GMRS antenna mount

I’ve been searching all over for a 3rd gen GMRS NMo style mount. I even ordered the victory hood mount and unfortunately it doesn’t work on my 21’. Decided to get some aluminum and build my own. No drilling required and works pretty good so far. If you have a 3rd gen with a softopper I’m happy to send some more detailed pics of it.

 

no ground plane? GMRS doesn't need it?

 

Unless you go with a mag mount or drill your roof I rarely see anyone with a ground plane. Metal mount bolted to a metal bed should be good to go.

 

If you use a !/2 wave antenna you don't need a groundplane. A 1/4 wave or a 5/8 wave antenna will work very poorly if at all and may fry the finals in the radio without a groundplane.

 

It depends on the antenna design not the frequency. A half wave doesn’t require a ground plane, quarter wave does. The frequency just determines the ground plane size you need if the antenna requires a ground plane. I used a Larsen trunk mount NMO clamped to my hood.

 

I have this for my Midland ghost GRMS antenna.

 

I noticed the mount was for 1/2” antenna mounts. Did you drill it out to fit a NMO mount?

 

Sure did!

 

Not sure this is entirely true. Mine is a 5/8 midland 6db antenna. Works very well with this mount I made. Getting 10+ miles on simplex GMRS. Also I’m in hilly North Carolina which is not a clear line of site at all.

I did just order a swr meter to double check. So far seems to work pretty good

 

You are not using a 5/8 antenna as it was designed to work when you don't have a groundplane for it. Part of the antenna is missing. This will probably go over your head but: "The absence of a ground plane or very small ground plane will cause the matching circuit for the 5/8 wave to be a little different due to less capacitance between the vertical element and the ground plane, otherwise there is no "reflection or radiation from a second source" to produce gain in a 5/8 wavelength antenna."

ETA: Here is some excellent advice from the Midland web page for your antenna: "Just like the other 3dbi gain 5/8 antenna this antenna needs a ground plane to work properly. For proper range distance use at least an 8 inch metal ground plane. If mounting on a metal roof make sure that you have atleast an 8 inch circle measured from the antenna. So total 16 inch diameter circle total for optimum range. Anything smaller at 462 mhz your pattern will be skewed which affects transmission range. If you dont have a good ground Or are mounting on fiberglass or any rack or bumper than go for 1/2 wave antenna.

 

Man, your arrogance is great. Thanks for searching google, solid work. You did search the wrong antenna to start. Secondly this mount I made acts no different than a Nmo lip mount or any other bracket mount out there. It’s bolted to the inside of the bed on a metal support. The only locations to accomplish what your saying would be dead center on the roof or the hood (which hardly anyone does). So maybe we are all doing it wrong along with every jeep owner etc. Or these seem to produce good results with an acceptable swr reading. We are going to double check range and swr with a mag mount on the center of the roof to see if anything changes. Either way no need to be condescending to other forum members man. I’m sure you can find other forums for that….

 

Why didn't the Victory mount work on your 2021? I'm curious to see if there is some change to the way the hood is mounted or to the hood brackets?

 

Yeah man I was really bummed out about that. But victory was very cool and took care of me with a refund, great company to deal with. My problem was the trim around the hood was way too tight to make room for the mount. It lifted the hood on passenger side about 1/8 and messed up the body line. Tried it on the driver side and it was pushing down on the trim so hard it started to pull the trim off the windshield. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy anything from victory they are a great company, just had bad luck with my truck fitment.

 

That's odd. Maybe Toyota changed the trim. If you look at the "Clean Install" thread you'll see pictures of my install. Other peoples' as well. Mine is a '19 SR5.

 

Yeah they must have, I tried every combination I could and it would not fit. Couldn’t even get it close. I’m debating tracing it out of some 1/8” aluminum and see if that might work better

 

Might be a bit thin, but worth a try.

 

It’s definitely a little thin lol. Gonna be floppy if it works

 

Last question. I think.

Did you discuss any of this with Victory? They may want to think about re engineering the mount if there is a change in the way Toyota built that area.

 

A mag mount was my plan since I don't want an antenna mounted 24/7 like some kind of urban warrior.

What antenna is that? I might look into making a similar mount with a no-tools install and removal solution if I can figure out a way to run the cable and have it stowed out of the elements.

 

That is a MASSIVE antenna for GMRS! A 1/4 wave ground plane would only be around 6", 5/8 wave antenna would be 16". Here's my NMO hood mount, works extremely well, 2 meters and 440.