April 21, 2026 – VHF/UHF Mobile Antennas and Mounts

Good evening. This is W1UT and tonight’s training is about “VHF/UHF Mobile Antennas and Mounts”

Antennas are probably one of the most talked about and interesting subjects on Ham Radio. Most everyone has at some point after getting a license built or played around with antennas. Your antenna is likely the most important part of your radio setup.

A mobile antenna typically consists of two parts, the antenna itself and the mount. Regardless of the type, select an antenna that can be mounted outside of the vehicle. Also determine what type of body your vehicle has. Magnetic mounts will only attach magnetically if your vehicle has a steel body. Fiberglass or aluminum bodies will restrict the type of mount available. Next determine where you plan on mounting your new antenna. All locations will work, but the best location is always the highest location above the road surface and centered on a broad flat surface. However, if you normally park your vehicle in a garage the height of the antenna may need to be shorter than desired or have a fold-over option. This is one of the reasons I use a quarter wave length dual band antenna.

If you have ever looked at mobile antennas you will find many options. Some have significant gain, but tend to be quite long. Others are shorter and most can be attached to three main mounts. These are NMO mounts, UHF mounts or even BNC mounts. Sticking to NMO or UHF mounts are preferred as antennas from multiple manufacturers can be used.

When selecting an antenna think about where you will run the feedline to your radio. The mounting location on your vehicle can impact how easy it will be to run the feedline. With some vehicles this can be the most difficult part of the installation. Some antennas come with a short length of RG316 coaxial cable which has a significantly smaller cable diameter which will help running the feedline through a door seal or a trunk seal. This can minimize damaging the feedline and/or the door seal.

Most mobile antennas can be adjusted for best match or field strength. This assumes you have an SWR bridge. If you are a member of a club or know another ham with these meters then there is no reason to purchase this equipment. Another helpful device is a VHF/UHF watt meter to check radio power output and especially reflected power. Regardless in most cases adjustment of the antenna may not be needed.

I hope these suggestions are helpful to you new hams. You can find lots of mobile antenna information on the web.

That is all for this week. I will turn the time back to net control from W1UT.