WRYZ926

I knew from the get go that there can/will be an issue running 70cm and GMRS at the same time with antennas close together like on a roof of a vehicle. I do have a little more room with the Escape versus a sedan to space the antennas out a little. Right now I am mostly using 2m and GMRS occasionally. The use of GMRS will change now that others in our club are starting to get GMRS radios. We discussed looking into a GMRS repeater on the 900ft tower that the 2m and 70cm repeaters are on.

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Well I sure won't try to transmit on 70cm and GMRS at the same time with both antennas on the roof of a vehicle. I probably won't even tune to 70cm while the GRMS is on. They are close enough in frequencies to cause issues. I was more concerned about 2m an GMRS. ANd I do appreciate all the helpful input from everyone. So please do not turn this into a pissing contest.

I'll stick with the phonetic alphabet that I learned in the military, which is the same as most amateur radio operators also use. It is not hard to learn.

@WRYU400 thank you for the information.

I have decided to go with a magnetic mount for now on the Escape. I will have to use a 15-16 inch tall antenna so I don't tear up anything pulling into the garage. Next question for the gurus. How far apart should I keep a 2m/70cm antenna and a GMRS Antenna while mounted on top of the Escape?

Make sure to use guy wires for everything sticking above your roof. 1 3/8" and 1 5/8" fence rails are flimsy when not supported.

One caution about about using fence top rail or even 1 5/8" fence posts connected together. You will want to support the poles by clamping them to a structure and/or using guy wires to support the mast. I am using three 8 foot 1 5/8" one posts connected together and they are pretty flimsy without any wall clamps. Two poles together sticks 2 feet above my roof. I will have ten foot of mast plus antenna sticking above my roof so I will have to guy it. The two lower poles are attached to the house with a couple of wall clamps. Grounding antennas, coax, etc can and does cause some arguments at times. I won't get into it other than to suggest reading the many books on the subject. There are also NEC codes and local building codes to abide by.

@OffRoaderX I kind of figured nothing really bad would happen other than things heating up.

A friend and I applied two weeks ago and it took four days from applying to receiving our license and call sign. It took 12 days from testing to receiving my amateur technician license. I tested on the 7th and received my license/call sign today.

That is definitely crossing the line. On subject. I like seeing different tests being done. I for one would like to see just how much damage transmitting on high power with no antenna will actually do to a radio.

I will recommend the Baofeng GT-5R for a cheap dual band radio. I've seen enough videos and did some testing of my own and the GT-5R is better than the standard UV-5R. And the GT-5R is $26.99. At that price, they do work and you won't cry much if one gets lost or broken. Ham Radio Crash Course did a good comparison of the GT-5R versus others. Keep a good HT for yourself and hand out the cheaper ones to others. There is a very high 2 meter repeater 20 miles away from me and I can use the GT-5 when outside my house to make contact with others on the repeater. It isn't the best signal since the radio is only 5 watts but it will work.

I was going to get a Wouxun KG-1000G but everywhere I looked is out of stock. I ended up getting a Midland MTX500 instead. The MTX500 arrives today and I still have to run cables to my outdoor antennas. I have a Comet CA-712EFC on one end of the house for GMRS. The base of the antenna is 17 feet above ground. If you happen to be a military veteran or otherwise qualify for membership at govx.com, then go through them for a discount. GovX has a 10% discount code for use on the MyGMRS web store. So the Midland MTX500 was actually cheaper than the normal price for the Wouxun KG-1000G. As far as hand held radios (HT's) go, I went cheap and bought a pair of Baofeng UV-5R GMRS radios. The pair is $51 on Amazon. For HAM, I have a Comet GP9 that is going on the opposite end of the house from my GMRS antenna and the antenna base will be 24 feet above the ground. I bought a Baofeng GT-5R to play with and it works fine. I am borrowing an older Icom IC-208H mobile dual band radio for now. I am just using a mobile antenna on a cookie sheet outside my window with the IC-208H. I decided to just start out with my technician license for now and the test is pretty easy as long as you study for it. I suggest taking one of the free practice exams online until you can pass with at least 85% before taking the real exam.

Thank you for the information @wayoverthere. And yes most things will be a compromise, especially since I do not want to drill any holes. The mount you linked looks like the best option as far as mounting on the lift gate. My Escape does have the factory roof rails but no cross bars.

That is the other main concern I have.

The roof is steel so a magnetic mount will work. And I like the idea of some 3M tape to protect the paint. I have also considered a roof rack mount too. I just wonder how the ground plane is with an antenna mounted a cross bar.

That is a bummer that you had a smoke leak in your radio. Did mice or them evil squirrels hell bent on world domination decide to chew on your cables?

I just purchased one for use as a base station. And if I find I need or want a 50 watt radio for a base station, then the XS20G will go in my Honda Pioneer 500.

@WRQC527 are you using that mount on the lift gate?

I'm not goin to say no to that. In fact I am looking at all of the options/suggestions given so far other than drilling holes. Though I don't know how that window mount would work with vent shades installed. It is still worth me considering. @WRYU400 the photo you posted will definitely benefit new people with no experiences with radios. While I am new to both GMRS and amateur radio, I use to run CB's on all of my vehicles I the past. Installing an antenna on the truck or side of a vehicle is always a compromise but those locations still work.

I'll have to look into that. The shark fin has the Sirius XM antenna along with the GPS antenna inside it. The FM antenna is inside the rear window.

Like I said, drilling a hole is out of the question so no need to discuss it.

I have had bad luck with magnet mounts in the past with CB antennas. They either don't stay put or scratch the paint. Regardless of the type of mount I go with, I have to be careful running the cable inside since there are too many pinch points at the rear lift gate. I'll figure something out. Plus I haven't decided if I am going to run a GMRS radio, 2m/70CM radio or both in the vehicle. I also have to keep in mind of overall height since my garage door opening is only 7 feet.

Glass mount antennas usually won't work on newer vehicles with factory tint due to the tint have metal in it. My Escape has factory tint. And a portable will still need an outside antenna. I'll probably end up going with an articulate mount like posted above. The next thing after that is running the cable inside. There really isn't a good place at the rear lift gate to get a coax cable through. If it was an older vehicle, I would have already drilled a hole for a NMO mount.

There is no third brake light mount for the Ford Escape.