" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thank you again for your replies.

In the course of conversation with our mechanic this morning on the
matter, I learned that he has mounted a number of the antennas on a
part of the bus that is fiberglass. I tried to explain a bit about
ground-plane to him and the need for the antennas to be mounted on a
metal part of the bus. I' am having him take one of the "worst"
communicating busses and move the antenna to a metal part of the bus. I
am also having him go through all the contacts and connections and
cleaning them. I'll post what was done and what the results have been.

One other point Mike.

After this mechanic installs the COAX and ANTENNA - he can use his VOM to
assure that the center conductor and shield are NOT shorted
(unless you are using a loading coil or other special purpose antenna).
Every mechanic should be very familiar with this test from vehicle
electrical systems.

Greg
w9gb