Midland Ghost antenna

[WRQS499]

Is there any reason this would not be a good install location for the midland ghost antenna on my JLU? Not sure why the pics are upside down 

[Hoppyjr]

It’s a ground plane antenna. Does it have 12-18” of flat steel or aluminum in all directions?  Nope.  So no it is not. It’s not an opinion it’s science.  As for the other hockey puck in front of the window same difference.  That’s a horrible place to mount anything.  But if you don’t care about transmitting lore then a few hundred yards then I guess you’re ok but in that event an ht inside the car would have done just fine.  
 
if my set ups can’t do 100 or more miles I toss it in the garbage.   As for theft I’ve had gmrs or cb antennas on every vehicle I’ve ever owned and never once have I had one stolen and I lived near down town Los Angeles for a few years.  
 
but in the end Hockey pucks and salt shakers mounted in strange and awkward places give me and my friends and family something to laugh at while out and about so keep on keepin on. 

Well, you’re wrong….again.

The cowl mount works fantastic.

[WRQS499]

9 hours ago, Hoppyjr said:

OK, looks like the speaker bar. We looked at this location in our JKU and decided against it, partly because we use both hard and soft tops and it won’t clear hard top. Also because we wanted the antenna outside of the cab.

We also wanted a low-vis solution to minimize the chance of damage or vandalism. With those factors in mind, we installed to the removable piece at base of windshield. Super easy install, great reception, no issues.

We also chose a Pulse-Larsen LP450NMO instead of Midland version, as the Larsen is lower profile. I used the Midland first on my Toyota, then swapped to the Larsen and found better performance.

That’s the roll bar on the JL. It’s flat approx 10 inches wide and spends the entire width of the vehicle. It clears the soft top fine. It’s probably to most horizontal metal on this vehicle aside from the hood. 

[nokones]

Laird (T E Connectivity) has a 450-470 Meg # TRA4500N non-Groundplane Phantom NMO mount antenna. I use this antenna on my Fiberglass body racecar with excellent results. The antenna also comes in Black, but you have to buy multiple quantities. You can buy the White antenna as a single unit.

 

 

Edited March 13 by nokones
Had to wait until I had time to get to a real computer to delete the duplication of the image

[nokones]

The Phantom Midland antenna mounted on the OPs Jeep will work fine on GMRS freqs especially in the City on the trail with other Jeeps.  As a temporary install while I was waiting for my Larsen Glassmount Antenna to be shipped, I use this location in my 23 Wrangler Rubi 2 Dr. and I was surprised that I was able to hit several repeaters miles away. I have no clue why the picture won't orintate as the picture is in my gallery is orientated.

 

 

 

Edited March 13 by nokones
I had to wait until I had a chance to get to a real computer to fix the orientation of the picture

[Hoppyjr]

OK, looks like the speaker bar. We looked at this location in our JKU and decided against it, partly because we use both hard and soft tops and it won’t clear hard top. Also because we wanted the antenna outside of the cab.

We also wanted a low-vis solution to minimize the chance of damage or vandalism. With those factors in mind, we installed to the removable piece at base of windshield. Super easy install, great reception, no issues.

We also chose a Pulse-Larsen LP450NMO instead of Midland version, as the Larsen is lower profile. I used the Midland first on my Toyota, then swapped to the Larsen and found better performance.

[OffRoaderX]

1 hour ago, WRQS499 said:

Is there any reason this would not be a good install location for the midland ghost antenna on my JLU? Not sure why the pics are upside down 

Fixed them for you..

That spot is fine as long as your soft-top doesn't tear it off, but heed this warning: "Some people" are going to proclaim that ghost antennas are "no good" and "dont work", or that your location is not "perfect" enough.. These people should be ignored with extreme prejudice. 

 

[WSEZ864]

 

 

 

[gortex2]

I run the same setup on my Gladiator (Soft Top) but with a commercial UHF LMR antenna. Works excellent for its use case (GMRS Simplex and TLMR). On my one JK I also run the same on my Midland GMRS Radio. I can't run either with my hardtop but the JK has no top. 

[WRYZ926]

1 hour ago, WRQS499 said:

That’s the roll bar on the JL. It’s flat approx 10 inches wide and spends the entire width of the vehicle. It clears the soft top fine. It’s probably to most horizontal metal on this vehicle aside from the hood. 

That will work fine as a ground plane. You are slightly below the minimum radius front to back but have more than enough ground plane left to right. 

The minimum ground plane is a 1/4 wave length radius which is  6 inches for GMRS frequencies.

And the ground plane does not have to be solid metal either. I have one of those expanded metal cargo racks on the back of my SxS that works well with my Comet 2x4SR antenna on 2m, 70cm, and GMRS.

The only concern I would have is possible interaction from the soft top cross bars. That may or may not be an issue for you.

For Negative Nancy - the soft top material should not be an issue since radio waves can pass right through the material. A fiberglass hardtop again should not be an issue either.

[dosw]

On 3/12/2025 at 7:34 AM, nokones said:

Laird (T E Connectivity) has a 450-470 Meg # TRA4500N non-Groundplane Phantom NMO mount antenna. I use this antenna on my Fiberglass body racecar with excellent results. The antenna also comes in Black, but you have to buy multiple quantities. You can buy the White antenna as a single unit.

This is great information. I have a Ghost antenna (MXTA25) that I don't really use, but this would be ideal for a boat or RV where ground planes are difficult. Laird TE TRA4500N. Thanks for sharing that.

[The219]

On 3/11/2025 at 8:28 PM, Socalgmrs said:

It’s a ground plane antenna. Does it have 12-18” of flat steel or aluminum in all directions?  Nope.  So no it is not. It’s not an opinion it’s science.  As for the other hockey puck in front of the window same difference.  That’s a horrible place to mount anything.  But if you don’t care about transmitting lore then a few hundred yards then I guess you’re ok but in that event an ht inside the car would have done just fine.  
 

if my set ups can’t do 100 or more miles I toss it in the garbage.   As for theft I’ve had gmrs or cb antennas on every vehicle I’ve ever owned and never once have I had one stolen and I lived near down town Los Angeles for a few years.  
 

but in the end Hockey pucks and salt shakers mounted in strange and awkward places give me and my friends and family something to laugh at while out and about so keep on keepin on. 

ground planes are over rated, I'm able to reach Beverly hills Ca from Encinitas with my aluminum L bracket NMO mount bolted to my roof rack.

   

[Socalgmrs]

It’s a ground plane antenna. Does it have 12-18” of flat steel or aluminum in all directions?  Nope.  So no it is not. It’s not an opinion it’s science.  As for the other hockey puck in front of the window same difference.  That’s a horrible place to mount anything.  But if you don’t care about transmitting lore then a few hundred yards then I guess you’re ok but in that event an ht inside the car would have done just fine.  
 

if my set ups can’t do 100 or more miles I toss it in the garbage.   As for theft I’ve had gmrs or cb antennas on every vehicle I’ve ever owned and never once have I had one stolen and I lived near down town Los Angeles for a few years.  
 

but in the end Hockey pucks and salt shakers mounted in strange and awkward places give me and my friends and family something to laugh at while out and about so keep on keepin on.