WRTC928

Even better

You can, however, get a magnet-mount antenna tuned for GMRS and put it on top of your vehicle, then use an adapter to attach the radio to the antenna. That will almost certainly give you a better signal, both transmitting and receiving. Antenna Adapter There are other magnet-mount antennas that some people like better, but this one has worked well for me. Feel free to solicit opinions.

What @SteveShannon said. However, Baofeng Tech has branched out in recent years and are having some equipment made to their specifications by other companies. That's probably why they have kind of backed away from Baofeng Tech in favor of BTech. As a general rule, the Baofeng products they sell are a bit more expensive than from other suppliers, but they often have a couple of extra features and they do back up their products and provide support for them.

I can't think of any reason it wouldn't work, but I can think of all kinds of reasons it wouldn't be allowed.

That's my understanding. There's a lot of weather between a sunny day and a full-on direct lightning strike, so we want to protect against as much of it as we can.

Ah, okay. The wire isn't really carrying a current in the usual sense. Good. 8 gauge wire is a lot cheaper than 4 gauge.

On the bed rail of my truck, I got good SWRs with the Comet except on the 2m band. I use the 2m band a lot, so that was a no-go. However, on the roof of my car, I get SWRs < 1.5:1 on 2m, 70cm, GMRS, MURS, and -- to my surprise -- even 1.25m. I haven't had an opportunity to find out whether it actually performs on 1.25 meters, but at least it won't blow up my radio. So, yes, it's a ground plane antenna, but it was better than I expected without one. As I said earlier, I thought the SG7900 was an NGP antenna when I bought it, and since it performs just fine where it is, I'm going to leave it. Excellent SWRs and farz on GMRS, 70cm, and 2m. I guess it is a no ground plane antenna -- at least on the bed rail of my truck. I'm currently running a Comet SBB-224 on the car, and boy is it a good performer! It didn't like the bed rail either, but it really likes the roof of the car. It's officially a tri-band (2m, 1.25m, 70cm) but it really reaches out on GMRS as well. It has a 1.2:1 SWR on MURS, but I've never actually tried it, and likely never will. Still, it's there if I need it. The 2x4 actually has a little better farz on 70cm and GMRS, but not by a lot. That's why I'd like to know how it performs on 1.25m. Likely the 224 will go on the truck if I ever get around to having an NMO put on the roof.

Okay. For some reason, I was thinking 8'. That's still a lot of ground rods for a 200' run. The code is a minimum. My thought was that for such a long run, a heavier wire might be preferable. If so, I'm okay with absorbing the extra cost. I can't think of any way to go under 30' of asphalt without cutting it.

My question really is whether it's safer to leave the antenna connected to the radio or to disconnect it. I assume a direct strike may fry the coax even if it's properly grounded. I can replace an antenna and coax; it's my house and myself I'm concerned about.

200' of 4 awg copper wire is about $300 which isn't prohibitive, but if you have to add another ground rod every 8', that's going to get into some serious cash, aside from the work of driving 25 ground rods. In my case, I have to cross about 30' of asphalt. Is there any reason I can't cut a groove in the asphalt, lay the bare wire in it, and fill it with asphalt patch material? Is there any disadvantage to burying the wire where it crosses grass?

So, what happens if the antenna is adequately grounded and you disconnect it from the radio? I have assumed the electricity would follow the path of least resistance to the ground and the coax would be at minimal risk. Is that incorrect?

The hood is aluminum IIRC. Hopefully that will be adequate if we mount it on a fender or hood lip mount. A lot of people seem to get good results that way. Since I already have the SG7900, it will cost nothing to find out.

Obviously, we'll do some testing with my antenna before she spends the money for one. There's no doubt about that, but we have to work with what we have. Modern vehicles have so many non-metallic parts that it's often hard to find a decent ground plane. Literally the only ground plane on my truck is the roof. The hood is fiberglass. I'm going to install an NMO on the roof at some point; I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I used the Diamond SG7900 on my truck where the ground plane is practically nonexistent and it works fine. I bought it because DX Engineering said it didn't need a ground plane, and then found out it is actually a ground plane antenna, but I'm not going to argue with success. It's one of the options I'll suggest to my friend.

Those are all useful options. I'll show them to the owner.

One of the reasons I always go with an NMO mount is so I can remove the antenna for car washes. Full disclosure: It's not my vehicle; I'm helping a friend figure out what to do.

What's a good antenna mount for the 2025 Jeep Gladiator Mojave? IIRC, the hood is aluminum, so it should provide a decent ground plane, but the way the hood wraps down toward the fender makes me wonder if a regular hood lip mount will work. Does it need something special? Is a hood lip mount even the best way to go? I'm planning to put a 52" antenna on it, so it needs to be sturdy.

Okay, now it makes sense.

How does it change the calculations if the antenna is mounted on something non-conductive like a fiberglass mast?

I'm not following you. What does that have to do with lightning protection? What kinds of problems will it cause? To be clear, I'm not being confrontational. I'm really trying to understand this.

That was my logic, hence my confusion at the recommendation to do that.

Yes, but commercial tower sites don't then bond the ground to a house ground. What I'm trying to figure out is why almost every article or video I find recommends doing that.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand how that relates to my question. Please elaborate.

What is the logic behind bonding your lightning ground to the house ground? Lightning always wants to go to the earth, so grounding your antenna and coax makes sense. You give the lightning an easy path to the earth, and hopefully it will take it. I also understand why it's recommended that you bond the common ground for your equipment to the house ground. The powered equipment is part of the same circuit as all the other electrical equipment in the house and you want to keep it at the same potential. However, I don't follow the reasoning of bonding the two together. It seems to me that the most logical solution for protecting against lightning is to give the electrical buildup a way to get to the earth without directing it into your house; i.e., a lightning ground separate from the equipment ground. Yet everything I read recommends bonding the lightning ground to the house ground, so there must be some reason that I don't understand.