Pat:

I had one of those rear-view mirror mounts once, but never felt I could 
trust it, at highway speeds.

Anyway, just keep those ideas coming here, and I'll see what I can do.

Tom Behler: KB8TYJ

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pat Byrne" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2013 4:30 PM
Subject: Re: Mobile Antenna Mount Options


> Tom,
> I believe that there are scemes to mount an antenna to a rear view
> mirror.  I'm not sure that it would work as well as centered on the
> roof but is an alternative.  Years ago I had a Sears 5/8 wave mag
> mount/atnenna on our old Pontiac, Ford and Astrovan roofs.  Worked
> dynamite but, finally after years, the whole thing wore out.  Never
> put an installation in our last mini, a Ford Aerostar - no more kids
> at home, so no more car, so I'm out of the mobile biz.
> Just rambling.
> Thanks.
> Pat, K9JAU At 02:44 PM 3/3/2013, you wrote:
>>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
>