Thanks for the kind remarks. I still need to tidy some wiring so it's pretty for the video. Then I need to shoot the video footage. Lots to do to make next Thursday's post time. Take Care!
Hey! Nice and clean install. I'm also looking to do something similar on my car but have some questions. 1) How is your antenna "DC grounded" (I'm new to ham radio so I'm not even sure if it needs to be "grounded")? Some clarification on that would be greatly appreciated. (Edit: My antenna is the Nagoya NMO-72 (20") going through a 17 foot NMO to UHF male cable and reducing to an SMA female connector which screws into my Baofeng UV-82HP) 2) How is the ground plane performance with the roof box and the NMO mount being higher in the air and not closer to the roof line?
Evan - The antenna gets its DC ground through the coax itself. It's not ideal, but 1/2-wave antennas do not require a ground plane. Sure, they work better with one, but they're not required. Half-wave antennas are great where metal planes are not available, such as RVs, fiberglass roofs, and even bicycles (my first mobile ham station). Your NMO-72 is a 1/4-wave and requires a ground plane. It would not work on my mount or without a proper ground plane. Thanks for visiting.
@@StealthGTI Ah okay. I've heard though that the mount where the antenna is located (aka roof rack) needs to be bonded/grounded to the vehicle's chassis. From what you wrote, it sounds like that is not necessary with the NMO to UHF to SMA female connection into my hand held, correct? As for the 1/2 wave antenna, is there anything similar to the Nagoya NMO-72 that is 1/2 wave VHF/UHF and around 20" long? I've seen 1/2 wave antennas but it seems as though only the 70cm portion is 1/2 wave and the 2m portion is 1/4 wave, any thoughts?
@@EvanAbate - I'm only saying the 1/2-wave antenna does not require a groundplane. Grounding is always better than none. As for antennas, the SBB-5 linked in the video description is exactly what I use.
I did not have a WeBoost antenna when this video was shot. The antenna was a UHF-only antenna that would fit under the box and probably worked with my GMRS radio. Today, I do have a WeBoost antenna and system, in addition to a bunch of other stuff. See my "KE4WMF" playlist for more details. Thanks for visiting.
@@TomZ23 - Gotcha! I had removed the factory sharkfin by the time I had recorded this video. See the current replacement in this video: ua-cam.com/video/yqpXtPgxfrY/v-deo.html
@@StealthGTI Thank you for the the link to the other video. It answered my questions and has me thinking about replacing my shark fin on my '21 Mazda 3. I don't want to lose my GPS (used by the car and Android Auto) or my car's LTE for the remote start, find my vehicle, etc. Thank again for the great videos.
Smart install! And also nice antenna. I have the same one! Looking forward to seeing what other ham stuff you're working on.
Thanks for the kind remarks. I still need to tidy some wiring so it's pretty for the video. Then I need to shoot the video footage. Lots to do to make next Thursday's post time. Take Care!
Nice install Scott. Looks good.
Thanks!
Hey! Nice and clean install. I'm also looking to do something similar on my car but have some questions.
1) How is your antenna "DC grounded" (I'm new to ham radio so I'm not even sure if it needs to be "grounded")? Some clarification on that would be greatly appreciated.
(Edit: My antenna is the Nagoya NMO-72 (20") going through a 17 foot NMO to UHF male cable and reducing to an SMA female connector which screws into my Baofeng UV-82HP)
2) How is the ground plane performance with the roof box and the NMO mount being higher in the air and not closer to the roof line?
Evan - The antenna gets its DC ground through the coax itself. It's not ideal, but 1/2-wave antennas do not require a ground plane. Sure, they work better with one, but they're not required. Half-wave antennas are great where metal planes are not available, such as RVs, fiberglass roofs, and even bicycles (my first mobile ham station). Your NMO-72 is a 1/4-wave and requires a ground plane. It would not work on my mount or without a proper ground plane. Thanks for visiting.
@@StealthGTI Ah okay. I've heard though that the mount where the antenna is located (aka roof rack) needs to be bonded/grounded to the vehicle's chassis. From what you wrote, it sounds like that is not necessary with the NMO to UHF to SMA female connection into my hand held, correct?
As for the 1/2 wave antenna, is there anything similar to the Nagoya NMO-72 that is 1/2 wave VHF/UHF and around 20" long? I've seen 1/2 wave antennas but it seems as though only the 70cm portion is 1/2 wave and the 2m portion is 1/4 wave, any thoughts?
@@EvanAbate - I'm only saying the 1/2-wave antenna does not require a groundplane. Grounding is always better than none. As for antennas, the SBB-5 linked in the video description is exactly what I use.
Is that shark fin roof antenna only for Satellite radio? Or does it serve other purposes such as for the LTE cellular, GPS, and/or AM/FM radio?
I did not have a WeBoost antenna when this video was shot. The antenna was a UHF-only antenna that would fit under the box and probably worked with my GMRS radio. Today, I do have a WeBoost antenna and system, in addition to a bunch of other stuff. See my "KE4WMF" playlist for more details. Thanks for visiting.
@@StealthGTI I was talking about the cars telemetry, etc.
@@TomZ23 - Gotcha! I had removed the factory sharkfin by the time I had recorded this video. See the current replacement in this video: ua-cam.com/video/yqpXtPgxfrY/v-deo.html
@@StealthGTI Thank you for the the link to the other video. It answered my questions and has me thinking about replacing my shark fin on my '21 Mazda 3. I don't want to lose my GPS (used by the car and Android Auto) or my car's LTE for the remote start, find my vehicle, etc. Thank again for the great videos.