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12BNNT
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Is your ham antenna mounted to the hood? Clamp or magnet mount?
I’ve got the AEG pod light brackets on the a pillar cowl and drilled a hole towards the back side for the NMO connector to mount on it. Had to grind the powder coat off the underside of the bracket where the connector mounts and around the edge of the holes where the bolts go through to the body. Check resistance and had none between the antenna ground and the engine.
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Find a large washer that fits under the base of the antenna and solder a wire to the inside diameter. Run that wire to the ground stud under the hood. I hate grinding paint on a new vehicle!
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12BNNT
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agreed! That’s why I chose the brackets I did. Didn’t have to grind any vehicle paint. The female threads where the bolts go in were clean so I just had to remove a little powder coating on the brackets and the bolts act as the grounding connection.
12BNNT
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Actually, if you’re bracket is bolting to the fender you may just need to clean a spot on the underside of the bracket where your antenna cable connects and then the top of the bracket where the bolt goes through it into the fender. That will allow your antenna to ground through the bracket and then the bolt and into the frame where the fender mounts. Similar to the way I did mine except you’re grounding to the fender bolt where as mine is grounded to the cowling bolt.
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Perhaps you can post a link to that bracket if it's commercially available so folks know what it is and who makes it
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scotticus
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I am using: https://topsyproducts.com/products/jl-fender-mount-nmo-antenna-bracket and the bond from antenna bracket/antenna to body is good, to frame is good to neutral is good. when i test the bond between the hood and that or the chassis ground and the hood its not good. I guess i'm looking for what folks are using for the ground point on the hood, since i'm not seeing any spots that aren't painted.
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I have Topsy Products' JL Fender Mount CB Antenna Bracket installed - it's a great product and works very well. High quality, Stainless Steel (which I painted) - does what it's supposed to do. I assume it should ground itself when installed but you'd know better than me in regard to your application.
https://topsyproducts.com/collectio...ssories/products/fender-mount-antenna-bracket
You can find my CB installation with more on the wiring path and this bracket via my build thread (link below).
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scotticus
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Yes, i have the NMO instead of the CB mount, and have my VHF/UHF antenna on it. I'm getting really poor performance out of my radio, my HT works better for local repeaters. I need to get an SWR meter to test, but i have to theories as to why. 1) Hood is an extremely poor ground plane due to poor bonding or 2) my coax to the mount is fouled somehow. Seems like bonding the hood with some braided strap (which i have) would be easier of the two to make right, before I try to replace the cable. I ran it through the firewall on the passenger side through the double grommet. My hope is that bonding the hood will make it perform as a better ground plane and all will be well. If not, then I can find an SWR meter and play with it to see if it's the cable or the ground plane.
wannajeep
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If you haven't measured SWR yet, I'd do that before going to the effort of making any other changes. Even if the bonding isn't ideal, you might be able to get a good SWR if you tune the antenna. If you don't have an SWR meter yourself, there's got to be another local ham who does and they'd probably be happy to help. In a non ideal antenna/grounding situation the likelihood of the SWR being off is high, and simply lengthening or shortening the antenna (if it allows) could be an easy fix.
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scotticus
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The antenna I have is a tuned dual band 140-148/440-448MHz antenna, i shouldn't need to tune it or "trim" it, its not a CB firestick 
If i test the SWR before bonding the hood, i still have 2 variables, the ground plane, or the cable. If i bond the hood, i can remove one of those variables and then if its still bad, its most likely the cable. I can also remove the bond and see if that affects the SWR overall.
If i test the SWR before bonding the hood, i still have 2 variables, the ground plane, or the cable. If i bond the hood, i can remove one of those variables and then if its still bad, its most likely the cable. I can also remove the bond and see if that affects the SWR overall.
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Much better solution! Glad it worked out.
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