kogar

Got antenna 1 wired up easy-peasy! SWR shows 1.2ish. I'll take that

Nice work on the restore, Marc! Ive always been envious of people that can do such amazing things for vehicles. re: hi-lift - I’m not knocking all the great utilities those things have, but I’ve seen them darn near kill a couple people because they were inexperienced. My arb xjack will give my lifted wrangler the clearance it needs. In my case, Im more likely to need to get my jeep up in sandy beaches or mud, so a large exhaust lift is a better option for me. We can probably agree the best solution is to have both im hoping to find a friend tomorrow who will help me rewire my radio. Then I’ll let y’all know what I get with the swr.

Thanks! That looks like what I plan to do! I got springs for mine though, so I should be ok. I have a midland 1/2 wave and a Tram tri bander that I can sub out if things get really bad. psst... i don’t use a hi-lift. Im a huge proponent of the x-jack! https://www.arb.com.au/recovery/x-jack/

Thx marc. I’ll take 1.5 on 467 if I can get it. The ground plane talk just puzzles me for a 5/8, but it’s been a LONG TIME since I did antenna-nerd stuff.

ok, first: Apologies for resurrecting this thread, but it's relevant for me. I am hooking up ham (Kenwood TM-D710GA) and GMRS (Midland) radios in my Jeep Wrangler JL. I had originally fabbed some 12ga steel antenna mounts, but didn't get the chance to finish wiring them and check SWR. Instead, I purchased a Comet CA-2X4SR and a Comet CP-5M lip mount. Frankly, I think the Comet lip mount has a nicer look and feel than my cheezy sheet metal bendy-hack does. I haven't wired the antennas up yet though, but this thread makes me a bit nervous. For those of you that don't know much about the new Wranglers, let me explain: Most of the exterior is aluminum body panels. Since I often ride "topless" in the summer, a mount on my hardtop roof is a non-starter. That means I mount my antennas in the rear or in the front. The best place for my needs is probably midpoint along the hood. However, based on this thread, it seems like the Comet lip-mount won't yield sufficient ground plane for UHF. This puzzles me a bit, because I thought the 5/8 wouldn't have need of a ground plane like a 1/4 wave would. Am I making a bad decision by using the Comet lip mount? Should I go back to my fabbed sheet metal plates that bolt into the steel engine bay? (just underneath the hood - similar to this mount that you can use on a JK model: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IHMZT1S )