[SFDXA] Personal experience with single and triple mag mounts

[Bill]

Thanks for info. Personal experience:

1. Drove to top of Pikes Peak in Colorado (14,000 ft?) and mounted a 
quarter-wave CB antenna on the middle of the roof of my 1968 (Yes 1968) 
Ford station wagon (big roof). Turned on the CB and ... it was 
worthless.  There were so many signals from all over the world on 11 
meters on each channel that I could not make out a single one. It was 
all downhill from that spot.

2. Now using a triple foot mount for 6m through 20m. When I was recently 
in California, used a single mag mount for a 17 ft whip. It blew off the 
car and almost over the cliff. I had to tie it down with fishline. That 
worked fabulously well. I spoke all over the world on 20, 17, and 15m. I 
heartily recommend the three magnet mount. Also, put paper under the 
mount to prevent scratching. The coupling to the car roof I believe is 
capacitive and does not rely on a metal to metal connection. Heck, 
scratches or holes in the roof would definitely upset the car rental place.

Rich

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Bill <bmarx at bellsouth.net>
*To:* aSFDXA <SFDXA at mailman.qth.net>; "qcWA69 at mailman.qth.net" 
<qcWA69 at mailman.qth.net>
*Sent:* Sunday, March 9, 2014 9:05 AM
*Subject:* [SFDXA] Where and How To Mount Your Mobile Antenna

This came from the SoFla list:
While it is interesting, I see it favors their glass mount antenna at 
the top of the rear window. But it is food for thought.
Bill W2CQ


It's well known that you'll get the best performance from your mobile 
antenna if you put in the center of the roof of your vehicle using a 
permanent mount (e.g. drill a hole in the sheet metal).
But how much does the performance of your antenna suffer if you use a 
mag mount on the roof.
Or mount it towards the rear of the roof?
Or on the rear deck?
Or on a trunk-lip mount?
The answers can be found in this nice information piece from the folks 
at Larsen antennas:
http://www.repeater-builder.com/antenna/pdf/larsen-mobile-antennas.pdf
Very interesting reading.
*Stephen Wolf (Sandy) WB2MBV*