On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 12:47:29 -0500, jawod wrote:

I would think in either case the AM antenna is in the Near Field.
Will the antenna pattern be significantly more affected on the passenger
side?

Happy New Year John,

Then it is best to resign yourself to the inevitable. Yes both will
be in the other's near field.

It isn't going to matter all that much unless the AM antenna becomes
resonant on one of those bands you use. Even then, it will only
matter in terms of match as the parasitic element is going to pull the
source. Unless it means punching holes in sheet metal, you can try
all possible sites and check SWR.

As for patterns, again the parasitic element (the AM antenna) will
have to support substantial currents (through coupling and matching -
and hence a significant SWR hit) to disturb the pattern. More likely
is that the sheet metal of the car and the site location of the
transmitting antenna is going to be of a far greater determiner of
pattern shape.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC