700 trunking antenna on a fiberglass boat roof

This forum is dedicated to helping people with questions about installing radio equipment in vehicles. This can include antenna installs, electrical wiring questions/problems, and mounting systems. Pictures of installs are welcome.

Note: Discussions regarding lighting, sirens, and other equipment now has its own forum in the 'off-topic' section below.

Moderator: Queue Moderator

Post Reply
Jim202
Posts: 3609
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2001 4:00 pm

700 trunking antenna on a fiberglass boat roof

Post by Jim202 »

Looking for some information feedback on installing a standard mobile 700 trunking antenna on the roof of a boat? My thoughts are to use a thick NMO mount with a metal plate on the underside of the roof. Roof is about 3/16 to 1/4 inch thick.

Jim
Karl NVW
Posts: 174
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2003 7:13 am

Re: 700 trunking antenna on a fiberglass boat roof

Post by Karl NVW »

Same rules still apply that you used to follow on HB, UHF, or 800 MHz in this situation. A thick NMO with metal foil tape (or an 11" aluminum pie plate) on the underside of the roof will get you there. If you are installing on a vessel that runs in rough water, use only the quarter-wave "spike", not a 3 dB pigtail or other gain models.
Karl - WA8NVW AFA5VB
SHARES + NCS
Jim202
Posts: 3609
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2001 4:00 pm

Re: 700 trunking antenna on a fiberglass boat roof

Post by Jim202 »

Sorry for the delay in posting a reply. There was a lightning strike that took out my Internet connection. Made it back to operational status.

Thanks for the confirmation of my plans.

Jim
Karl NVW
Posts: 174
Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2003 7:13 am

Re: 700 trunking antenna on a fiberglass boat roof

Post by Karl NVW »

And I too am sorry that as usual I was overthinking the math. Adjust the size of the aluminum foil pie plate to USA food industry standard size of NINE inches. When you squash it flat and duct-tape it to the underside of the cabin roof it will be almost perfect. Or you can use a metal pizza pan 12" or larger.
Karl - WA8NVW AFA5VB
SHARES + NCS
wd9cms
Posts: 189
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2002 10:29 am

Re: 700 trunking antenna on a fiberglass boat roof

Post by wd9cms »

The PCTEL K332 is a ground plane intended for mounting antennas to fiberglass vehicles and are usable from 406-1000 MHz. this is a link to the K332:

https://www.talleycom.com/viewProduct?rlProdNum=MXRK332

This should provide a professional installation on the boat with a thick mount cable assembly...

Bill
Bill, WD9CMS
444.775 PL131.8/NAC293
927.900 PL131.9/NAC293
User avatar
wavetar
Administrator
Posts: 7340
Joined: Sun Sep 09, 2001 4:00 pm

Re: 700 trunking antenna on a fiberglass boat roof

Post by wavetar »

FYI, PCTel also offers no ground plane antennas. We have found the 700MHz version to work very well:

https://www.pctel.com/antenna-product/n ... gp-series/
No trees were harmed in the posting of this message...however an extraordinarily large number of electrons were horribly inconvenienced.

Welcome to the /\/\achine.
Post Reply

Return to “Vehicle Radio Installs”