NMO Hatch/Hood Mounts

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

DJWUZJ

DJWUZJ

10 Year
Joined
Aug 4, 2012
Threads
41
Messages
525
Location
Fairfax, VA
Gearing up for a HAM install. Any preference from others regarding mount brand/type and placement on the 100?

I'll be running a Yeasu 7900, and am leaning toward the Diamond K400NMO on the rear hatch. I'm thinking I'll run a short SBB1 around town, and an SBB5 on the road/trail.

Any other mounts that I'm missing outside of the Diamond NMO?

Thanks in advance!
 
Thanks Stan!

Anyone running the Lab Rack with a dual band? Would this application be a bit low and provide too little horizontal plane given the location?

Since I'll be running the head unit remotely, either would work, just trying to find the "best" (always subjective) option.
 
I'm in the process or radio installs myself. I picked up a left and right Gamiviti so I can have one for HAM, one for CB and later one for HAM and one for APRS, GPS, etc.

I think you get better ground plane on the fender with the big 'ol hood but wherever you end up with you may want to RF ground the panels/hatches/hood together. You want to use a big flat copper ground braid for that with good electrical connection to metal.

For the NMO's I wanted something factory sealed so I didn't have to rely on a handful of silicone as most are designed to be roof mounted and therefore dry on the back. I searched around and came up with Larsens NMOKHFCXPL, they are rated to 6 ghz, sealed, adapt between standard NMO and HFNMO and they're not much more costly than bare bones basic NMO mounts that are not rated to GHz range for future uses. (They don't have a tiny final run of coax though so may be better for the front positions than rear however the OD is only ~0.2" so they fit through the hood gap just fine.)

Found them fast and cheap here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JSEAHK/?tag=ihco-20

A lot of people avoid the mounts that clamp to that hatch it'self as they do paint damage and may come loose. The clamp on style are probably better for around town than for cross-county and off road trips. The LabRak or a similar home brew would be a good way to go out back IMO.

Now I'm off to find some HAM'tennas. Happy Wiring!
 
My install Kenwood 710a uploadfromtaptalk1390797093168.webpuploadfromtaptalk1390797125532.webpuploadfromtaptalk1390797150953.webpuploadfromtaptalk1390797181196.webp

uploadfromtaptalk1390797034093.webp


uploadfromtaptalk1390797093168.webp


uploadfromtaptalk1390797125532.webp


uploadfromtaptalk1390797150953.webp


uploadfromtaptalk1390797181196.webp
 
contiuned...

But, it's not been perfect. Busted my antenna on this weeks club run. Most of the time I'm fine, but some of our trails have a lot of low overhanging branches. I sometimes switch to a little magnetic whip antenna if the trail we happen to be on is particularly tree filled. If you have the same type of terrain in your area, I'd mount lower (don't know how that would effect it's signal) or get a Gamiviti for up front (some guys in the club have them and really like them).

DSC_1014.webp
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the input everyone!

Part of me is secretly hoping that someone recommends the LabRak from personal experience... Only to match the CB antenna I'm running back there now ... If not I'll go Gamviti and support another HIH sponsor.

Andy - For setups like yours, I'm assuming that the HAM antenna has to go DS to avoid interference from stereo antenna on PS?
 
Nah, I figure if I'm going to be transmitting the AM/FM antenna will be down anyway. Either way I don't think there should be any crosstalk. The different receivers should be selective enough... I'll find out soon here anyway.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom