HF unit installation question

No easy solution pepper2, members of the HF club I'm in resort to a custom made post (aluminium) fixed to the chassis rail behind the cab and mount their Autotune on top of that.
Have you seen the new Codan Envoy super compact aerial ? Small enough to mount behind your grill, worth a look.

Rob VKE236 6678

Pepper,

It's a long time since I've had to fit an HF antennae, when we would weld a bracket on the bull bar and bolt a spring base and multi-whip in place.

Have seen, on a couple of utes, the self-tune bases mounted on the front of the head board, on either side of the cab. Would depend how wide your tray was, and how close it is to the cab, but would provide an out of the way position, with the whip up above the cab/canopy roof.

Might just be susceptible to over hanging branches though?

Bob.

Ok few months ago I saw a SA police car parked in the main street of Broken hill common thing they often come up shopping

any way he had toyota hilux duel cab with the cage on the back he had the rear step tow bar type thing both ARB and TJM have them the HF radio antenna was put onto that I have a picture some where if I find it I will post it

SA police

sorry still looking for my image this is one on flicker

Also I did see one day some one had made a bracket on the side of duel can coming out from where the canopy meets the try and put there HF ok the side not sure if that is legal it stuck out a little

this same concept but the one I did see had a flat surface like the arb ones

Not knowing why you don't fit to Bullbar makes it harder Pepper , I don't like Bullbars but still felt need to have my Barrett 950 HF Whip visible while driving and so made an aluminium bracket back to my chassis rails.

Most of the time I just run a short 27mhz whip which is sufficent to moniter transmission and then put bigger whip on when I need to tranmiit.

This solves the most important problem because the top of the 27mhz whip is same as a shopping centre parking barriers height and so if aerial doesn't hit I'm ok , great to stuff up those who like to put max height 2.0m on their signs.

Mine is not a dual cab but same principle applies...hopefully my rig photo may show how I located mine........it is on a 20mm dia piece of pipe that I raise up (slides through a short length of 25mm)

This way the whole thingy is protected during travel and I simply raise it clear of the roof to use it..

Barrett told me that the whip AND the grey plastic housing should all be clear of the cab and surrounding metal as the whole lot can contribute to poor signal in/out

I have seen a lot of rigs with the antennae not clear (like the Police vehicle photo but maybe the Codan is different?)

Previous to that I had mine snug in and fixed and did have transmission / receive issues.......since making the telescopic pole it works a treat...........

It means that I have to be stationary to use if but with these modern computerised vehicles the HF can cause some funny glitches in the computer system...so I never use it with the engine running

At risk of stating what you may already know.....Barrett have instructions in their 950 manual on the clearance you should have between any metalwork and the autotune - also, that the whip should be proud of the roof line as I recall, for optimal performance. I've had my 950 on two vehicles (neither a ute unfortunately), but following that installation guidance it has always worked very well.

thankyou for your replies,to clarify...
I have a barrett 950 auto tune antennae it is approx 10 cm in dia.
i only have about 3 cm between the metal cabin and the fiberglass canopy.

Rob can the codan envoy compact be fitted to the barrett ?

Robin didnt know the antennae you use,can i use it with my barrett ?
i do have a bullbar but would rather not use the bull bar because of the possibility of animal strike or similar destroying the antennae,and restricting vision.

Bob Y have a fiberglass canopy on a ute tub/no front head board.

Allein the ute tray has a drop down tailgate,unlike police vehicle in photo.

Was thinking of possibly mounting the antennae horizontally on bull bar on a hinge arrangement ,allowing it to be raised and whip aerial attached when hf required for use....what do you think ???

Like the bottom right of this?

this looks more legal

this may be a more legal option

Today in Broken Hill i saw a ford ranger with a duel wheel carrier set up

I looked up this one i know it is expensive but I am sure you can find a cheaper option


this would be a legal option if the roo bar option is not legal

wheel carrier

I know you like the roo bar option I am only trying to help with what I see



the problem today is police are a lot harder and so many things that have been sold for your car may not be legal in some states as one person in a spare parts shop said to me "we only sell the product it is up to you to make sure it is legal "

I understand your frustration

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ok this looks like a much cheaper option and it is legal the guy driving the ambulance there are a number of brackets out there but some are not legal