[Mobile-Portable] antenna mounting position?

[Joe White]

I have mounted a ball mount on the rear drivers-side panel on a 92 Plymouth
Voyager -- same body style as the Grand Caravan.  First I made a mag. mount
from 3 magnets spaced about 3-feet apart on an aluminum angle frame.  That
worked okay once I realized that I needed to run a separate ground since the
capacitance between the magnets and the underlying steel body panel was not
sufficient at low frequencies.  I then replaced the mag mount with a ball
mount.  I installed mine by removing the interior panels so I wasn't limited
to access through a particular door or opening.  That was not a particularly
hard thing to do and greatly increased my flexibility on location of the
mount.  The rig I used was the ICOM 706 and I mounted the AH-4 tuner on the
interior panel near the location of the ball mount and attached the ball
mount to the tuner through a hole bored in the plastic interior panel.  I
also let the interior roof panel down so I could mount a 2m-440 antenna on
the roof.  Note that the 92 did not have a drivers side sliding door so you
didn't have to worry about locating the HF antenna where it would clear.  I
did not have any problems with the installation, although I really should
have done the standard things you do to reduce engine noise.  I think that
would have been a help.

After the 1992 died, I replaced it with a 2001 Grand caravan.  I did a
similar installation except that I did not use a ball mount.  I formed a
small piece of thick (1/8-inch) aluminum to make a mount and fastened it to
the cavity in the sheet metal behind the tail light and let it protrude to
the outside just above the taillight assembly.  I filed a lip off the tail
light assembly so there was room for the aluminum mount to protrude between
the taillight assembly and the body.  I do use a guy from the Hustler
antennas mounted on the mount to the luggage route to minimize stress on the
sheet metal screws holding the mount to the sheet metal.  However, most of
the time I use an unguyed 4' whip and just listen to CW on all bands as I
drive around town.  This time I mounted the AH-4 tuner on the sheet metal
under the interior panels and ran a wire to the bottom of the mount through
a grommeted hole in the panel.  I cut a hole in the interior panel large
enough to clear the tuner.  As before, I also dropped the edge of the top
interor panel far enough to run coax to the hole in the middle of the roof
for a VHF/UHF antenna.  Also as before, I have had no interference to
vehicle systems from the radio, but I really should do the standard things
to minimize engine noise.  The noise limiter in the radio takes care of most
of it, except for signals that are just outside the passband that mix with
the engine noise to make noise within the passband.

My advice, don't be afraid to rip some of the panels off the inside to gain
access to the interior side of the metal panels.  You not only have access
to the inside of the body panels, but also can see the best place for
routing cables to the radio which I had mounted up front between the drivers
and passenger seat.

     joe
   WA4GIR

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Patterson" <jwp1775 at earthlink.net>
To: "K0DAN" <k0dan at comcast.net>; <mobile-portable at mailman.qth.net>
Cc: <jwp1775 at earthlink.net>
Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 10:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Mobile-Portable] antenna mounting position?


> Thanks for your response.
>
> Actually, I am looking to drill holes! I've tried trailer hitch
extensions, lip mounts, mag mounts, etc. in the past, but could never get a
good ground connection. On the other hand, mounts bolted to the body proper
ensure the best ground possible.
>
> So I'm looking for info on the "best" location for the mount, so that it
can be accessed from inside the car. The only opening to the body I have
found is where the jack is mounted, but there's not much clearance there.
Guess I could relocate the jack....
>
> So what I'm hoping to hear is how others solved this particular ball
mounting problem in the caravan.
>
> Tnx in advance!
>
>     John.................K9OF
> ----
> Your Moderator: Dick Flanagan K7VC, mobile-portable-owner at mailman.qth.net