GMRS Antenna Question

[rollcage]

I've crawled all over the internet but I havent seen this being discussed. The two general rules I've found for GMRS antennas is 1) height is important 2) ground plane is important. In our Jeeps it seems we can have one or the other. So for you radio afficionados. If you had to choose between a 6db antenna mounted to the side of the hood or a 3 db antenna mounted to the the roll bar which would you choose?

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[rollcage]

There is little to no information about mounting the antenna to the roll bar. I'm sure its because traditionally they have been made of round tubing. I'm just wondering about the wider and flat surface of the JLU roll bar how that might work for a ground plane.

 

[rollcage]

so i bought a cheap analog swr meter and my midland mxta26 in 3 different locations on the jeep. I dont have specific SWR numbers but I was able to see relative using same cable and same antenna different locations. 1) Highest SWR tailgate mounted to hinge next to my CB antenna. SWR improved slightly when I removed the CB antenna. 2) Side of driver side cowl next to a pillar. 3) best swr on roll bar. Of course with the 36" antenna the top was completely open.

 

[Mark75H]

Exactly what SWR numbers are you seeing? If they are all under 1.6 there will be no human perceptible difference.

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