I wouldn't use the luggage rack unless you know it's a good one, most of
them are for looks more than anything and only glued on so mounting an
antenna to it would be a problem at high speeds.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 6:35 PM
Subject: Re: Mobile Antenna Mount Options
> Mike:
>
> The vehicle does have a luggage rack, but I just don't think I can trust
> the
> mirror mount at highway speeds, and like you say, you still have to run
> the
> cable into the vehicle somehow.
>
> Also, I have tried glass mounts on several vehicles we have had, but the
> newer ones have the tinted glass which interferes greatly with the
> antenna's
> radiation pattern--or at least that's what I have found.
>
> Tom Behler: KB8TYJ
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Duke, K5XU" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 6:11 PM
> Subject: Re: Mobile Antenna Mount Options
>
>
>>I too have had good success with trunk mounts on several cars. My
>> folks had one car, a late 70s Datsun, with which I had to use the
>> trunk mount on the side of the lid, rather than in the center of the
>> edge near the wind shield. That setup worked as well as any other
>> trunk mounted installation I have ever used.
>>
>> I have seen people configure them to mount on the rear door of a van,
>> but don't know exactly how they did that.
>>
>> Does your vehicle have a luggage rack on the roof? If so, you may be
>> able to get a mirror mount that will work there, but then you are
>> still back to how to route the feed line.
>>
>> The simple answer there is that no matter how careful you are, sooner
>> or later the coax will break where it goes through the door, and
>> become brittle where it is exposed to the elements.
>>
>> I have never used a glass mount, but they don't work well with certain
>> types of modern glass. Even when they do work, they are a compromise,
>> more so on 2 meters than on 440.
>>
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Tom Behler" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 2:44 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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