Vehicle Mobile Antennae and Components For A Handheld (Follow Up To Original)

[WSEH456]

I edited the original topic post, however, not sure if anyone will see the follow up question I had, please see below.

I have been thinking about getting a vehicle antennae that I could plug my Baofeng UV-5G Plus handheld into while driving.  However, I have no idea what all the components would be to do this.  Obviously, an antennae, antennae mount, cable, possibly an amplifier and then some type of adapter to go from the coax to the handheld radio.

Anybody have suggestions like on models / products?

Greatly appreciate the help!

Follow Up To Initial Topic

I greatly appreciate all the information gang!

The UT-72G with the magnetic mount with the adapters looks like a great way to go.

I potentially have a problem with the magnetic mount.  Ford seems to have fallen in love with aluminum on their trucks so may run into a problem as to where or how to mount the antennae.

Please have a look at this alternative and let me know if this is a viable option:

Amazon.com: Retevis GMRS Mobile Antenna, Heavy Duty Fiberglass GMRS Antenna, 6.5dB 462-467MHz,Mount Bracket,Spring Base with 16ft RG-58U Coaxial Cable,Compatible with Midland GMRS Radio Retevis RT97 RA86,43.3inch : Electronics

Amazon.com: exgoofit UHF Female to SMA Male Female Adapter Pack-2Pcs Handheld Antenna Cable 6'' PL259 SO239 Connector for Amplifier, CB Radio Handheld Walkie Talkie Extension : Electronics

Again.  I greatly appreciate the help and input!

[SteveShannon]

Brent,

Where would you plan to mount the bracket?  Personally I would get a bracket designed specifically for your model and year of truck rather than a generic bracket like you’ve linked. 
Alternatively, there are thin steel plates with double sided adhesive on one side that can be adhered to your aluminum roof which then allow magnetic mounts to be used. 
There’s also a company that makes antenna brackets that attach between your third brake light and the cab. They’re expensive but very well done. 
Or get a bracket and antenna like you linked. 
 

[dosw]

I see no problem with these, though I would prefer an NMO-mount solution for ease of swapping antennas. Today you might want a 6dBi gain 34" whip. Tomorrow you might want a Ghost antenna so it's not as much of a big deal when you drive around town. And next week you might just want a weatherproof NMO cap so you can go through the car wash.

 

The adapter you want, for your Baofeng UV5G Plus is SO-239 to SMA-Female. The set you linked to is a two-pack, one of them being SO-239 to SMA-Female, and the other being SO-239 to SMA-Male. You don't currently need the latter, though one can never have too many adapter options.

[Tip10]

Larsen makes a variety of capacitive coupled glass Mount antennas - including one covering the GMRS frequency range (in addition to dual & tri-band models).


Never engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person.

[WRYZ926]

The Midland MXTA38 adhesive-backed metallic mount works well. I use one on the aluminum diamond plated tool box on my SxS. It holds a Comet 2x4SR antenna just fine.

https://midlandusa.com/collections/micromobile-accessories/products/micromobilemxta38-adhesive-backed-metallic-mount

Unfortunately Midland is out of stock and I did not see it on Amazon. But something similar should work. Or go with a vehicle specific mount like suggested.

[WRYZ926]

Some people swear by glass mount antennas and some cuss at glass mounted antennas. I' have not tried them on any newer vehicles since most factory tinted widows contain metal.

[SteveShannon]

On 9/5/2024 at 6:16 PM, WRYZ926 said:

I' have not tried them on any newer vehicles since most factory tinted widows contain metal.

How does that affect a glass mount antenna, good or bad?

[WRYZ926]

The metal in window tint can block the RF between the outer and inner pats of the glass mount.

Plus some back windows now have the AM/FM antenna along with the defroster inside the glass.

[WSAM454]

On 9/5/2024 at 7:46 PM, WRYZ926 said:

The Midland MXTA38 adhesive-backed metallic mount works well. I use one on the aluminum diamond plated tool box on my SxS. It holds a Comet 2x4SR antenna just fine.

https://midlandusa.com/collections/micromobile-accessories/products/micromobilemxta38-adhesive-backed-metallic-mount

Unfortunately Midland is out of stock and I did not see it on Amazon. But something similar should work. Or go with a vehicle specific mount like suggested.

Does that small metal disk make an adequate 'ground plane" for the antenna to work against, since it would appear that the adhesive will insulate the plate from the actual metal of the vehicle? 

OP. how about a lip mount that might fit somewhere on the hood lip, since you do not have a trunk.

[WRYZ926]

16 minutes ago, WSAM454 said:

Does that small metal disk make an adequate 'ground plane" for the antenna to work against, since it would appear that the adhesive will insulate the plate from the actual metal of the vehicle? 

OP. how about a lip mount that might fit somewhere on the hood lip, since you do not have a trunk.

Yes it does. The double sided foam tape is no different that the protective rubber boots on most magnet mounts. 

[nokones]

On 9/10/2024 at 12:02 PM, WRYZ926 said:

The metal in window tint can block the RF between the outer and inner pats of the glass mount.

Plus some back windows now have the AM/FM antenna along with the defroster inside the glass.

Larsen has instructions on how to place the antenna mounting halves on the glass with the defroster elements. Don't let the defroster sway your decision on using their antenna.

I've been using one on my 23 Wrangler Rubicon with great success. If my factory window tint had metal in the tint, I'm sure it would do a great job of reflecting power back to the radio and result in the appropriate poor VSWRs.

My VSWR on 462 Megs is 1.2:1 and on 467 Megs 1.6:1. I doubt that I have any metal in my tint.

[WRYZ926]

I've seen it go both ways when using a glass mount antenna on vehicles with tinted widows. It works great for some but horrible for others. I have plenty of roof space so I won't be bothering to find out if they work with Ford's factory window tint or not.

[SteveShannon]

There’s a forum for everything isn’t there?  I found a forum dedicated to window tinting professionals!

Posts there indicate no issues with any metallic tint materials blocking antennas which are internal to the windows from receiving signals from outside the car. That doesn’t mean it has never happened, but it isn’t currently complained about. Actually that probably makes sense since it seems window tint material is applied to the inside of the window so it’s not in a position to interfere with antennas which are on the RF side of the tint material.

I didn’t find anything that discussed the Larsen antennas on either side of a metallic tint. Honestly it was something I had never considered before and I was surprised when WRYZ926 said it could either attenuate or interrupt RF between the two halves of a glass mount antenna, but I know that with antennas anything can have an effect, so I’m not discounting the idea.
I’d be very interested in seeing empirical data that documents the effect of different materials on inductive coupling. 
 

[nokones]

The factory Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Rear Window Tint is not a tinting film material. It is actually a dark window known as Privacy Glass. I don't know how the glass manufacturer tints the glass.

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, nokones said:

The factory Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Rear Window Tint is not a tinting film material. It is actually a dark window known as Privacy Glass. I don't know how the glass manufacturer tints the glass.

I agree. I think factory tinted windows alway use tinted glass rather than film. 
My wife had a 1998 Accord once that came from down south. It had a very nice aftermarket tinting job, but it really didn’t work well with my sunglasses which were polarized. If I tilted my head the window would almost become opaque. I’ve only had factory tint since then. 

[WRYZ926]

With factory tinted windows, the tint material is in between the layers of safety glass. I'm not sure what each manufacturer actually uses, especially when it comes to metal content of the tint. Like I said, I have had some say glass mount antennas work fine and others say they didn't work for them.

 I mentioned it so people were aware that tint could possibly cause an issue. 

[SteveShannon]

32 minutes ago, WRYZ926 said:

 I mentioned it so people were aware that tint could possibly cause an issue. 

I’m glad you did because I never would’ve thought of it.