AM/FM low mount antenna options

[Nevadastars]

Well, I ripped off the lame flex antenna pulling our just purchased Wildcat fiver out of our metal cover. Seems the spring on the antenna was stronger than the OSB roof the mount was screwed into. I had planned on replacing it, but this just sped up the process.

Does anyone have any good recommendations for an antenna that is fairly low? Also, I will some how have to repair the coax end that got ripped off with the antenna. I attached a pic of the damage. Thanks for any suggestions.

[DrewE]

Many cars with the stubby antennas have antenna amplifiers in the base of the stubby bit. Maybe you could find one of those from a junkyard and run 12v power for the amplifier up to it to get reasonable reception. It might need a metal ground plane to work effectively.

For FM reception, your TV antenna will usually work pretty well since the FM broadcast band is right smack in the middle of the VHF television band, between channels six and seven if I recall properly.

[voyaginator]

Nevadastars wrote:

Does anyone have any good recommendations for an antenna that is fairly low? Also, I will some how have to repair the coax end that got ripped off with the antenna.

AM reception (not talking about amplitude modulation transmission) is usually not a problem. However, FM reception range is limited, higher quality but shorter range.

One option for a fairly low (but not small antenna), yet with 4db gain, 360 all-around, (50 miles reception) is a round dipole.
Omnidirectional FM Reception Antenna
Just under $30, not so cheap, but solid and easy to install, and found it good to resist high winds.:)

Comes with a 75 ohms female coaxial cable connector.
Mounted mine on a telescopic fiber-glass painter's pole at the rear to extend the reception range.

[wa8yxm]

I would look at, I think it is Volkswagen who SIDE MOUNTED the antenna on many cars.. And do likewise. Jeep did this too

Here are links to what I'm speaking of.

The Jeep version on Amazon

And the Volkswagen version also at Amazon

[TurnThePage]

My trailer had a wire laid flat in the rafters. It actually worked pretty well.