Just picked up a new 2010 Wrangler Sport rag top (well, new to me) and will be installing one of my 2M handhelds on a floor mount stand...bought a HAD4007 Motorola antenna, it's a low profile, well, it's a cop antenna, cut for 144 to 150 mhz, and I will install it on a bracket behind the emergency stop light that is behind the spare tire...first time with this kind of 1/4 wave antenna, I'm curious if anyone has used one of these...
thanks
Bill
K2YI

 

I think you'll have poor performance mounting a 1/4-wave in that spot, due to lack of a ground plane (and maybe the lack of anything that looks like ground). A 1/2-wave antenna will do a lot better.

73, Bob K0NR

 

You'll want to bond the tailgate to the body/frame at the very least. The tailgate is a challenging area for RF, but it is also one of the most appealing locations for practical purposes. Also, I think you'd be better off with an antenna thats actually designed for 2 meters.

 

Wouldn't the Op have just as much success if
they were to bond the Antenna mount to the
frame of the vehicle?

Personally, I would take steps to insure a
strong bond from beginning to end,
(less chance for induction
if the inner sheath is actually bonded on both
ends to a solid ground source.)

 

Possibly, but that's a very long ground lead for VHF frequencies. Probably better to ground the various metal areas together.

 

Good info here: https://www.jk-forum.com/forums/jk-c...r-jeep-227276/

 

Thanks for the replys....well, the antenna is mounted, and it does work, rx has full bars, tx is running half bars (about 2.5 watts) (HTX-202), telling me my suspicions that the third brake light framing is not grounded to the frame, therefore very little ground plane....so, during vacation (4 days to go) I will attempt to fool the antenna into thinking it's got a good ground plane, by grounding the light frame...we'll see how it comes out...I'll drop some pics when I can...
Thanks again,
Bill
K2YI

 

Here's what it looks like...

 

Yeah, you guys were right...it was a cool looking little antenna, but...no gain, so there's a Larsen NMO-150B 3db gain 5/8 wave on the back now, much better....rfconcepts 2-30 amp goes in next...

 

The Larsen NMO-150B