Radio Guy
Well-Known Member
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- #1
I already had three antenna mounts on my Mojave, two NMO trunk lip mounts on the front hood and a custom mount in the bed that will take everything from a 3" 900MHz NMO whip to a heavy 160-10M HF screwdriver. But I wanted more and have been looking at the upper bed rail below the rear window for some time. Since the entire upper part of the JT is mostly non metallic, it should provide a reasonable omni directional pattern.
I picked up a flat NMO bracket from Laird in black, although they are available from other mfrs a bit cheaper. https://www.ebay.com/itm/223128247145?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
I then drilled the top bed rail and used #8-32 stainless screws with Keps nuts which have a built in star washer that will bite through the paint for a good ground. I was a little worried about the lack of ground plane but a quick test with a mag mount in that location proved its not bad. The final testing with various antennas shows the ground plane is just barely adequate for VHF like 2M amateur and MURS but great for UHF and above. I have not tested for CB yet and and will update when I have data. I have several multiband antennas from COMPACtenna and they are known for good operation under poor ground plane conditions and they all work great at VHF on this new mount.
I also drilled through the bed rail to the side and below the mount to provide a path to hide the coax and it drops down behind the bed and up into a hole in the floor just in front of the rear seats and close to the doors. There is a plastic capped cable entry point on either side of the truck and I have quite a few cables through them on both sides now. The mount protrudes a little from the bed rail but not as far as the trail rails, so I don't expect anything in the bed to ever touch the antenna. This location is stealthy depending on your antenna size and you will never snag the antenna on bushes or trees when on the trail.
Here are a few pics of the mount, one with an inexpensive 6" UHF whip that works great on UHF amateur and GMRS and a tri-band from COMPACtenna. The 9" tall tri-band works really well and allows me to plug in any VHF/UHF/800/900MHz radio with a great match. Oops, looks like I forgot to clean the paw prints off the rear window again.
I picked up a flat NMO bracket from Laird in black, although they are available from other mfrs a bit cheaper. https://www.ebay.com/itm/223128247145?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649
I then drilled the top bed rail and used #8-32 stainless screws with Keps nuts which have a built in star washer that will bite through the paint for a good ground. I was a little worried about the lack of ground plane but a quick test with a mag mount in that location proved its not bad. The final testing with various antennas shows the ground plane is just barely adequate for VHF like 2M amateur and MURS but great for UHF and above. I have not tested for CB yet and and will update when I have data. I have several multiband antennas from COMPACtenna and they are known for good operation under poor ground plane conditions and they all work great at VHF on this new mount.
I also drilled through the bed rail to the side and below the mount to provide a path to hide the coax and it drops down behind the bed and up into a hole in the floor just in front of the rear seats and close to the doors. There is a plastic capped cable entry point on either side of the truck and I have quite a few cables through them on both sides now. The mount protrudes a little from the bed rail but not as far as the trail rails, so I don't expect anything in the bed to ever touch the antenna. This location is stealthy depending on your antenna size and you will never snag the antenna on bushes or trees when on the trail.
Here are a few pics of the mount, one with an inexpensive 6" UHF whip that works great on UHF amateur and GMRS and a tri-band from COMPACtenna. The 9" tall tri-band works really well and allows me to plug in any VHF/UHF/800/900MHz radio with a great match. Oops, looks like I forgot to clean the paw prints off the rear window again.
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