Ground plane for magnetic antenna

Crabbypatty wrote:
I have the Wilson Trucker antenna and it does not need a ground plane. Its there highest gain. You could do that as well.

Hey, that is what I use.. and the Trucker DOES use a ground plane.. Those "Spikes" that you screw into it are the ground plane.

austinjenna wrote:

I made an "L" bracket with holes drill in one leg....used small u-bolt clamps and attached it to my ladder then stuck the mag mount antenna on that.

If you get the Wislon home/office accessories, this is exactly how they have it. An L bracket with suction cups to stick to a window, and its not very big.

I had used the smaller mag antenna like that but then went to the 12" mag mount to my ladder.

I made an "L" bracket with holes drill in one leg....used small u-bolt clamps and attached it to my ladder then stuck the mag mount antenna on that.

If you get the Wislon home/office accessories, this is exactly how they have it. An L bracket with suction cups to stick to a window, and its not very big.

I have a CB radio with a FireStk on my Polaris RZR and was told to run a ground wire from the base of the antenna to the frame. Worked better but that still wasn't exceptional.

I went to WalMart and bought the cheapest pizza pan they had. Works great for us.

I made an "L" bracket with holes drill in one leg....used small u-bolt clamps and attached it to my ladder then stuck the mag mount antenna on that.

wa8yxm wrote:
Got any old license plates lying about? More than enough

In Minnesota license plates have been made of aluminum for many years, so a magnet would not stick to them. I use a stainless steel cake pan as a temporary mount at times. Make sure a magnet sticks to it. Some stainless is non-magnetic.

The ham I bought my first radio from worked in the highway department and used an old stop sign. He said I could use a cookie tray for a ground plane. I have the Wilson Trucker antenna and it does not need a ground plane. Its there highest gain. You could do that as well.

Got any old license plates lying about? More than enough

or a peal and stick metal disc.. 800 MHz is what...3/8 Meter band so 3/16th of a meter (about 7 and a half inches in diamater) Make sure it is ferrous metal nicely painted with rust inhibitor.

Get a piece of sheet metal in the size you want. Get a tubemof Dicor self leveling, and glue the sheet metal down using the Dicor.