FRS/GMRS radio antenna mounting locations

[IrnBear]

Howdy and Thank you for adding me,

The wife and I tend to convoy our way around.
We like to communicate with handheld FRS radios (ex: boufang, rugged, pci)
For the life of us no matter what we do the distance is crappy at the best

We have mobile one in the Jeep with its antenna mounted with a gutter mount.
I want to put one in the MH and am trying to figure out the antenna mount. It does not appear that they make a stubby antenna for this kind of radio. Thus I need to mount the antenna that comes with the radio (approx 3ft tall).
My guess is to mount on the side of the MH, with as much of the antenna above the roof-line. I figure not to go higher than the AC Box.

Question: Has anyone had luck with this kind of setup or done a setup like this

Thank you in advance,
IrnBear (Bradley)

P.S. Please do not turn this into a GMRS licensing thread, we do not use GMRS channels. We work off-road races and use those channels.

[153stars]

Do you have a large pills between side window and windshield. Will the antenna side mount or is screw base same as CB. If you have to put wire through side wall Shakespeare makes nice small stainless flush mount cord grip.

[IrnBear]

Antenna can side mount. It has a screw base so antenna itself can be removed and attached. Cable needs to stay intact end to end, so I would be running the cable through most likely the wall.

[153stars]

By the way I meant "mount to pillar" not pill lol auto correct. The rubber grommet can be split with razor and still seal even tape or inner tube add to cord if grommet is too big . Forgive me for not looking up every spec of your equipment like plug or cord diameter. A small rod or rubber plug could be put in when/if removed. It's smaller than it looks in pics. If by chance antenna threaded base matches CB size there is a hollow passthrough for cord exit and spring for OTR Weboost cell booster antenna. So cord goes through cord adaptor and spring mounts to almost any CB antenna screw base. https://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-4...19640140&psc=1

[Mark_K5LXP]

As far as external antennas go, UHF LMR antennas can be pretty small and easily mounted most anywhere on an RV roof. A quarter wave groundplane is only about 6" long and even if you needed to provide a groundplane for it, a pizza pan or other simple metal disc or sheet would work great. Even just a simple bracket on an existing item on the roof can be pretty effective. From there, it amounts to routing the feedline inside to where you want to place the radio.

Just to be specific, you are using GMRS if the radio you have allows an external antenna to be connected. FRS by definition does not allow antennas different than the ones on the radio. Even if you're using FRS channels on a GMRS radio, you'd technically need a GMRS license due to the power and different antenna. I guess that means I violated your request to not turn this into a GMRS thread but oh well.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

[IrnBear]

Originally Posted by Mark_K5LXP

As far as external antennas go, UHF LMR antennas can be pretty small and easily mounted most anywhere on an RV roof. A quarter wave groundplane is only about 6" long and even if you needed to provide a groundplane for it, a pizza pan or other simple metal disc or sheet would work great. Even just a simple bracket on an existing item on the roof can be pretty effective. From there, it amounts to routing the feedline inside to where you want to place the radio.

Just to be specific, you are using GMRS if the radio you have allows an external antenna to be connected. FRS by definition does not allow antennas different than the ones on the radio. Even if you're using FRS channels on a GMRS radio, you'd technically need a GMRS license due to the power and different antenna. I guess that means I violated your request to not turn this into a GMRS thread but oh well.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

LOL, violation accepted. In my search, many of these topics get hijacked by the license issue without answers to the question.
I'm talking about the Rugged, PCI, TYT, Boufang type radios. The mobile ones seem to be specific on the antenna size, length.
If I read your post correctly, the antenna that comes with the radio, is the antenna I need to go with? Thus the 3 ft'r.

Thank you,
IrnBear

[Mark_K5LXP]

Originally Posted by IrnBear

I'm talking about the Rugged, PCI, TYT, Boufang type radios.

Those manufacturers make lots of different radios. Model numbers would tell us more.

The mobile ones seem to be specific on the antenna size, length.

It's specific to the frequency band, in this case 460MHz. This is a band used for a few different land mobile radio services and there are lots of different size and type antennas you can successfully use for GMRS. Generally the longer it is the more gain it will have, the more it will cost and more complicated to mount. Since height does more for you than gain, a unity gain quarter wave mounted on an RV roof will work pretty well, is simple and inexpensive.

If I read your post correctly, the antenna that comes with the radio, is the antenna I need to go with? Thus the 3 ft'r.

If the radio has provision for an external antenna, then you can use any external antenna that matches the band the radio operates on. For GMRS that could be a 6" quarter wave, a "3 footer" or a 21 foot long stationmaster. FRS radios will nearly universally be handheld radios with fixed, non replaceable antennas to meet the radiated power limits as defined in the FCC rules.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

[SergioP]

Antenna reviews

https://youtu.be/jf7iZw-BVQQ

Short antenna

https://www.buytwowayradios.com/midl....html?amp;amp;

[W4KMA]

Tram makes a very nice through the glass antenna that is dual band. I'm pretty sure it would adjust for the frequency you need to use. This antenna is only about $30. All you would need would be an adapter for your antenna connection on the radio. I have used one of these as a ham antenna for several years and it works great.