I am planning on buying this license plate mount:

http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/lpant.html

and am looking for an all-purpose mobile whip, with particular attention
paid on 160-170mhz. I am thinking about a Firestik.

Comments or suggestions?

Thanks.

Seems overpriced. Not the best location either...depending on where you
live. Lots of opportunity for corrosion. Not to mention, having all that
steel along side the antenna element.

Bill Crocker


"User" wrote in message
...
I am planning on buying this license plate mount:

http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/lpant.html

and am looking for an all-purpose mobile whip, with particular attention
paid on 160-170mhz. I am thinking about a Firestik.

Comments or suggestions?

Thanks.

Bill,
I would have thought you'd have known better...living in the motor
city after all...there's no steel in that location...it's all plastic!


Joking aside, I agree with Bill actually. My concern would be ground
plane. This setup doesn't look conducive to transmitting.
Scott Ferguson

Joking aside, I agree with Bill actually. My concern would be ground
plane. This setup doesn't look conducive to transmitting.

Receive only, I'm not transmitting. And its on a hatch back so the antenna
will rise with the door.

Will this work for receiving?

Will this work for receiving? The answer is probably yes, but then so will
a coathanger taped to the window on the inside. The question is how well
will it work.

By putting the less than 3 foot long antenna that low and that far down (in
relationship to a lot of the bodywork) you will be getting some interaction
between the antenna and the coachwork. This means that the antenna will not
work as well in any direction as if it were mounted over a flat plate, such
as the roof. Additionally, you will get serious shading from the coachwork.
This means if the antenna is to be mounted as it is on those pictures that
it would work better when the source was behind the vehicle, in some cases
(application dependant) significantly better. In effect the antenna will
act as a low (or less than unity) gain antenna, with the sweat spot behind
the car. This is annoying in a mobile application.

Essentially you want as little of the car above the base of the antenna as
possible. And you want the antenna as central as possible to keep an omni
pattern. It is not practical (in many applications) to put the antenna in
the middle of the roof. But that is about the best possible place on the
average sedan.

For most installations (scanner stuff, anyway) I use a mag mount antenna in
the center of the roof if I can. As I drive a couple of convertibles, in
addition to hardtops, this is not possible. On those vehicles the antenna
is a mag mount on the trunk lid.

You could do a mag mount on your hatch back (I think you said it was a
hatch). Put the antenna in the center of the roof, and bring the coax in
around the hatch. Weather sealing will have to be watched closely. This
gives you the option of removing the antenna and throwing it in the back any
time you want also.

C!

"User" wrote in message
...
Joking aside, I agree with Bill actually. My concern would be ground
plane. This setup doesn't look conducive to transmitting.

Receive only, I'm not transmitting. And its on a hatch back so the
antenna will rise with the door.

Will this work for receiving?

Thanks very much for the advice. I've got a 4' Firestik. So at least 24-30
inches of antenna would be above the body of the car. But I could easily do
a mag mount on the roof as I have a sunroof that I could run the wire
through. The question is, what kind of mag mount is solid enough to handle
the wind load of a 4' antenna? And how does one shield the car's paint from
the magnet? A rubber pad?

Thanks again.

On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 20:49:46 -0700, "User" wrote:

I am planning on buying this license plate mount:
http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/lpant.html

Seems to me it would be a PITA if you are moving stuff in and out of
your trunk.

Tony