Yes, in general the higher you are the better. But, IMO, it's not as critical on the JK because the top is not metal. Your ground plane ends up being the tub, RF passes through fiberglass top and glass, it will pass through almost anything except metal. Granted, once it goes through the top it will be reduced.

That's why the radar on planes works through the radome (nosecone). We mfg and do the trans testing on military and commercial radomes where I work and they are RF tranparent, hence the name trans test. All they're made of is fiberglass and "paper" core. They are many times thicker than out hardtops.

 

In general..but not necessarily. Mine had to be low for clearance reasons at home and at work (parking garage). My reception seems just fine....and SWR is lower than 1.5 which is pretty good.

 

oh! co-AX



*whew* i thought this was a sildenafil citrate thread.

 

How are you too short with 18ft? How are you routing? Should be plenty of room. Go in thru the gate, then just go under carpet, on edge all the way to front.

 

Using the tire carrier mount pictured here my antenna with a quick disconnect hits my tire when it is reinstalled. I have the 18" tires and rims (stock) I do not have near the amount of clearance you have pictured here. I will try to get some pics up this evening if I get the time.

 

I had the exact same problem OIMJ -- in order to fix it, I ended up ditching the quick disconnect and mounting the teraflex mount upside down (driver's side lower bolts instead of passenger's side upper bolts). This brought the height of antenna down which I needed, but also kept the antenna from rubbing the tire and making it impossible to disconnect and reconnect.

Consequently, since the antenna height was lowered, I had no need for the quick disconnect anymore as I had no reason to disconnect....so it solved 2 problems in one.

 

Thanks but I have to have the disconnect in there so I can remove the antenna when I have to take the hardtop off. We slide it to the rear onto a stand. I know I could undo the antenna but the disco is the simplist fix. I think I am going to drill a new hole assuming I get the chance when it is not 90+ out.

 

You could still use the disconnect when moving it to the other side, I just didn't need to..

 

When I get back to it I will look at that. It will shorten the antenna a bit but hey if it works. My only thing is I am not sure I have enough antenna wire to reach the other side. We will see how it goes.

 

How long is your coax? I'm running 18 feet, and I run mine along the side to underneath the glove box..Have at least 2 feet of extra coax. Unless you're running it somewhere odd, I don't see how you'd run short.