mobile

Various discussions about using amateur radio gear in mobile installations.

Magnetic Mount Antennas Don’t Suck

Mag Mounts. Bum Rap?

Over the years I have heard amateur radio folks, CBers and scanner fans bash the use of magnetic mount antennas. Concerns include flying off the vehicle and becoming a projectile during an auto accident. Other concerns relate to performance and stem primarily on how well the shield of the coax is electrically connected to the conductive body of the car.

I cannot comment on the mechanical realities of the antenna flying off the roof during rapid changes in speed, but can say I have never seen one do so. I encourage anyone with data to propose their article to this web site

So…

Addressing the Mag Mount Electrical Questions

Let’s talk about the electrical conductivity of a standard mount vs. a magnetic mount antenna. Here is a quote from the newsgroups concerning antennas for scanners…

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Small Loop HF Mobile

In the never ending quest to improve our HF mobile ops for the Virginia QSO Party we finally decided to try a small loop.

There is nothing new about small loop antennas. They have been discussed in the literature for decades. The ARRL has some very old articles about them in the 1968 March and July editions.

Constantine A. Balanis’ book on Antenna Theory discusses and defines large vs. small loops. This book is an essential reference if you seek the details on how loops work. The loop described below fits into the “small loop” category where the currents along the conductor are, for all practical purposes, constant. This is unlike full size antennas where current reaches a minimum where voltage approaches maximum. Since this loop is electrically short with respect to wavelength, current does not change “much.”

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