MXTA26 Antenna Placement

[Sonicgott]

So, I have a wonder MXTA26 antenna mounted with a magnetic MXTA12 base plate hooked up to my Wouxun KG1000G+. This radio is an absolute champion.

Antenna placement is annoying, though. I prefer it on top of my car, as it has the best ground plane (whole roof is metal), but I’ve been thinking about moving it to my trunk (antenna shouldn’t hit anything opening the trunk door). The MXTA25 ghost antenna performs poorly for trying to hit repeaters, so I’ve nixed that option.

The MXTA26 hits the top of my garage door (doesn’t seem to hurt it, just annoying), so, I want to move it to the trunk door.

Any noticeable degradation in performance for this antenna if on the trunk?

The hood is not an option, as there is no decent way to route the antenna cable, and such a beast would be in my field of view.

Dumb question. Thoughts?

[Guest]

26 minutes ago, Sonicgott said:

So, I have a wonder MXTA26 antenna mounted with a magnetic MXTA12 base plate hooked up to my Wouxun KG1000G+. This radio is an absolute champion.

Antenna placement is annoying, though. I prefer it on top of my car, as it has the best ground plane (whole roof is metal), but I’ve been thinking about moving it to my trunk (antenna shouldn’t hit anything opening the trunk door). The MXTA25 ghost antenna performs poorly for trying to hit repeaters, so I’ve nixed that option.

The MXTA26 hits the top of my garage door (doesn’t seem to hurt it, just annoying), so, I want to move it to the trunk door.

Any noticeable degradation in performance for this antenna if on the trunk?

The hood is not an option, as there is no decent way to route the antenna cable, and such a beast would be in my field of view.

Dumb question. Thoughts?

I know a few people with that exact antenna that have put them on the trunk deck.  Some with a lip mount near the glass and some with the mag mount or nmo through mount in the center.   Some people have said they have lost some tx/rx from and to the front and some have said they have noticed very little to no loss.   Personally I don’t have a low garage door mine is 12’ tall so I would not want to move mine from the roof but since you have a mag mount all you can do is try and see how it goes.  I’d still put it in the middle to maximize ground plane.  

[dosw]

• Will it change anything? Signs point to yes.
• Will you be able to tell a difference? My sources say no.
• Will it matter? Very doubtful.
• Can we be sure? Don't count on it.

Best thing you can do is try. But here's my experience: I have an MXTA26 on a lip mount attached to the aft-end of the hood of my old Bronco. That gives a flat metal plane all the way around (older vehicles had a cowling between the windshield and the hood), minimum radius eight inches. This also means that the antenna is probably 2/3rds obstructed in some directions by the windwhield and upper-body of the vehicle. I can easily hit a repeater 63 miles away. I've also tested simplex three miles away with the vehicle transmitting in every orientation relative to the receiving antenna, and really can't tell a difference, either.

 

Yes, a portion of the signal will be attenuated by the roof of your vehicle. And yes, you'll have your antenna 18 inches lower. It's hard to know for sure if it will make any difference at all, but under anything but the most pessimal of conditions, I doubt you would notice a difference.

[Sonicgott]

Thanks for the advice, folks.