- Joined
- 25 February 2012
- Messages
- 2,165
I enjoy having a CB radio and a public safety scanner in my car to stay informed during long trips. I have a small VHF antenna mounted to my engine bay garnish/vent thing and a handheld CB radio at the moment. I am not getting the range I want out of these, and want to put some much bigger antennas (fully removably) on the car.
I have seen license plate mounts for CB antennas. However, I'm not sure how putting the antenna on the back of the car influences my ability to pick up signals from ahead of the car - since there is a whole big chunk of metal in between the antenna and the people in front of me.
My grand master plan was to buy a second targa top (any color), paint it Midnight Pearl, and destructively mount my antennas directly to it. That way for cruising around town I could pop on my OEM top, and for long trips I could switch to the antenna top. However, it turns out t-tops ain't cheap (even ones off wrecked cars) so this plan might turn out to be very expensive.
Another thought was to buy the lexan engine hatch - still expensive, but less so than a t-top since it's aftermarket and not OEM. Some kind of bracket could be fabricated and drilled into the lexan to get the antennas up nice and high. Switching to my lexan antenna hatch in advance of a long trip is slightly more effort than swapping out the targa roof which was designed to be removable, though.
To recap, my three options at the moment (plus a guesstimate of cost parts and labor) are:
* second t-top repainted and wired up ($2000+)
* lexan hatch w/ custom bracket for antennas ($1000ish)
* license plate mount w/ dubious forward reception ($200 to get my stereo shop to wire it up)
Still weighting the pros and cons of each of these - for example, in the t-top scenario, all the requisite radios and other equipment could be mounted to the inside of the targa top so that when I am cruising around town with my OEM top on I don't have a bunch of valuable electronics in the car - but I was wondering if the Prime collective has any other ideas or insights on this.
I have seen license plate mounts for CB antennas. However, I'm not sure how putting the antenna on the back of the car influences my ability to pick up signals from ahead of the car - since there is a whole big chunk of metal in between the antenna and the people in front of me.
My grand master plan was to buy a second targa top (any color), paint it Midnight Pearl, and destructively mount my antennas directly to it. That way for cruising around town I could pop on my OEM top, and for long trips I could switch to the antenna top. However, it turns out t-tops ain't cheap (even ones off wrecked cars) so this plan might turn out to be very expensive.
Another thought was to buy the lexan engine hatch - still expensive, but less so than a t-top since it's aftermarket and not OEM. Some kind of bracket could be fabricated and drilled into the lexan to get the antennas up nice and high. Switching to my lexan antenna hatch in advance of a long trip is slightly more effort than swapping out the targa roof which was designed to be removable, though.
To recap, my three options at the moment (plus a guesstimate of cost parts and labor) are:
* second t-top repainted and wired up ($2000+)
* lexan hatch w/ custom bracket for antennas ($1000ish)
* license plate mount w/ dubious forward reception ($200 to get my stereo shop to wire it up)
Still weighting the pros and cons of each of these - for example, in the t-top scenario, all the requisite radios and other equipment could be mounted to the inside of the targa top so that when I am cruising around town with my OEM top on I don't have a bunch of valuable electronics in the car - but I was wondering if the Prime collective has any other ideas or insights on this.