UHF Antenna Rear Door Mount

[capella_ben Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close capella_ben]

I have cut and bent the steel, painted and finally fitted it.

[peterturner Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close peterturner]

That looks great Ben.
I'd love one for mine!

[capella_ben Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close capella_ben]

I finally finished the full install. I designed and 3D printed the holder for the microphone as well.

[Wildcaddy Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Wildcaddy]

I have cut and bent the steel, painted and finally fitted it.

That looks amazing. Very OEM looking. My only question is where did you pass the coax cable through to the cabin?

[capella_ben Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close capella_ben]

I used one of the gromets at the bottom. I ended up having just enough cable length to make it to under the drivers seat.

[capella_ben Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close capella_ben]

I finally finished the full install. I designed and 3D printed the holder for the microphone as well.

I designed and printed this mount for the handset on my 3D printer.

Would anyone be interested in buying these? I can re-design them to meet your needs as well.

[fido666 Banned Find all posts View Profile Close fido666]

I would be interested in the holder, I have a 150 pre-facelift but I think the trim in that area is the same.

[peterturner Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close peterturner]

I'm definitely be up for the rear mount.

Still deciding on radio and location of it on the inside for the internal mount.

[Doug32 Member Find all posts View Profile Close Doug32]

Well done Ben - great design. I have thought about moving the antenna to the back but are wondering about how it may affect the performance of the radio. Has anyone considered this?

[capella_ben Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close capella_ben]

Well done Ben - great design. I have thought about moving the antenna to the back but are wondering about how it may affect the performance of the radio. Has anyone considered this?

Good question! It's probably an answer for someone better versed in radio theory than myself. I only want to be able to communicate with people in a convoy and don't need or want to talk over a very large area.

For my, my RFI 4.1 Db antenna works perfectly at this location.

It all depends a lot on what you want to get out of it.

[Westcoast Mark Member Find all posts View Profile Close Westcoast Mark]

Love the mount Ben! In fact, I've decided to do the same on mine with a work light as well.

One question though, how long was your cable? The one that came with my aerial is about 5m, I just measured roughly with a length of cord and from the spare to my roof console will be about 6.4m.
Did you need to join your coax at all?

Cheers,

Mark

[capella_ben Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close capella_ben]

My cable was 5M as well and it just made it to under my seat where I mounted the unit. Going to a roof console would be a fair way longer, I'd guess an extra 2 meters.

Luckily I didn't have to join any coax.

[Westcoast Mark Member Find all posts View Profile Close Westcoast Mark]

Thanks Ben, Thats about right, 5m to under drivers seat.

Hmm, will have to look into pros and cons of joining coax.

Mark

[AussieAndy Find all posts View Profile Close AussieAndy]

Sorry mate, only just saw this. No problems at all with joining coax cable. Personally I would put a FME connector close to the antenna that way if you ever replace the antenna base you don't have to pull all the coax. RG58 coax is easy to obtain if you wanted to do it yourself, as are the crimper to suit, but if you are only doing it once it might be better to let a radio professional do the job. I would get them to throw a SWR meter on it once done, but it should be within spec provided you are only changing the length of the coax by a meter or so.

[Westcoast Mark Member Find all posts View Profile Close Westcoast Mark]

Thanks Andy, I'll probably end up doing it myself, but will look into what it's worth to get done.

Cheers,

Mark