GMRS antennas

After years of dealing with CB, I'm taking a step to switch to GMRS for the new rig.
I'm eyeing the Midland MXT400 mainly for the high wattage, but unsure of the best antenna solution for my application.

As I will have a slide in camper (similar setup pictured below) that will cover the roof of my access cab, I would assume a typical roof mount is not going to work.

and since I plan on taking the camper on and off, mounting the antenna to the camper is not a great solution either.

I do have a steel front bumper with a tall hoop that I can easily attach an antenna to, but I don't have a great understanding of ground planes for UHF, and then I am reading about antennas that don't require ground planes at all?

would the Ghost MXTA25 3dB gain antenna that comes in the bundle package be a good choice for a front bumper mount in my application?
Looking for opinions on best location and antenna option for me.

(I prefer to avoid ditch light bracket style mounting due to the amount of trees/branches that I go through wheeling in the midwest)

thanks

 

Doing some more reading: looks like if I am sticking to this front bumper mount, I definitely want a 1/2 wavelength no counterpoise needing antenna that is for a frequency range of 462-467 MHz.

from this one source, it seems these 2 antennas fit the requirements I have come up with so far
Browning BR-136
Browning BR-137
although i admit I can't figure out why I would choose one or the other.

back to googling...

 

Thanks for the self reply with info. I started looking into this exact topic a few months ago and then it went to low priority when my truck was totaled. I did a bunch of reading on a radio forum and there was some good info there. I'll see if I can find it again...

 

Personally I would go with one of the mono band 450-470 1/2 wave antennas they offer. I actually used trunk lip mounts on my hood for my antennas.

 

that brings up a question: are ALL 1/2 wave antennas NGP?

 

I was looking at the MXT400 also, in case I get stuck up in the mountains with no cell tower in range. I emailed them and they said it was made in China. Would rather have an American made unit, does anyone know of any that are 40-50 watts? If high power is all that matters then here is a 50 watt unit

BTECH Mobile GMRS-50X1 50 Watt GMRS Two-Way Radio, GMRS Repeater Capable, with Dual Band Scanning Receiver (136-174.99MHz (VHF) 400-520.99MHz (UHF))

https://www.amazon.com/BTECH-GMRS-50X1-Repeater-136-174-99MHz-400-520-99MHz/dp/B07RDM9LMM but heard something bad about the company so not sure...

 

If they are true half wave they are. We used to install them on Type 2 van ambulances that had raised fiberglass roofs.

 

aside from just believing the manufacturer when they say "half wave" antenna, what do you mean by "true" half wave?

 

A real electrically tuned half wave. Some of the cheap junk says one thing, but when tested show something else.

 

I've read bad reliability reviews on the btech one, so I'm not looking at that.
I did come across this one today that I hadn't heard of in the past.
Wouxun KG-1000G which seems to pack way more capability/features over the MXT400.
Not sure I've come across any US made ones if the Midland one is imported too

 

I guess the best thing I can do is just go with a name brand antenna manufacturer?

 

Yes. Also for radios, it's hard to find an American made radio. My ham radios are made in Japan. The one thing to look for is a heterodyne receiver vice direct conversion. The Chinese radios have a tendency to be desensitized in a heavy RF environment.

 

I'm not a radio hobby guy. More features doesn't tempt me as much as ease of use. The mxt400 seems like what I might go with. Fewer buttons on the mic is a bonus for me! Hahaha It's still repeater capable, privacy tones, frs compatible, built in speaker... I might pair it with some less expensive hand held units and it's good for the kind of hunting I do most.

 

Go over to arcantenna or similar retailer and search for antennas by frequency. I typically like to stick with Laird, Larsen, Pctel and don’t usually like to opt for a cheap browning or tram.

ive run a maxrad (I think now part of Pctel) antenna with my MXT400 but now have a Larsen lp450 on my roof as I park in a lot of garages.

edit: I know you said no hood mount but you should be able to find an antenna wavelength short enough to be shorter than your camper. And your hood at least affords you a legit ground plane compared to say near the tail light or something. Like said above with a 1/2 wave antenna it doesn’t really matter.

 

I am still learning things so I'm just regurgitating what I've read on the internet so don't blame me if I'm wrong, but there are limitations for repeater usage the MXT400 comes with due to being able to only do single tones? or something along those lines.
the MXT400 also cannot receive NOAA weather channels is what I'm seeing.

I'm doing more research on the Wouxung KG-1000G and so far it seems to be a better radio (too new to have reviews on robustness yet)

 

well this thread points towards maybe waiting out till Midland releases a new product.... but who knows when that might be
https://forums.mygmrs.com/topic/2383-midland-mxt500/

 

I just ran to arcantenna and filtered through the no ground plane needed, NMO mount options in the GMRS frequencies and ended up with the following:

Whip, 15", 2.4dB gain:
BB4502N 12.5 Inch UHF Whip Antenna with Black NMO Base - 450-470 MHz <datasheet>

Whip, 32", 5dBi gain:
BB4505CNS 32 inch Black Base Coil Antenna - NMO Spring - 450-470 MHz NGP <datasheet>
BB4505CN 32 inch Black Half Wave Antenna - NMO - 450-470 MHz UHF - No Ground Plane

Phantom, 3.5", "outperforms 3dB gain whips":
TRAB4500N | Phantom Omni Antenna- 450-470 MHz - NMO - No Ground Plane Reqd

Base loaded 5/8 wave over 1/2 wave(what does that mean?) 5dB/3dB gain:
MUF4505NGP: PCTEL / Maxrad Base Loaded Chrome Coil Rugged 450-470 MHz - No Ground Plane Required <datasheet>

Please help me understand what the differences are and why I would or wouldn't want one or the another.

 

For a whip I recommend running an antenna with a spring.

I probably would pick a whip over one of the puck/tube style like the phantom. Those seem to sacrifice performance for lower profile. And given you arent mounting to your roof you should be able to run a whip.

Gain is sort of personal preference. You can do a Google search on gain and antennas and see why high gain isn’t ways desirable and there are pros and cons to gain specs. Here is one example blog post here:
https://www.daywireless.com/blog/2019/03/30/to-gain-or-not-to-gainthat-is-the-antenna-question/

most of my antennas have a little bit of gain around 2 to 3 just because of the other specs I wanted, the antennas I have happened to fall in that range.

 

do pretty much all GMRS radios use the Pl-259 connector to the antenna wire?
As in can I just get an antenna and wire and run it before i decide on a specific radio?

 

Most mobile radios do.