Do my mobile radio antennas need a grounding plane now?

[GTGallop]

How is the antenna mounted to the plastic box? How is the box mounted to the truck? All you may need to do is run a short wire from the antenna mount to the bolts that go through to the rack.

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[D Fresh]

How is the antenna mounted to the plastic box? How is the box mounted to the truck? All you may need to do is run a short wire from the antenna mount to the bolts that go through to the rack.

This.


Ensure a ground path from the mount to the vehicle frame and you should be golden pony boy.

 

[Msfitoy]

@OFC Ranger My antenna is mounted to the ditch bracket mostly for ease of organization...to get the max out of it, I did ground it to the chassis with a separate cable...also having a permanent inline SWR meter helps a great deal in monitoring constant changes in signal strength...optimally, in the best circumstances, I get a reading of 1.1 on lower channels...this will vary up to 1.4 on higher repeater channels...my CB is also grounded...the lower pic shows 4 cables...the 4th one coming out the bottom of the antenna is the ground leading to under the hood and bolted to chassis...

 

[GTGallop]

It is worth noting that one of his two antennas is an HT antenna screwed on to his truck. Looks like the HYS clone of the NA-771. That's going to be a sub-optimal antenna even with a ground plane. It won't need much because all it gets for a ground plane normally is the metal in the radio by direct contact and a secondary because your head and body is close to and holding the radio when it's on an HT.

I would:
Get an appropriate antenna - they can still be cheap - that is meant for a vehicle. I'm still running an $11 Mag Mount from Workman.
Put a mount on it that bolts it to the frame with a metal bracket, not a plastic box.

 

[OFC Ranger]

Just as a side note the smaller antenna on the rear is a simple SMA antenna that connects to a handheld radio in my truck which is for encrypted police channels channels at my job.

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