gmrs antenna?

[Ear Responsible]

I decided to go old school when communicating on the trail. Lanterns worked in 1775 to warn the British were coming ( one if by land two if by sea) and they work for our group , No FCC license required

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[LKG]

Yes the aluminum plate probably will be an improvement.

I have the same antenna, but mount it on the back of the hood. Out of the way of tree branches, for one thing.

The simplest thing you can do is stick it onto one of the big hex bolts at the back of the hold, holding down the side cowl things where people attach ditch light brackets. Got pretty good performance from that alone.

It came with a little magnetic stick-on disc which I attached to the hood, near the back corner of the hood in front of the large trim with the windshield wipers. It's inline with the slot for the side cowl, placing the antenna near vertical. It is in sight of the driver but down low and very thin. I don't really notice it. Could have put it on the other side but that'd put it near the FM antenna. This puts the entire aluminum hood in front and to one side, and maybe 6" of hood to the left.

Three enhancements:

1) Ran a ground wire from the body to a hood bolt, to better ground the hood. Required figuring out the right nut to use to screw onto the bolt for the ring terminal, and another for the ground terminal on the body.

2) Also ran a ground wire from the hinge bolt under the hood backwards towards the windshield, in that slot at the edge of the side cowl. This forms a ground radial in the backwards direction.

3) Also cut the 20-foot long thin RG-174 cable to be just long enough to get under the hood, where I then put an inline connector to a thicker RG-58 cable which runs about 6 feet through the door weatherstrip and then under the steering wheel where the 275 is mounted. So the total length of cable is 1/3 as long, and has lower losses, for as long as that connector stays water tight under its layers of silicone sealing tape and electrical tape. But this part required buying a crimp tool, a crimp connector for RG-174, a connector for RG-58, and an adapter.

The end result is very good performance. And I can tuck it under the hood in case I'll be parking somewhere not so nice. Stopped worrying about that though.

But try just sticking it to the torx bolt at the back of the hood, for starters.

If you need a stick-on disc (may have to trim a side to match the contour of the hood):
https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-...b/misc-antenna-parts/12656-taf-disc3-5-detail

If I were to do this again I'd probably get something like the following:

Magnetic NMO mounts with PL-259:
https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-...etic-mounts/273-nmo-magnet-mounts-with-pl-259
Choose one with a 3.5" base and a shorter cable, if possible. And get the 3.5" stick-on plate mentioned above.

Your choice of GMRS mobile antenna. Select the NMO mount unless you want to skip the mount and go directly to a magnetic base antenna.
https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/antennas-mounts/mobile-antennas/gmrs-mobile-antennas

A quarter wave antenna will be around 6" tall, and better for mountains with people at different altitudes. I.e. talking with someone above or below you. And better for the forest with tree branches reaching out for the antenna. The taller antennas have some gain by squishing the signal towards the horizon, and would be better on the open flat lands. You could get one of each and switch as needed.

Yup, mine seems to work fine on the cowl bolt. Prety simple to run the cable too.

 

[Ear Responsible]

Yup, mine seems to work fine on the cowl bolt. Prety simple to run the cable too.

I decided to go old school when communicating on the trail. Lanterns worked in 1775 to warn the British were coming ( one if by land two if by sea) and they work for our group , No FCC license required

Seriously though. If it is just you and your buddy I would get a cheap set of Motorola PR 860 hand helds tuned to a low band on eBay that will reach out 10 to 20 miles. They blow

I decided to go old school when communicating on the trail. Lanterns worked in 1775 to warn the British were coming ( one if by land two if by sea) and they work for our group , No FCC license required

Seriously though. If it is just you and your budy I would ditch GMRS and pick up a pair of vintage hand held Motorola PR 860 ‘s tuned to a low frequency. Will reach out 10 to 20 miles and dirt cheap on eBay because nobody understands the capabilities .

 

[Mark75H]

Seriously though. If it is just you and your buddy I would get a cheap set of Motorola PR 860 hand helds tuned to a low band on eBay that will reach out 10 to 20 miles. They blow


Seriously though. If it is just you and your budy I would ditch GMRS and pick up a pair of vintage hand held Motorola PR 860 ‘s tuned to a low frequency. Will reach out 10 to 20 miles and dirt cheap on eBay because nobody understands the capabilities .

How do you program them?

 

[Ear Responsible]

How do you program them?

I don’t. I just let the eBay seller program the frequencies I want. He evidently has the capability

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