Why not horizontal mount in the plastic bumper? There are benefits to a horizontal oriented antenna. Although you would want everyone you chat with to do it for purposes of polarity.

 

The radiation pattern of a vertical antenna is a 360 degree torus pattern perpendicular to the axis of the antenna. Think of a doughnut with the antenna going up through the hole.

Mounting a vertical antenna inside the bumper would limit the radiation pattern only to the front and back. Most of the radiated energy would go up in the sky or down to the ground.

3D view of vertical antenna radiation pattern.

 

I have this exact mount from teraflex. it has 2 holes at the top. when i bought it they said one could be for ham and the other CB. I wanted to use it as they said but then learned differently. Anyhow it would probably work with ham and cb as long as i use one antenna at a time. even if i used one for ham it would not stick up high enough to get away from all the jeep metal.

 

i had the same mount as the previous post, but the main problem i had with that was you can't have the glass open on the hard top and shut the trunk (which is useful for transporting long stuff like 10-ft lumber, etc). it also made it difficult to take the hard top off with the homemade hoist i built in my garage (which also required the trunk shut with the glass open)

so i switched to the UltraMounr from Cool Tech (UltraMount CB Antenna System - CoolTechLLC)

it might be a tad pricey, but it's totally worth it in my opinion. besides solving my problem above, it's generally just a really cool and convenient place to mount an antenna. install was relatively easy, and i was surprised how sturdy the mount actually was.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that you don't need to have your antenna on the mount all of the time unless you really want them on all the time.

I only use my CB or Ham when I'm on 4WD runs or at an event when I need to use them. The rest of the time I store my antennas on the rear top roll bar with double side velcro straps. That way the antennas don't interfere with my daily activities like getting into my garage or other times when they'd be in the way.

 

I installed a cobra in my jeep a while back and mounted a firestik on the tailgate like the previous pic, but I opted for the firestik quick disconnect so that I can easily take it off when I need to open the window, remove the top, or do whatever else. Comes in handy.

 

I welded up my own version of a CoolTech mount. Mine was about $8.00 in steel and parts. To say that CoolTech is "pricey" is an understatement.

But since I got rid of my license plate bracket (kept breaking it on trees. Doh!) I'm moving it to my tire carrier.

 

Does anyone have radio interference (Cb or Ham) having the different VHF antennas mounted so close to each other? I to am trying to figure out where to mount my 2 Meter antenna. I'm debating if I should put it in the back, or move it to the front drivers side between the hood and the front fender. My CB Whip is on the rear drivers side fender. KK6AJA

 

Put it in the back, right side should be ok. I have a CB and dual band antenna on roof, right rear side about 2. Ft apart with no problem along with a large HF antenna on tire carrier.

 

I have 3 antennas on the back. The setup works well. You do want to make sure that the load coil is up as high as you can get it. There is a lot of metal back there with the tailgate and tire carrier. If you are using a base loaded antenna, then mount it higher or get a center or top loaded antenna. The whip you have with the Breedlove mount is optimal, (doesn't get any better).

What you will find is that when transmitting on one radio, it will saturate the front end of the others and you wont be able to receive on them while the mic is keyed. I think this is unavoidable.

CB, VHF/UHF, HF