Help With New Antenna

[Widowsson]

I think im going to buy this antenna:

HYS Long Range Pretuned Low-Profile UHF 17.7inchs Whip NMO 462-467Mhz Antenna for Midland Motorola GMRS Cobra Icom 460-470Mhz Two Way Mobile Radio
 

I’m not sure what coax cable to buy. The listing says it connects to a magnetic base that is sold separately. I don’t want a magnetic base Im just going to drill a hole in my cab and connect it that way.

Does anyone know what I should buy? Preferably a cable that has the connections already in place.
Also, does this need to be grounded to the truck with a separate ground wire?

Thanks

If it matters, I plan to use this with a radioddity DB40G and sometimes with a baofeng uv5g or uv9g

[BoxCar]

You'll want this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0842B1WFS/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B0842B1WFS&pd_rd_w=x2cE1&content-id=amzn1.sym.386c274b-4bfe-4421-9052-a1a56db557ab&pf_rd_p=386c274b-4bfe-4421-9052-a1a56db557ab&pf_rd_r=9YZT9E1TH5RETEYTT830&pd_rd_wg=YGa5N&pd_rd_r=342e6db3-d9e7-4982-9774-5635fddbabc5&s=aht&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, BoxCar said:

You'll want this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0842B1WFS/ref=sspa_dk_detail_3?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B0842B1WFS&pd_rd_w=x2cE1&content-id=amzn1.sym.386c274b-4bfe-4421-9052-a1a56db557ab&pf_rd_p=386c274b-4bfe-4421-9052-a1a56db557ab&pf_rd_r=9YZT9E1TH5RETEYTT830&pd_rd_wg=YGa5N&pd_rd_r=342e6db3-d9e7-4982-9774-5635fddbabc5&s=aht&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM

Yup this and no you do not need a separate chassis ground with gmrs.  

[Widowsson]

Thank you very much! In the pic I’ve attached…obviously this end connects to the antenna, however it seems to be right angled and low profile. Also doesn’t look like it has screw threads. The antenna looks like it sits flush. If I drill a hole in the cab roof, factoring the headliner and insulation, will this actually make the connection or do I need some sort of adapter?

[Widowsson]

6 minutes ago, WRXP381 said:

Yup this and no you do not need a separate chassis ground with gmrs.  

Thank you!

[WSDS892]

It will make sense when you have the antenna and that cable in your hand, You unscrew the big part from the cable fitting and put the little part of the fitting up through the hole in the roof and screw the big part back on, that holds it to the roof. Then the antenna will screw onto that big part.

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Widowsson said:

Thank you very much! In the pic I’ve attached…obviously this end connects to the antenna, however it seems to be right angled and low profile. Also doesn’t look like it has screw threads. The antenna looks like it sits flush. If I drill a hole in the cab roof, factoring the headliner and insulation, will this actually make the connection or do I need some sort of adapter?

You will take out the head liner or Atleast let it down enough to work and pull down any insulation. Most cars down have insulation in the roof. And they find the best place to drill a hole do you don’t hit any power or truss’s or anything else.  Then like said above you will disassemble the mount and insert from inside the car and Screw it down from out side the car. Make sure you use some clear silicon under the nut on the out side.   Use a step bit or a punch.  A hole saw can go bad very fast.     It’s a very easy process but can go very wrong easily 

[Widowsson]

11 minutes ago, WSDS892 said:

It will make sense when you have the antenna and that cable in your hand

Awesome thanks!

[Widowsson]

Just now, WRXP381 said:

You will take out the head liner or Atleast let it down enough to work and pull down any insulation. Most cars down have insulation in the roof. And they find the best place to drill a hole do you don’t hit any power or truss’s or anything else.  Then like said above you will disassemble the mount and insert from inside the car and Screw it down from out side the car. Make sure you use some clear silicon under the nut on the out side.   Use a step bit or a punch.  A hole saw can go bad very fast.     It’s a very easy process but can go very wrong easily 

Noted. Thank you much!

[WRQC527]

50 minutes ago, Widowsson said:

Thank you very much! In the pic I’ve attached…obviously this end connects to the antenna, however it seems to be right angled and low profile. Also doesn’t look like it has screw threads. The antenna looks like it sits flush. If I drill a hole in the cab roof, factoring the headliner and insulation, will this actually make the connection or do I need some sort of adapter?

There's lots of videos to walk you through installing NMO antenna mounts, which is what this is. I grabbed the first one I saw.

https://youtu.be/RBhYAb_PYO4?si=QEbUfgkfHyr4dTFr

[Widowsson]

33 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

There's lots of videos to walk you through installing NMO antenna mounts, which is what this is. I grabbed the first one I saw.

https://youtu.be/RBhYAb_PYO4?si=QEbUfgkfHyr4dTFr

Thank you! I’m out of reactions for the day so giving all my thanks verbally lol

Seems like we could be allowed to have a few more reactions at our disposal…

[dosw]

I have that same antenna. it's alright. If you're looking for a 3dbi antenna it's a solid performer. If you take it off-road you might want to look for one with a spring instead, though. A 5dbi or 6dbi antenna would get you a little more range, though it would be a lot taller.

 

For mounts you can buy any NMO mount that fits your application. Through the roof, lip mount, magnetic mount, mirror bracket, there are a lot of options. Middle of the roof will get you the best performance, so that would be a through-the-roof hole or magnetic. Midland sells double sided stickers in case you wanted to make a magnetic mount more permanent.

[Widowsson]

So I did the installation. My reception is terrible. It is super static. I had better reception with the mag mount and get better reception with a baofeng uv5g with stock antenna. Not sure if I did something wrong of something is defective.

[WRQC527]

59 minutes ago, Widowsson said:

So I did the installation. My reception is terrible. It is super static. I had better reception with the mag mount and get better reception with a baofeng uv5g with stock antenna. Not sure if I did something wrong of something is defective.

I'm going to make a couple of suggestions since I have no idea what you did. Make sure the ground is good between the mount and the body. You can check this with a multimeter. The mount itself, (not the center conductor), should show continuity to the vehicle body. There may be some kind of coating on the inside of the roof that may be preventing a good ground. I'm sure there are other possibilities, but this is a simple one to test. If you have an SWR meter, check the reading. Under 2:1 is acceptable. The closer you get to 1:1, the better. Over 2:1 isn't good. High SWR and the resulting crappy reception and transmission can indicate, among other things, a bad ground or center conductor connection, defective coax, or an antenna that needs to be lengthened or trimmed.

[Widowsson]

Here is the way it was installed. I’m assuming I wasn’t grounding to the truck body. Seems like maybe I’m missing a washer? That silver washer with teeth, I don’t think that is gonna do the trick. Not sure what it’s for.
 

I will sand and debur around the hole and use a washer this time.

 

thanks

[WRQC527]

4 minutes ago, Widowsson said:

Here is the way it was installed. I’m assuming I wasn’t grounding to the truck body. Seems like maybe I’m missing a washer? That silver washer with teeth, I don’t think that is gonna do the trick. Not sure what it’s for.
 

I will sand and debur around the hole and use a washer this time.

 

thanks

The silver washer with teeth bites through the bottom side paint and into metal. You might want to try that first before you go nuclear with the sanding. In any case, it looks good from the top, and on the bottom it looks like there's paint interfering. The multimeter is your friend that will tell you if you have a good ground and other connections, like between the antenna element and the center conductor at the other end of the coax and the outer shell of the connector and the ground end of the mount. Also, there shouldn't be continuity between the center conductor of the coax and ground.

[Widowsson]

18 minutes ago, WRQC527 said:

The silver washer with teeth bites through the bottom side paint and into metal. You might want to try that first before you go nuclear with the sanding. In any case, it looks good from the top, and on the bottom it looks like there's paint interfering. The multimeter is your friend that will tell you if you have a good ground and other connections, like between the antenna element and the center conductor at the other end of the coax and the outer shell of the connector and the ground end of the mount. Also, there shouldn't be continuity between the center conductor of the coax and ground.

I was going nuclear with sanding probably while you were typing that lol. Seems to be a whole lot better now. Thank you.

In the attached pic, is this the proper way to test continuity. Just learning all of this stuff. Thank you for your help.

[Widowsson]

Here’s what I have now. Not pretty but it’s working.

[WRQC527]

20 minutes ago, Widowsson said:

I was going nuclear with sanding probably while you were typing that lol. Seems to be a whole lot better now. Thank you.

In the attached pic, is this the proper way to test continuity. Just learning all of this stuff. Thank you for your help.

Yes. And as indicated by your multimeter, there is no continuity between the center conductor and the outer shell, which is correct. 

[SteveShannon]

It is simply not necessary to have DC continuity between an antenna base and the body of the vehicle. Magnetic bases have no DC continuity to the roof and work just fine. The RF connection is easily made through paint. 

However, with that said, an intermittent electrical connection between car body parts and an antenna base can cause static interference. You will see people bonding car parts together using short braided jumpers in an effort to minimize noise. 

[Widowsson]

On 7/27/2024 at 3:38 PM, SteveShannon said:

It is simply not necessary to have DC continuity between an antenna base and the body of the vehicle. Magnetic bases have no DC continuity to the roof and work just fine. The RF connection is easily made through paint. 

However, with that said, an intermittent electrical connection between car body parts and an antenna base can cause static interference. You will see people bonding car parts together using short braided jumpers in an effort to minimize noise. 

Forgive my limited understanding of what you stated. Are you saying that I would get better reception if the antenna or base was not touching the body of the vehicle at all? 

[SteveShannon]

52 minutes ago, Widowsson said:

Forgive my limited understanding of what you stated. Are you saying that I would get better reception if the antenna or base was not touching the body of the vehicle at all? 

No, if it’s a ground plane antenna it needs to couple to either the roof, hood, or trunk lid somehow (or a sheet of conductive material of some type), otherwise it will not receive well. But it can do so capacitively even through a layer of paint or thin plastic or rubber. 
I’m saying it doesn’t need to be an DC electrical connection that can be verified with an ohmmeter. Because it’s RF a layer of paint isn’t an impediment. Nobody sands off the paint to use a magnetic base, right?

[Widowsson]

Ok I understand. Thank you. However I did notice a huge difference after doing what I did. So maybe in the first attempt, I wasn’t making contact at all. 

[dosw]

2 hours ago, Widowsson said:

Ok I understand. Thank you. However I did notice a huge difference after doing what I did. So maybe in the first attempt, I wasn’t making contact at all. 

How is the antenna working out now then? I have that one that I use once in awhile. It's not my best antenna, but it's definitely my best shorter antenna (compared to my other short antenna, the MXTA25). To get any better you have to go longer.

[Widowsson]

It’s working. Though I’m sure I would get a lot better results with a longer antenna. I wish they made one that could just be swapped out but I couldn’t find any. There are Alan screws holding the actual antenna rod in place. One would think you could just take the short one out and put a long one in and swap as necessary but I’m not seeing them sold individually.