Installation question

[jlamanske]

Does anyone know of any special considerations in installing a high power radio (PM1500 VHF) in a car? Other than the power requirements, the radio is rated for 110 watts. Is there any specific place an antenna would be better suited? As of now it's on the trunk with a wideband PCTel antenna, with 2.4 db gain on a ground plane. The car is a 2012 Malibu. Currently have a 35 watt Kenwood 7180 in place. I know, obviously it's going to require a direct ride to the battery, my main concern is RFI in the vehicle and if I need to relocate the antenna. The back glass has a defroster grid and the Onstar/XM antenna is on the rear roof, the glass is the metal pigmented solar glass. The last high power radio I had was a Maratrac on an SUV, and that was a decade ago. So I just have apprehensions concerning all the electronics and RFI safety these days.

 

[Firecpt809]

NMO Mount? If so you should be fine. Trunk lip or magnet mount you may have issues

 

[jlamanske]

Yeah it's a drilled nmo mount on the trunk lid.

 

[Number 6]

The best location, both for an omnidirectional radiation pattern and safety, is the center of the roof. A 19", 1/4 would work very well. On the other hand, if you don't mind a restricted radiation pattern and RF being directed to you and the other electronics in the car, the center of the trunk deck would be the next choice. Also, as Firecpt809 says, an NMO mount is preferred - stay away from trunk lip or mag mounts.

 

[Alpha]

I had almost the same setup in my car, had 3 NMO mounts on the trunk, and a 35W kenwood on one, an AVA on the other, and a 100W UHF Astro Spectra on the other, and had the same PCTel antennas on all 3.

The only notable changes I made were to make sure the trunk lid has a good braided ground strap connecting the lid to the vehicle body on one of the hinges, and I replaced the co-ax on the center NMO (the high power 100W radio one) with Belden dual braid Teflon beige co-ax (can't remember the 99xx number). That fares much better at the higher power levels which can have some heat dissipation. The Teflon co-ax also does not deform in a hot trunk, especially around tight bends (generally a bad thing). Bends will deform the center insulator, which can cause impedance lumps which then also will get hotter, and further melt the insulation so it gets worse and worse over time.

The trunk is a good place if you need the gain of the longer antennas, otherwise the center of the roof is more optimal, but can be much more of a hassle to get to because of headlining, etc.

 

[jlamanske]

I hate pulling headliners, but I'm not afraid to put a hole in the roof. I'm currently using an antenna that requires no ground plane, but it is grounded right now, so it has a little gain. If I end up with the PM1500 I may just sell it to get an NX700 lol

 

[tsunami_australia]

Is this a high power only thing? I was using a trunk lip mount for my VHF when I had it in the car (25w) with an RFI ground independent stainless whip and got EXCELLENT results.