"Gary" wrote in message
. ..
Noon-Air wrote:
I am assuming that your intention is to mount V/UHF antennas on the
vehicle.... Being fully mindfull of the limitations of V/UHF, and that
its used for local repeaters and not DX, a real simple and inexpensive
solution would be to go with a glass mount antenna.... the one I run on
my Tundra is a 2m/70cm dual band "cellular look-alike"($25.00 on Ebay) on
the passenger top corner of the windshield. No holes *ANYWHERE* for
antenna mounting, and works sufficiently well, even on low level machines
in rural south Mississippi.

-n6ojn

"Gary" wrote in message
news
I'm giving serious thought to buying a new vehicle and you know it's bad
when your first thought is not the mileage or seating capacity, but
where to plumb the radio! Does anyone manufacture an adjustable bracket
that will fit into or around the luggage rack frames? I can fabricate my
own, but not having a full-featured machine shop, it might not be as
pretty as my wife would like.


I'm not inclined to drill holes if I don't have to. :-0

With regard to glass mounted antennas, I have never seen one that would
work properly over time, so I will avoid those as well.

The Diamond K515SNMO looks promising but it must live on the side rail and
not more centered. The cross members of what I am looking at resemble an
airfoil and are about 3 inches wide. Would be nice to have a bracket that
would fit over and under that cross piece and then mount to the bracket. I
might have to get some stock and go to fabricating.

Also be mindfull of your overhead clearance....The glass mount, cell
look-a-like is not a problem, but a 30+ inch tall diamond on top of a
vehicle could cause some problems in drive-throughs, garages, etc.
With the antennas that currently reside on my Tundra, my clearance is
12'6"....no more bank drive-throughs, fast food, parking garages, and plays
hell with low branches and wires.

-n6ojn

On Wed, 19 Jul 2006 23:13:33 -0700, Dr. Anton T. Squeegee
wrote:


Harbor Freight has a set of three sizes on sale for $9.99 right now
thought Aug. 14th. http://www.harborfreight.com Item 91616 The
website shows $19.99 but the retail flyer I got in the mail today shows
the $9.99 price.

snippety-two

At that low of a price, I'd be really concerned about the quality
of these bits. More specifically, are they made-in-Taiwan imports, made
from Lord only knows what grade of steel, or are they the same quality
as the Irwin products?

To put it another way: You gets what you pays for. Caveat emptor
indeed...

I have both the original Unibit brand and the Greenlee imitation.
Both are equally good. I have seen other brands, like Stanley, that
should perform well. Some of the prices I have seen lately on good
brands make me shed a tear over what I paid 10 years ago.

Dick

Gary wrote:

I'm not inclined to drill holes if I don't have to. :-0

With regard to glass mounted antennas, I have never seen one that would
work properly over time, so I will avoid those as well.

The Diamond K515SNMO looks promising but it must live on the side rail
and not more centered. The cross members of what I am looking at
resemble an airfoil and are about 3 inches wide. Would be nice to have a
bracket that would fit over and under that cross piece and then mount to
the bracket. I might have to get some stock and go to fabricating.


There is one problem with mounting on the cross members of the rack...
After time, the cross member will be twisted due to the force on it from
the wind pushing on the antenna.
It will happen faster the higher the ambient temp, and material of the rack and
color...
The only way to keep this from happening, or to minimize the flexing, is to
mount it as close to the side rails as possible..
I would add an extra cross member right behind/before the stock cross member,
and attach an aluminum or stainless steel plate with NMO hole to mount the antenna.
The resulting setup will be much stronger, and negates the special
clamp/mount needed..

Bob N9LVU

"Dr. Anton T. Squeegee" wrote:

In article ,
(known to some as Michael A. Terrell) scribed...
"Dr. Anton T. Squeegee" wrote:

BigSnip

Yes, there are safe-and-sane ways to drill the correct size of
hole, even in a new car. My personal favorite is the Irwin Manufacturing
'UniBit,' also known as a step-bit. Well worth the $45 or so they cost.

Couple said Unibit's action with a standard deburring tool for
sheet steel (available from any well-stocked hardware store), and you're
good to go.

Reserve a full day, take your time, and drink plenty of water.

Happy installing.


Harbor Freight has a set of three sizes on sale for $9.99 right now
thought Aug. 14th. http://www.harborfreight.com Item 91616 The
website shows $19.99 but the retail flyer I got in the mail today shows
the $9.99 price.

snippety-two

At that low of a price, I'd be really concerned about the quality
of these bits. More specifically, are they made-in-Taiwan imports, made
from Lord only knows what grade of steel, or are they the same quality
as the Irwin products?

To put it another way: You gets what you pays for. Caveat emptor
indeed...


They work fine for me, or I wouldn't have recommended them. In fact,
I bought a spare set today, because they have a tendency to disappear
from my shop I've never broke or jammed one of them. I normally use
them in my drill press, but I have used the larger size to deburr 1/2"
EMT when doing electrical work.

--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

Dave Platt wrote:

In article ,
Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Harbor Freight has a set of three sizes on sale for $9.99 right now
thought Aug. 14th. http://www.harborfreight.com Item 91616 The
website shows $19.99 but the retail flyer I got in the mail today shows
the $9.99 price.

And if you go to the store, make sure you take the retail flyer along
with you. The one time I failed to do so, the item was marked with
the higher (non-sale) price in the store, and they wouldn't honor the
flyer price without a copy of the flyer in-hand.


The store in Ocala always has a stack of them on a stand right inside
the front door so you can pick one up as you enter the store. Also, you
want to be on their E-mail list for specials. For those you do have to
print out the e-mail w/coupons to get the extra savings. The coupons
have a serial number so you can't buy more than the advertised limit.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida