my jeep with a fender mount antenna. Getting sh#tty SWRs will post pics of antenna setup for help later. Is a front fender mount and I been trying all kinds of antenna from FS to whip w/o much success. Need more grounding and maybe a better meter?
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    Is yours a soft top? If so try a mag mount on the hood of it. The antenna needs some metal under it to work correctly. Or try a 5ft firestick and a good mount like a Breedlove ball mount on the side or something. Just some options.

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    alpha78 (01-20-2016)

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    yes and a 4 door so at least it's got that going for it ground plane wise I added a ground strap to the mount tonight and also the hood (fwiw) but didn't get to retest. continuity test gets a strong beep touching the mount and the engine block or master cylinder bracket so I think got a real good ground now. with the short whip + spring + quick disco am getting 1.7 on ch40, 1.6 ch20, 1.5 ch1 when I stopped cutting it. I think had it bottomed out in the mount too, getting tired and sloppy. tomorrow's another day though!
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    Last edited by alpha78; 01-20-2016 at 07:59 AM.

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    ok guys this has been driving me nuts. mobile install fender mount on my jeep. doesn't matter if steel whip, 3' or 4' 5/8 wave FireSticks no matter what I do I get 1.6-ish on both Ch1 and Ch40, and then nearly flat match 1.1 on Ch20. Like an inverted bell shape curve. How. Why. Shouldn't the antenna be either too short or too long so one end or the other has the lowest SWR? Or was my radio tuned that way or something?

    This is with my old super crappy Radio Shack meter and the antennas are all like 10 years old too. The radio is new. At this point I'm worn out twisting knobs and getting in and out of the jeep trying to get better results. Oh yeah, once I put the rubber plug on the tip then it all goes haywire and SWRS in the red! Take the plug off and everything's back to normal??? So I ain't using the plug.
    Last edited by alpha78; 01-21-2016 at 10:44 PM.

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    I have a quick disco and spring on the Fire Stick as don't know what I'm gonna' whack out there on the move. Bonus is I can hide it in the Jeep along the roll bar when not in use. Don't know if I can go with a full sized steel whip on a ball mount - will definitely need a clip to bend it down and store it for driving around in general. Thinking about it.

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    Get a good ball mount and a good 5ft firestick. This should work just fine. And with the VSWR you have now, you should be fine to run just a radio. If you are just using the radio shack meter, you might want to invest into a 50 ohm dummy load rated at no less than 25 watts IMO. This way you can test you swr/power meter and radio before you ever install it. It will give you a baseline to go by. And you can also verify your radio and swr/power are operating correctly.
    With your jeep being a soft top, I would darn sure make sure all of the vehicles body panels are bonded to frame and also bond exhaust to tie frame as well. They sell the exhaust ground strap kits with everything you need to clamp one onto the exhaust pipe and take it to a bolt that is to frame.
    Again, make sure all paint is removed to bare metal and use no-ox on all connections. A side mounted ball mount at the rear left or right quarter panel would work well with a 5ft fire stick or even a 108" whip or 102" whip and an HD spring. A good ball mount is important as well. Don't skimp out and get a cheap one. It will just end up rusting. Check out Breedlove antenna mounts. Made of brass and aluminum. Quality mount.
    Also. Trying a magnet mount antenna on the hood is another option as well. Place the magnet at one side of the hood and add a good antenna that isn't too heavy. The sirio performer 5000 and a sirio PL145 magnet mount would work well. They are approx 6.5ft tall. And they fold down as well. They also make a trucker style one with an 8" shaft that might fit your needs well for a side ball mount.
    But before I went any further with cutting and tuning, I would first bond the heck out of the thing. Hood, fenders, exhaust, and even engine block. JMHO. You want that antenna to see your jeep as one large piece of metal rather than just a piece of it. Again, this is JMHO, but I am pretty sure it will help. Also make sure that all vehicles electrical connections are done well and that all grounds are to bare metal and have no-ox on them. If you don't know what no-ox is, here is what I am speaking of. And you want to make sure it's type special "A".
    You can get this off eBay for cheap.
    Hope this helps and keep at it!!

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    alpha78 (01-23-2016)

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    Awesome info! Really appreciate the education. I will get the dummy load, more ground straps and the no-ox for sure. I'm almost over the edge to actually get a 102" + a spring. Something only dreamed out since a teen. I should just do it and have my own version of Rat Patrol That Breedlove mount is bad ass. There's another mount that goes off the spare tire mount but it has a tall pipe to get the antenna base up and over the tire. That would keep the antenna good if I flop the jeep over accidentally on purpose. options. hmmmmm.

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    Yep. I know the mount you speak of for the spare tire as well. Check out the Jeep forums and see what most suggest for a good antenna. Height is might, but you need some metal in the right place to make most antennas work correct. This is mobile antennas anyway. Breedlove mount you can't go wrong!! They are well made!! Have one and so do a couple of others I know. All are well built.

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    no-ox is cosmoline? cool - useful for more than just the connectors

    saw the Jeep pic on the Breedlove site, looks good!l
    Last edited by alpha78; 02-02-2016 at 07:13 AM.

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    Is there a way to run one of those Sirio on my existing fender mount with 3/8 hardware? Especially with a quick disco as I cannot leave it on here it will get ripped off in no time. Otherwise I will just get a 5' FS. I think my old 2' FS is burned out because it slams the meter in the red right away no matter the channel or pwr setting.

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