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GMRS antenna mount

Jdsmoke

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So I’m wiring in a midland gmrs radio and antenna. I wanted to see if anyone was using a midland MXTA25 3dB gain ghost antennae? If so, where do you have it mounted. Has anyone tried to mount on to a light bar? I‘m also wiring in a Pro6 Gravity light bar from KC and was thinking I could attach the ghost antenna to the end of the bar.
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CoolTech

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We have been working the past several weeks to come up with an antenna mount for the front of the Jeep Wrangler that we can offer in addition to or as an alternative to our popular tailgate CB and GMRS mounts. The Wrangler/Gladiators have an expansive aluminum hood that serves well as about the only available RF ground plane for the most effective (longest distance) radio transmissions.

As usual for a new product we had numerous constraints and requirements. To list a few;
  • We wanted a solution that could take advantage of the hood as a good ground plane
  • We wanted something that would work for both Wrangler and Gladiator owners
  • An absolute requirement was to insure that our solution would not harm the Jeep's paint - not just during the install, but over the long term.
  • Our mount had to be aesthetically pleasing - the closer to the windshield the better, largely mimicking where OEM antennas are placed.
  • Our highest priority was GMRS antenna mounting - but we also wanted the mount to work with CB antennas up to 3' (taller antennas in this location don't offer a performance benefit.)
  • Mounting simplicity was also very desirable.

This picture below is of an earlier prototype. We were focusing on proof of concept, body conformity alignment, and spacer thickness. Shortly thereafter, we aligned the top plate to horizontal and began out testing phase - with both the Midland 6db GMRS antenna (shown) and a Firestick 3' Firefly CB antenna.

The final mount is elegantly simple. The mount has a "foot" which is solidly in the panel gap. This provides rigid fore/aft stability so there is no inclination for movement even in high wind loads. What isn't seen is that the foot has a centering polyethylene trim with a 95A harness rating but which in nonmarking. This trim insures that the mount is centered in the panel gap and that the mount cannot come into contact with the painted surfaces of either panel.

Our test (Gladiator) also happens to have the comparatively bulky Quadratec mount seen in the foreground. The owner had to take many steps in order to try to protect this mount from damaging the Gladiator paint.

Our mount is currently in manufacturing with first availability approximately 15 days from today. The mount is constructed entirely in stainless steel and achieves a good ground via the provided stainless steel buttonhead fastener (also provided). It can be mounted on either the left side and/or right side of the Jeep.

More soon....

CT-Prototype.jpg
 

CoolTech

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I should state that the prototype bracket shown above is not stainless (production brackets will be) and the fastener above is also not stainless - but the production component will be. There is an (included) aluminum spacer behind the bracket (not visible) allowing you to tighten the attachment bolt without drawing the bracket into the painted panel. What we strived for in the above is to have a uniform (aesthetically pleasing) gap around the bracket - essentially "tight" but not so much to ever have paint contact.
 

Darter02

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Neat. I have a rf ground plane question; does the distance of the antenna from the a-pillar to front of the hood make any difference? Is having it back to the side of the windshield different performance wise than the middle of the hood above the fender?
 

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JimLee

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I bet one of these pioneer roof racks has as much aluminum as the hood. I wonder how one of those low profile antennae would perforn on there?
 

Akbill

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I bet one of these pioneer roof racks has as much aluminum as the hood. I wonder how one of those low profile antennae would perforn on there?
any radio techies out there? would a ground plane type antenna work well mounted on pioneer platform? do we have to use antennas designed to work without a good ground plane?
 

prerunner1982

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@Akbill GMRS needs little ground plane compared to a CB and a roof rake should provide ample amount of metal. However a 1/2 wave GMRS isn't that long and is not ground plane dependent but if you want to use the low pro ghost antenna it should work fine. Height is king for VHF/UHF communications.
 

CoolTech

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The location of the antenna with respect to the ground plane will change the shape of the transmission efficiency. It's not going to be just a perfect circle in all directions but rather more elliptical with the long axis of the ellipse in the direction where there is a better ground plane. That said, as mentioned above, GMRS not as sensitive to this as is the CB frequency spectrum.

An antenna up high on a metal roof rack would be an ideal location - just don't forget about it when you go into your garage! :)
 

mdelzer

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@CoolTech I'm excited to see this bracket. I was gonna build it myself if it didn't exist. I already have the tailgate CB bracket and a Cobra75. I plan to add GMRS and I also want to add a ham radio. I'm assuming that I could mount one of each on each side of the Jeep and keep the CB out back as well?
 

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CoolTech

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mdelzer - thanks for your comments and question.

We are expecting to have the brackets in hand (and on the website) this weekend or by mid next week at the latest. (I've been begging the manufacturing company to expedite.)

To answer your question directly, absolutely yes - you can mount one of these brackets on both the left and right side of the Jeep. You can have a HAM antenna on one and a GMRS antenna on the other. The bracket appearance will be as seen on post #2 in this thread - but the bracket will be stainless steel and, of course, the angle will be such that the antenna is vertical.

PLEASE understand that our priorities were; functionality, aesthetics, and protection of your Jeep's paint. Since the inception of Cool Tech in 2006, we have always strived to be a SOLUTIONS provider - not merely a parts/bracket provider. This will be another proof point. Although we will offer the bracket kit independently, we will HIGHLY recommend purchasing with OUR NMO/Coax kit... which we believe will be marketplace unique for one sole, but very important reason. These brackets mount to the front of the Jeep. The length of coax needed is relatively short. One of the VERY worst things that you can do to destroy your antenna performance is to coil up excess coax. Be VERY careful about this. If you have the tools/skills to shorten the coax after the install to fit your needs, you must do this, or, alternatively buy coax that is already shorter.

More soon....
 

MichaelAnthony

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hmmm ..... how soon?
 

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I need a bracket now......NOW..... okay I can wait some, but installed the radio yesterday and waiting on a way to mount the MXTA26 6db antenna.
 

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No need to wait! We have the brackets on the website for a few weeks now! In stock and shipping the same day as ordered! Better still, along with the bracket - since we know it is a front mount, you don't need 18' of coax cable. In fact, that length is bad because one of the worst things you can do for your antenna performance is to loop the excess coax. As such, with our kit we have the option for 12' of coax - with the same Midland trick connector on the end so that the coax is easy to route.

The bracket can be ordered HERE. Use the pull-down to let us know if you want the coax too!
 

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No ground plane required, If that's the case is it possible this would work inside the jeep mounted high as possible on the rollbar. A bracket can be fabricated easily and there is no wind noise. The roof is plastic so there should be minimum interference.

TRAB4500N | Phantom Omni Antenna- 450-470 MHz - NMO - No Ground Plane Reqd


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