Help me make my antenna mount stink less.

#411147

I have a dilema antenna related.

My vehicle is a 1993 Ford E250 Class B RV with a fiberglass pop up roof. And I have to drive this thing to work and park in an urban parking garage. So height is VERY limited.

The only place I could think of that wouldn't require me ripping half the conversion apart with God only knows what kind of luck putting it back together, is using a fender channel mount which I am aware is far less than ideal. Especially since this van came factory with a composite hood.

My Antenna is a Firestik II 3' and has a spring.

There are 3 bolts for the fender I can mount to, closest to the windshield, middle, and furthest away. For now I am mounted in the middle.

I am just hoping someone will be able to tell me if I would be better off using one of the other mounting bolts for the antenna mount. Closest to the windshield gets the antenna up a bit higher but also close to the rest of the body work.

Not really sure how to proceed with this.

#411150

I should have mentioned in case anyone wants to see the configuration, sorry I don't have enough posts here to be able to post up pics, but if you look up Ford Econoline Sportsmobile Penthouse Roof and look for images you'll get the idea. Basically it is like a permanent roof top tent that is accessed via a giant hole in the steel roof. As the van sits right now it is right at 7' tall before the antenna with the roof closed, I am planning on doing a 4wd conversion to it next year which will include 6" added to the suspension, and another 3" of height from difference in tire diameter, so 7' 9" (or so) total height I need to squeeze into a downtown Houston parking garage when I am in office... So I am kind of forced to a low anetnna height... Meaning no Predator 10K in the tiny spit of roof not covered by the Penthouse top...

#411174

I have temporarily fixed my problem. Recycling doesn't run until Thursday so I dug the ancient Realistic mag mount out of the bin, and started whacking on it until I got the SWRs right. Mid way through the short spit of steel roof I have available and I have it at 1.0 on 1, 1.0 on 20, and 1.0 on 40. Can't ask for much better. But it's still a sh*t antenna...

#411185

have you thought about the kind that mounts in the gap between the hood and fender

#411186

You mean like a fender channel mount?

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