Years ago, I haed a trunk mount.  The advantage of the trunk mount was that 
it was a higher-gain antenna, so it actually outperformed my mag mount, but 
my magmount isn't real long, it is a dual-bander for 144/440MHz.
----- 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