Ford Bronco GMRS Antenna and Location

[terryb]

I’ve installed Gmrs setups on jeeps before but this is my first time with a Bronco and I’m running into some issues. 
 

First issue is that based on the available mounting locations that i would consider (in other words, no bumper or bull bar mount) I’m limited to a 28” antenna.  At least if I want to get the bronco in my garage. The only one I can find that meets this criteria is the Midland mxat03 bullbar antenna (ngp, 3db gain).  It's like the type the Aussies use.  https://midlandusa.com/products/mxat03-3db-bullbar-antenna

Possible locations on the Bronco are hood lip (although midland recommends against this due to weight), on the cowl by the A pillar, behind the spare tire and on the bolts for the tailgate hinge.  I’ve eliminated cowl and spare tire since with a ground plane antennas those are bad locations due to nearby vertical metal. 
 

i have no experience whatsoever with ngp antennas.  So what I’m looking for is input on if there are other antennas I’m missing. Is an ngp antenna a good choice?  Which location, hood lip or tailgate, is best. I presume with the ground plane antenna the answer would be hood lip but have no clue with ngp. 
 

Any other input is welcome. 

[BoxCar]

4 hours ago, WRXP381 said:

The ghost antennas are also ground plane antennas so, no go on any edge so I wouldn’t do that.   You will loose 180deg or more of coverage plus more then 90% of your distance. Unless you only want to transmit to one side and a mile or 2.   THe antenna you have chosen is a good NGP antenna.  Personally id mount it off the spare tire area.  Just remember height is might so get it up as high as possible.   There are also 48” ones of the same type but may be too tall.   

Your statement about losing 180  degrees of radiation is incorrect. An omni antenna has a larger lobe facing the ground plane and will still radiate in all directions. The increased radiation is from the opposite side of the radiation pattern.

[nokones]

1 hour ago, terryb said:

I’ve installed Gmrs setups on jeeps before but this is my first time with a Bronco and I’m running into some issues. 
 

First issue is that based on the available mounting locations that i would consider (in other words, no bumper or bull bar mount) I’m limited to a 28” antenna.  At least if I want to get the bronco in my garage. The only one I can find that meets this criteria is the Midland mxat03 bullbar antenna (ngp, 3db gain).  It's like the type the Aussies use.  https://midlandusa.com/products/mxat03-3db-bullbar-antenna

Possible locations on the Bronco are hood lip (although midland recommends against this due to weight), on the cowl by the A pillar, behind the spare tire and on the bolts for the tailgate hinge.  I’ve eliminated cowl and spare tire since with a ground plane antennas those are bad locations due to nearby vertical metal. 
 

i have no experience whatsoever with ngp antennas.  So what I’m looking for is input on if there are other antennas I’m missing. Is an ngp antenna a good choice?  Which location, hood lip or tailgate, is best. I presume with the ground plane antenna the answer would be hood lip but have no clue with ngp. 
 

Any other input is welcome. 

Check with frank.scaglione@azgmrs.org and ask him what he did on his Bronco. I believe he has a setup for both GMRS and HAM (2M and 70cm).

[dosw]

1 hour ago, terryb said:

I’ve installed Gmrs setups on jeeps before but this is my first time with a Bronco and I’m running into some issues. 
 

First issue is that based on the available mounting locations that i would consider (in other words, no bumper or bull bar mount) I’m limited to a 28” antenna.  At least if I want to get the bronco in my garage. The only one I can find that meets this criteria is the Midland mxat03 bullbar antenna (ngp, 3db gain).  It's like the type the Aussies use.  https://midlandusa.com/products/mxat03-3db-bullbar-antenna

Possible locations on the Bronco are hood lip (although midland recommends against this due to weight), on the cowl by the A pillar, behind the spare tire and on the bolts for the tailgate hinge.  I’ve eliminated cowl and spare tire since with a ground plane antennas those are bad locations due to nearby vertical metal. 
 

i have no experience whatsoever with ngp antennas.  So what I’m looking for is input on if there are other antennas I’m missing. Is an ngp antenna a good choice?  Which location, hood lip or tailgate, is best. I presume with the ground plane antenna the answer would be hood lip but have no clue with ngp. 
 

Any other input is welcome. 

Hood lip mount with two antennas that you change out depending on the use-case. Day in and day out, use something like the MXTA25 ghost antenna. It's not awesome, but it will never get hung up on your garage door. And then when you head out for a few days (garage is now not an issue), swap over to the MXTA26. They're easy to swap.

 

Another alternative is to go for a half-wave antenna on an NMO mount. Get the hood lip mount for it. The half-wave is going to be shorter than the MXTA26. And a half-wave antenna doesn't need a ground plane. Select one that is marketed as not needing a ground plane. 

[nokones]

Although, I have a Jeep but the same concept can be used on a Bronco. I installed a glass-mount antenna and it works better than expected.

 

[Lscott]

5 hours ago, WRXP381 said:

The ghost antennas are also ground plane antennas so, no go on any edge so I wouldn’t do that.

That's what I normally had always thought. However this antenna was mentioned as no ground plane required. The poster who pointed it out said they had one and it worked fine. I have no experience with this particular one so I can't comment about it one way or the other.

https://www.talleycom.com/product/ANXTRA4500N

[nokones]

6 hours ago, WRXP381 said:

The ghost antennas are also ground plane antennas so, no go on any edge so I wouldn’t do that.   You will loose 180deg or more of coverage plus more then 90% of your distance. Unless you only want to transmit to one side and a mile or 2.   THe antenna you have chosen is a good NGP antenna.  Personally id mount it off the spare tire area.  Just remember height is might so get it up as high as possible.   There are also 48” ones of the same type but may be too tall.   

Some Phantom antennae are no ground plane antennae and some require a ground plane. The non-ground plane antenna is still available and in stock at Talley Communications as Lscott pointed out with a link

I have been using that antenna for the last 20 years on composite bodied vehicles and have had great success with them.

 

[WRUW493]

Keep in mind that the electrical distance between the base of the antenna and the "ground plane" of the vehicle is important. Two inches at these frequencies it too long and will mess with VSWR as well as radiation angles. A trunk lip mount for example has a rather short distance where some of these other brackets that have 1, 2 and more inches of distance is way too much.

also, with the only exception being an end fed half wave, the horizontal radiation pattern will essentially mimic the ground plane below. This is usually the hard part, getting some ground in all directions.

For both of the above reasons is why an NMO mount in the center of roof/trunk is THE BEST. A mag mount in those locations is good too but cable routing is a problem. And yes, I too have mounted antennas on the edge of the vehicle sacrificing horizontal pattern for convenience or cosmetics.

One last thought: at these frequencies there is very little difference in performance between a roof mounted vs trunk mounted location. The RF will just go through the passenger compartment with little distortion. And the added height above ground of the roof mount will make no noticeable difference too. That is why you see most cop car sedans with the antennas on the trunk.

Hope this helps. And yea, I know you don't have a "trunk" on the Bronco, I used that example in the generic sense.

 

[WRXP381]

The ghost antennas are also ground plane antennas so, no go on any edge so I wouldn’t do that.   You will loose 180deg or more of coverage plus more then 90% of your distance. Unless you only want to transmit to one side and a mile or 2.   THe antenna you have chosen is a good NGP antenna.  Personally id mount it off the spare tire area.  Just remember height is might so get it up as high as possible.   There are also 48” ones of the same type but may be too tall.