GOOD EXAMPLES OF BAD INSTALLATIONS
Compliments of Firestik® Antenna Company Technical Support Team
Copyright © 1996 Firestik® Antenna Company
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When it comes to installing 2-way radio antennas, CB, cellular phone, 2-meter, 10-meter, marine radio, etc., you need to shelf nearly everything that you have ever done with an AM/FM radio antenna. You can run a receive only radio, scanner, AM/FM, short wave, etc., without any antenna at all, one made from a coat hanger, one laying in the trunk or even drug behind the vehicle without damaging the radio. But, if you do not mount a 2-way radio antenna with care you can probably kiss your radio goodbye. Transmitters require a tuned antenna, mounted in a free space area and fed by a reliable piece of cable. There is little room for a "what-ever" attitude. Here are some examples of bad installations we have seen and helped people fix. If any of these are similar to your installation, fix it before you expect it to work properly. Antennas mounted so low on a motorhome that none of the antenna is above the roofline. Two-foot antennas mounted on the front corner of a pick-up bed. Any antenna nicely sandwiched between the window of a pick-up and a camper or cap in order to make sure that none of the energy can escape the antenna. Ground plane reliant antennas mounted on vehicles without any ground plane. Ground plane reliant antennas without grounded mounts. Antennas mounted to ungrounded pick-up truck toolboxes. Co-phased antennas that have no line of site between the top 2/3's of the antennas. Single antenna installations using RG-59 type coax cable Dual antenna installations using RG-58 type coaxial cable. Installations whereas the presence of shorts or opens was never tested. Installations that never had the SWR tested, let alone adjusted. Coax cables spliced as if it were a common 12-volt feed line. Coax cables with the insulation rubbed totally off. Coax cables that are severely pinched in doors, windows, hoods and trunks. Improperly installed stud mounts. Short antennas mounted on the bumpers of SUV's so they will fit into the garage. Glass mounted antennas that "look cool". Glass mounted antenna on windshields with laminated deicer circuitry. Cheap, low-grade coaxial cable used on any installation. Antennas mounted too close to other antennas, effectively altering their operation. No-ground-plane antennas used with regular coaxial cables. Regular antennas used with no-ground-plane coaxial cable assemblies. Antennas sawed off at the top so the vehicle would fit into the garage. No-ground-plane antenna installations with the coax grounded at the mount. No-ground-plane antenna installations where the coax has been altered. Insufficient wire gauge used to chassis ground an insulated mount for ground-plane antenna. Expensive radio and a cheap antenna. |
Updated: 2023.12.05