Quote:
Originally Posted by LandCruisers4Life
I sure agree with you on the antenna Alvaro. I have been looking around a bit at this stuff, self education you know and I found that a lot of HAMs recommend the Larsen for 4x4s.... Also, drilling a hole and solidly mounting it. Would like to hear your thoughts on this guys. I know the best spot is probably the roof, but that's vulnerable in heavy tree coverage. I was thinking on the bull bar out front. The australians seem to have luck on the bar.
Thanks...
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I'll try and discourage you from this course of action. The bullbar is the worst possilble place to put your antenna from a radio perspective. It's a low spot, it's noisy electrically, there is no ground plane, and it's just the wrong spot to put an antenna. The Ham radios are so good, that of course it will work, but it won't be optimal.
If I did put it on the bullbar, I'd run a 1/2 wave antenna so it isn't as ground plane dependent.
On a wagon, the hatch mount is as good as it gets without drilling a hole in the roof. It has enough metal to be an OK ground plane, it's high (this is a big advantage), and if you set it at the right level, the body protects the base of the antenna, but most of the antenna is above the roof where you want it.
Bottom line, a Hatch mount is really nice if you don't want to drill holes in your roof. The Diamond K400 series is what you want.