Best NMO mount?

[WRTC928]

I've decided to install a permanent NMO mount on my car. On the principle of "buy once, cry once" I want to get something that will provide good service until the car gives out. I'm requesting recommendations for brand and type. Aaaaand GO!

[Raybestos]

In the past, I have had good service from Larsen and Laird brand NMO hole mounts.

[WRCR724]

Larson.

[nokones]

Larsen or T E Connectivity (Laird) and buy them from a reputable professional radio electronics retailer like Talley Communications, Pasternack, Arcadian Antenna, Tessco, or Antenna Farm, and not from a cheap discount big warehouse operation that only specializes in shipping cheap junk sold by resellers that knows nothing about radio electronics.

[WRXB215]

38 minutes ago, nokones said:

not from a cheap discount big warehouse operation that only specializes in shipping cheap junk sold by resellers that knows nothing about radio electronics.

Hey! Stop giving Amazon a hard time! 

[gortex2]

Larsen NMOKHFCX is probably the best mount out there right now. Any Larsen, Laird, PCTEL, Motorola mounts are good. 

 

[SteveShannon]

25 minutes ago, gortex2 said:

Larsen NMOKHFCX is probably the best mount out there right now. Any Larsen, Laird, PCTEL, Motorola mounts are good. 

 

It’s probably just one of my own biases, but every time I consider the Larsen mount I shy away from their use of zinc alloy.

[WRTC928]

Usually, when you ask about the "best" anything, you'll get a lot of differences of opinion. I asked the same question in another forum, and Larsen and Laird came in hands-down favorites in both groups. That speaks well to their quality. I'm probably going to go with a Larsen.

[tcp2525]

38 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

It’s probably just one of my own biases, but every time I consider the Larsen mount I shy away from their use of zinc alloy.

Maybe you are confusing Chinese "pot metal" with quality brass that is alloyed with zinc? I can assure those mounts are quality, definitely from a metallurgical perspective. 

[SteveShannon]

Just now, tcp2525 said:

Maybe you are confusing Chinese "pot metal" with quality brass that is alloyed with zinc? I can assure those mounts are quality, definitely from a metallurgical perspective. 

Nope, it has nothing to do with China. I’m thinking of Zamak and its past usage in machinery. The specifications for this mount specify copper, brass, and zinc alloy separately. 

[WRUE951]

if you have room, The newer Ram Trucks 2018 up do, i'd go with a Breedlove mount.  You will pretty much have to remove your headliner to do a good mount job and thats the hardest part.   Breedlove mounts are built like a tank and will not fail.    Do your homework,  not every NMO mount is equal,  a lot are junk..  Here is a good read.  https://www.hamradio.me/antennas/nmo-mobile-antenna-mount-options.html

 

https://breedlovemounts.com/store/ols/products/nmo-roof-mount

[tcp2525]

20 minutes ago, SteveShannon said:

Nope, it has nothing to do with China. I’m thinking of Zamak and its past usage in machinery. The specifications for this mount specify copper, brass, and zinc alloy separately. 

Brass is, at least yellow brass is 34% zinc mixed with copper. The nickel comes in as plating. Scrap the nickel and you will see yellow brass. 

[gortex2]

1 hour ago, SteveShannon said:

It’s probably just one of my own biases, but every time I consider the Larsen mount I shy away from their use of zinc alloy.

We have migrated to this mount over time on our SAR team. Its held up the best out of anything we have used. Both in true NMO mount fasion (in a roof) as well as on fender mounts and other not normal installs. The enclosed cable on the bottom of the mount keeps water out and we found it worked better in fringe areas on simplex. I still use the standard NMO from MSI/Larsen/Laird/PCTel on our UHF TLMR stuff but anything VHF is the Larsen one now. When possible I use them on all mounts. My new work truck as 6 mounts and all are the same. 

 

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, gortex2 said:

We have migrated to this mount over time on our SAR team. Its held up the best out of anything we have used. Both in true NMO mount fasion (in a roof) as well as on fender mounts and other not normal installs. The enclosed cable on the bottom of the mount keeps water out and we found it worked better in fringe areas on simplex. I still use the standard NMO from MSI/Larsen/Laird/PCTel on our UHF TLMR stuff but anything VHF is the Larsen one now. When possible I use them on all mounts. My new work truck as 6 mounts and all are the same. 

 

Good recommendation, thanks!

[nokones]

6 hours ago, WRXB215 said:

Hey! Stop giving Amazon a hard time! 

I never mentioned Amazon in any of my postings.   

[LeeBo]

I’m using the Diamond brand lip mount on the top of my rear CRV door. Been working great.


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[WRUI365]

Diamond has 2 mounts that are very useful, K400 and K412 in which the K412 has a 3 axis position adjustment and the K400 is 2. I have both and they both work good.

[Hoppyjr]

I’m using the Diamond brand lip mount on the top of my rear CRV door. Been working great.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Diamond has 2 mounts that are very useful, K400 and K412 in which the K412 has a 3 axis position adjustment and the K400 is 2. I have both and they both work good.

OP mentions a permanent NMO mount, which would be a hole in the vehicle style.

[WRTC928]

14 minutes ago, Hoppyjr said:

OP mentions a permanent NMO mount, which would be a hole in the vehicle style.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, that's what I'm asking about, although I'm open to other ideas. It's not unlikely that I'll eventually end up with two antennas, so other mounting methods are good to know.

[SteveShannon]

On 1/15/2025 at 9:25 AM, tcp2525 said:

Brass is, at least yellow brass is 34% zinc mixed with copper. The nickel comes in as plating. Scrap the nickel and you will see yellow brass. 

While that’s all true, I’ve never seen someone refer to a brass component as “zinc alloy”.  Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, not a “zinc alloy”.  If you think there’s no difference, go to a nearby scrapyard and ask what the difference is.  Clean die cast zinc alloy scrap goes for just over $0.50/lb. where yellow brass is about $2.30 and red brass is nearly $3.

This portion of a picture from Larsen makes it even clearer that the main body is a zinc alloy component which has been copper plated and then nickel plated (not a brass component).  They understand the difference because they refer to the ring as brass. Does that make it substandard? Absolutely not, but as I said earlier, I have a personal (derived from my earlier bias towards zinc alloy frames used in cheap firearms and some machine tools) bias against zinc alloy components, especially when other materials are available.  I have an old Atlas lathe that has Zamak change gears.  There’s just something about zinc alloy that screams “cheap” to me.  
Laird, however makes a very similar NMO mount that is all brass.  https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/antennas-mounts/mobile-antenna-mounts/nmo-mobile-antenna-mounts/266-permanent-hole-mounts/289-nmo-3-4-hole-mount-no-connector/1140-laird-connectivity-mb8-detail
 

Based on @gortex2’s recommendation I might still get the Larsen, although I doubt I’ll need the additional 5 GHz of range.

[GrouserPad]

On 1/15/2025 at 11:11 AM, WRUE951 said:

if you have room, The newer Ram Trucks 2018 up do, i'd go with a Breedlove mount.  You will pretty much have to remove your headliner to do a good mount job and thats the hardest part.   Breedlove mounts are built like a tank and will not fail.    Do your homework,  not every NMO mount is equal,  a lot are junk..  Here is a good read.  https://www.hamradio.me/antennas/nmo-mobile-antenna-mount-options.html

 

https://breedlovemounts.com/store/ols/products/nmo-roof-mount

Icamanufacturing sells an mo219a PUCK mount that is similar to the Breedlove. I have used the previous generation of this mount and it’s still functional and working well 12 years later. 

[tweiss3]

I use the Larsen's.

[WRUU653]

The term best is really up to what criteria you apply, there is no absolute. I see all the big names mentioned here already and while I doubt Midland comes to mind for anyone using the term best I would add that if you need to get through a firewall, have a limited size hole in which to do that and you are not comfortable cutting and redoing the cable end or mount than the Midland mount might be best for you. It appears to be yellow brass (I couldn’t find documentation) and the cable end removes to go through tight spaces. I used one to connect my mobile and have no issues so far two years and counting. 

 

[Hoppyjr]

I’ll add this….

When I did my install I used “regular” NMO mounts through the roof. I’m running one for the Icom 2730 and one for the Wilson WeBoost. As I looked at other antenna options, specifically for the WeBoost, I found some antennas that would work, but require high frequency style connections at the antenna.

In doing basic research, I found mounts that were compatible with both regular low frequency use and high frequency, by simply removing a center pin.

If I were doing my install today, I’d use these as they’d allow more options down the road.

Here are photos to illustrate. I’ll also attach a link for example purposes (I’m not promoting the vendor).






https://www.arcantenna.com/products/pulse-nmokhfud-nmo-hi-frequency-mount-17-foot-rg-58u-dual-shield-cable-no-connector?srsltid=AfmBOopB869pI27iizHPQ8dF6v0K9-VrFHQVV596PYj5Laz_-tkvAuh0

[tcp2525]

5 hours ago, SteveShannon said:

While that’s all true, I’ve never seen someone refer to a brass component as “zinc alloy”.  Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, not a “zinc alloy”.  If you think there’s no difference, go to a nearby scrapyard and ask what the difference is.  Clean die cast zinc alloy scrap goes for just over $0.50/lb. where yellow brass is about $2.30 and red brass is nearly $3.

This portion of a picture from Larsen makes it even clearer that the main body is a zinc alloy component which has been copper plated and then nickel plated (not a brass component).  They understand the difference because they refer to the ring as brass. Does that make it substandard? Absolutely not, but as I said earlier, I have a personal (derived from my earlier bias towards zinc alloy frames used in cheap firearms and some machine tools) bias against zinc alloy components, especially when other materials are available.  I have an old Atlas lathe that has Zamak change gears.  There’s just something about zinc alloy that screams “cheap” to me.  
Laird, however makes a very similar NMO mount that is all brass.  https://theantennafarm.com/shop-by-categories/antennas-mounts/mobile-antenna-mounts/nmo-mobile-antenna-mounts/266-permanent-hole-mounts/289-nmo-3-4-hole-mount-no-connector/1140-laird-connectivity-mb8-detail
 

Based on @gortex2’s recommendation I might still get the Larsen, although I doubt I’ll need the additional 5 GHz of range.

Thank you for posting a more concise description of what this thing is really made out of. The link @gortex2 posted wasn't as descriptive and had me assuming, and you know what they say about assuming, that it is that fancy new marketing speak that's so prevalent these days. They didn't even mention plating. This reminds me of going to Home Depot to buy a garden hose with "copper infused" fittings, which simply means anodized aluminum that is colored to look like copper or brass.

And yes, I do know what these differences are when it comes to metallurgy. I'm just not proficient posting from a smartphone. Yes, brass is made by alloying copper and zinc. Also, pure zinc or magnesium is used in sacrificial anodes in the corrosion prevention sector. And now that I see that they are using "zinc alloy" which indicates it's not pure zinc, not that it matters in this application. The primary reason these NMO mounts are being manufactured with "zinc" is it's much cheaper than brass, as you indicated. And requires very little machining, if any, as these mounts are die-cast. In my opinion, these are equivalent to Chinese pot metal. 

That said, I'm confident these mounts are still going to be quality from an electrical and mechanical perspective and one shouldn't have any second thoughts of using one. Call me old fashioned as I've been using quality brass NMO mounting kits for close to 40 years. Plus, I have a nice stockpile of kits to last me two lifetimes. No zinc for me.