Thanks for the great description, John.
Perhaps this will be the way to go. At any rate, it looks like I'm
developing a good reason/excuse to go to our next ham fest in the area in
Mid March! (smile)
Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 9:23 PM
Subject: Re: Mobile Antenna Mount Options
>I use that same antenna on a trunk mount and it works fine. The trunk mount
> clamps to the side of the trunk, no marks I've had it on several cars over
> the years so when you open the trunk, it's at just enough of an angle it
> will miss the back door if you have it forward on the trunk. I have mine
> as
> far back on the trunk as I can so you can actually open and close the back
> door and miss the antenna though. one car I had it on that wasn't possible
> but still, it angles out just enough so it misses the door. That couple
> feet
> lower it is from the roof makes no difference from what I can tell having
> tried it both ways, then I have the coax run along the trunk hinge which
> is
> typical for a ford, a square tube that doesn't get close to anything, from
> there it goes under the back seat and up under the front seat where my
> IC-706 is mounted. The back seat is very easy in about every car I've ever
> worked with to lift up, route a coax through then put it back. It's really
> no big deal and I don't think you'll notice any difference between it on
> the
> trunk vs the roof.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 3:44 PM
> Subject: Mobile Antenna Mount Options
>
>
>> Hi, all.
>>
>> I need to tap into the wisdom of the group here concerning mobile antenna
>> mounts.
>>
>> To set the background, the XYL and I have leased a Subaru Forester for
>> about the last 3 years, and I have been using a magnount antenna mount
>> for
>> the Diamond 770 dual-band antenna that I have used for years with our
>> family
>> vehicles. I bought this particular magmount about 2 years ago, to
>> replace
>> one that had been failing or at least questionable for quite some time.
>> We
>> put the magmount in the center of the roof of the car, and try to thread
>> the
>> feedline as carefully as possible into the back door of the vehicle,
>> where
>> it then goes to a TMV71A underneath the front drivers seat.
>>
>> This set-up has actually worked surprisingly well, but I'm now having a
>> problem with the coax feed line to the current magmount. I have noticed
>> several breaks along the feed line, one or two of which could have been
>> caused by inadvertently closing the back vehicle door on the coax feed
>> line.
>> Again, I had thought we were avoiding this problem, but maybe not. Also,
>> one or two of the breaks seem to be caused by the outside jacket of the
>> feed
>> line becoming very brittle and actually splitting.
>>
>> So, I'm now thinking of other possible ways to mount my mobile antenna.
>> Things, of course, are complicated in that we can't drill holes in the
>> leased vehicle.
>>
>> One option I had thought of is a trunk mount, but I'm having trouble
>> envisioning how such a mount would work when you open up the trunk for
>> storing groceries and other things. Also, I can't imagine that the
>> antenna
>> on a trunk mount would work very well anyway, since it is so much lower
>> than
>> the roof of the vehicle.
>>
>> Has anyone had experience with trunk mounts?
>>
>> If I stick to a magmount, does anyone have a magical formula for
>> threading
>> the feed line from the outside of the vehicle into the car so as to avoid
>> problems with it getting caught in the door
>>
>> ?Is there a better-quality magmount out there that has stronger feed
>> line
>> that might not be as susceptible to breaking or splitting?
>>
>> Obviously, I've got lots of questions here, so any help would be
>> appreciated.
>>
>> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
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