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Message started by DaveC on 02/11/5 at 12:22:56

Title: Mag Mount Antennas
Post by DaveC on 02/11/5 at 12:22:56

Getting ready for working OWR. We will see you there! ;D

File this under HAM Radio newbie. I have my nice shiny new Larsen to put on the roof. For all you folks with mag-mounts, a few questions:

1. Do you use a piece of fabric between the roof and the antenna to protect the paint? Does this affect its holding ability or anything else?

2. What do you do with the coax on the roof? Tape it down with Red Green's best? Leave it to flap in the breeze?

3. How do you protect the coax where it passes through the door? Red Green's fave again?

I think that is it.

Title: Re: Mag Mount Antennas
Post by Jeff_Hagan on 02/11/5 at 13:18:14

I got a non-scratch adhesive pad with my mag mount - I think it works pretty well, but there are a few scratches on my roof that I don't remember from before (but I think they're from times that I forgot about the antenna before going into a garage - whoops).

At work, we've got a special pad to put under our mag-mount amber roof light. It's a thin version of that rubber mesh drawer liner material. I think you'll find it in the housewares section of Canadian Tire. It's non-slip, so it holds pretty well. Just remember that thinner is better for the magnet to do its thing.

My van has a built-in roof rack, so I just wrap the cable around that to stop it from flapping around. And I feed the cable through one of the rear windows so it doesn't get in the way of any of the doors. I guess those are "van-specific" solutions, though.

Jeff

Title: Re: Mag Mount Antennas
Post by Craig_Hamm on 02/13/5 at 20:32:14

I picked up an adhesive rubber disc for this purpose at the local ham fleamarket last fall, $2. No doubt Durham/RW have them. So as long as you don't mind a black dot on your roof, dandy! Before that, I used paper towel, cheap, and it worked fine. I've used old facecloths, and rally score sheets from rallies I did poorly in, too. I have lots of those.