antenna mount questions

[troyboy162]

ive got a few questions for the group.

pl-259 mounts seem to be what the larger antennas are using rather then NMO. are pl-259 mounts suitable to just drill a hole in the roof like a NMO? they dont seem to be made with roof mounts in mind judging from the design.

given a PL-259 mount on a roof, will that be strong enough for a 50-60 inch antenna without ripping the sheet metal when the antenna is whiping around in the rocks?

how much will my roof rack mess up the signal? i plan to install the mount right in the middle of the roof. the rack isnt on often but when its on id likly be needing plenty of tx/rx range like in death valley. attached is pic to show how high up the roof rack will be on the roof mounted antenna

[chris142]

I dont think a thin metal car roof will hold an antenna very long w/o damaging the roof and pulling the mount through the roof.

Maybe bolt a 6inx6in piece of 1/4 plate to the roof them mount the antenna to that?

As long as you use a top loaded antenna I don't think the rack will be an issue.

[troyboy162]

yeah thats a good idea. maybe i can just slid a plate on like a washer to the mount on the underside of the roof.

surprisingly all the info i find online has people drilling holes then using short antennas. seems if your willing to drill your serious about gain and would go with a longer antenna? haha

i will probably buy a small cheap rubber antenna for woods runs

edit...thinking more about the rack and its actually electrically insulated from the vehicle. i think that might be a big help in getting this to work together

[chris142]

Whats wrong with your antenna setup in the pic? It should work well from there.

[troyboy162]

that one is CB. i have thought about stealing that spot for ham and just getting something simple for the CB

[Roger]

Mount your antenna to the rack and ground the rack. Should work great

[troyboy162]

Mount your antenna to the rack and ground the rack. Should work great

i would be the rack comes off alot now. its 45 pounds in the wrong spot for rock crawling and it hurts my already bad milage. ive had it for over a year and only put stuff in it once.

i ordered everything up. SBB-7 antenna and a PL-259/SO-239 mount. im going to gut the 4runner to get at the roof in the middle so i think i will leave it gutted for awhile and try the mount with no reinforcement for a bit. ive decided that a second short/cheap antenna will be used for rock crawling to avoid damage to the pricey antenna and faded old roof.

[platnumb4x]

I would run a seperate ground wire, I just dont like drilling holes in my stuff but thats me and I dont know much at all about HAM. So whatchu gonna do with that rack?

[troyboy162]

yeah im in the unique situation where a hole in my roof is the least of my trucks value dropping worries.
the rack, sadly, sits where my dinning room table should be in my little apartment. leaning against the stack of 33" tires....yup...not married haha. ill hang onto it for when i can finally do some nice expo trips

[platnumb4x]

LOL! Single life is a blast huh!

[troyboy162]

the antenna is installed now. i got a larger bottom washer for the stack but the antenna is very light weight and theres no was it will do any damage. im not sure how the so-239 mount is going to be, but i wont know much till i drive around with it

[OU812]

Just make sure that the antenna is isolated from the rack. You don't want the antenna to ground to the rack as it's waving around on the rocks and such.