I purchased a Kenwood TK-7180 VHF radio to monitor marine and coast guard frequencies and need to find the best antenna possible for it along with options on where to install the antenna. If you know of a good antenna (make/model) and installation locations with mounting brackets. Suggestions for antenna cable, grounding strap, power cable would be greatly appreciated.

 

Larsen antennas are very good antennas.

http://www.larsen-antennas.com/

 

If you want a good antenna that looks nice and is problem free then do what I did. I put a standard 18" quarter wave on the cowling and called it a day.
They just work.

 

I am a Two-way radio tech and have a Kenwood tk-7180 and Tk-8180 in my jeep. The Cowl is the best place on the driver side away from the stereo antenna. http://www.specialty-communications..../8180_jeep.jpg to see a picture. Unfortunately the images does not show the mount but it’s just a flat Larson bracket made for a NMO mount antenna (installed inside the engine compartment and sticks out between the hood and fender leaving no holes on the outside of the jeep). The antenna in the image is UHF but that does not matter for this discussion. I would also recommend a long 45+ inch antenna. I did put my VHF antenna on the back tailgate but it required a lot of tuning and has about a 20% loss of power. The reason for that is that the coil is shielded on both sides by the spare tire and tailgate. So the best place is the cowl since the coil is exposed and will radiate properly and a long antenna will give you the most gain. The truly best place for an antenna is on top of a metal roof but as jeep don’t have those the cowl is the next best thing.

73s

 

Nice setup realjeep. I ordered the Tuffy overhead console, so I hope that will work well. I looked on the Larsen site and there are so many antenna's to choose from that I"M lost on which to get. If you can give me a suggestion or two, I would really appreciate it. Is that bracket on the larsen site? Thanks for all your help.

 

I totally agree. I actually have been thinking about trying a mount above the windshield in some way, shape, or form. What Larsen do you recommend for 2m? I've been out of 2m for awhile, but I still have a nice Icom 2000H that I may as well put to use. I had it in the shack radiating a Cushcraft 148-10S (10 element yagi) but I don't have that up anymore either. So, I thought the JK would be a good place for it to be.
Thanks...
Dave / wl7cmg

 

This is the setup on my 09.
Diamond K 412 mount and Larson 2/70 antenna.
Using a Yaesu HT for now, this seems to work fairly good.

 

That's a pretty slick install you got there.

 

As far as brand is concerned I have used Larson, Antenex,Tram and others. As long as you get one that is rated for at leased 100 Watts you should be fine.

73s

 

Thats why I chose the Larson.
Max power is 200 watts and I dont see myself running anymore than that
from the Jeep.