Coax questions

[Guest owyheedog]

First let me say that I am a definite neophyte with radios, aka radio illiterate so be gentle. With that said I need advice on a couple of issues. I want to put an antenna on top of my popup truck camper but this creates several issues:

1. As the camper is fiberglass I assume that I will need a no ground plane antenna. [The antenna would mount to a metal rack which is attached to the roof.] Correct?

2. Being a popup, the roof goes up and down approximately 18" so I will need slack in the coax to allow it to do so. Do they make a coiled type of coax that would allow it to stretch? If so I'm guessing that it would be a short section that needs to a longer piece that runs to the cab of the truck. Is "slicing" them together an issue?

3. It will require a pretty long coax to go from the top of the camper, down to the truck and then up and into the cab. Is a long run of coax an issue ?

The alternative is to mount it to the ladder in the back which eliminates the "up/down" issue but still leaves the ground plane/long coax run issues.

Thank you for any advice; remember, use small words the I'll understand.

[WRVD377]

9 hours ago, Guest owyheedog said:

First let me say that I am a definite neophyte with radios, aka radio illiterate so be gentle. With that said I need advice on a couple of issues. I want to put an antenna on top of my popup truck camper but this creates several issues:

1. As the camper is fiberglass I assume that I will need a no ground plane antenna. [The antenna would mount to a metal rack which is attached to the roof.] Correct?

2. Being a popup, the roof goes up and down approximately 18" so I will need slack in the coax to allow it to do so. Do they make a coiled type of coax that would allow it to stretch? If so I'm guessing that it would be a short section that needs to a longer piece that runs to the cab of the truck. Is "slicing" them together an issue?

3. It will require a pretty long coax to go from the top of the camper, down to the truck and then up and into the cab. Is a long run of coax an issue ?

The alternative is to mount it to the ladder in the back which eliminates the "up/down" issue but still leaves the ground plane/long coax run issues.

Thank you for any advice; remember, use small words the I'll understand.

Can you find a mount point on the camper topper near the cab to use they nmo antenna if that is a truck bed camper unit, where you mount the nmo antenna to this Nagoya GPK-01 NMO Ground Plane Mount Kit – myGMRS.com when parked or driving with the camper in the bed and use the cable that came with the mobile unit?

You would say mount it to the side of the popup with enough space so the popup works, but the cable is still long enough to pass back in the truck.

Just one thought.

Ill add my second thought, what if your truck mobile had the above setup, but you were looking for more distance when parked.  Can the mobile move to the camper, add a hitch mount for a retractable pole 25', LMR 400, and a typical ground plane antenna. Using Velcro to hold cable. all removable for travel and the above usable while travelling with camper.  then if camper is not in the truck, use standard nmo antenna and cable.