Midland MXT275 antenna mount in stock radio antenna location? And, value of a 6db gain whip antenna?

MikekiM

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Never finished installing the CB and decided rather than putting energy into that I am going to go with a Midland MXT275 GMRS.

The CB antenna uses one of the common taillight brackets with the coax running up to the front along the driver side of the tub. I am hoping to keep the antenna for MXT275 much shorter. Since all of my audio entertainment is available via BT, I never use the FM/AM radio and would like to repurpose the stock antenna mounting location for a clean install.

What is needed to mount the antenna that comes with the MXT275 in the hole that accommodates the stock whip antenna? Pros and Cons?

Is there value in adding the second 6db antenna for times a bit more reach is needed? And, can it use the same mount as the
 
so I'm going to start with "pictures will help" and "It can be done, but how committed are you?"

Mounting the GMRS (midland antenna) where the CB antenna was will be easy, you can run the same coax and depending on what type of mount your CB antenna runs you will need very few adaptors.

Midland antennas run a NMO style antenna mount if I remember correctly,(this is my favorite and what I run for all the HAM stuff) getting it to work with the CB mount you will have to drill the mount out to 3/4" and get the correct NMO to SO-239 coax to run between the antenna and the radio.

Mounting to the Stock antenna location is going to be a royal pain, depending on how OEM you want it to look. if you want to use the stock antenna mount (the black part) then you will need a AM/FM to SO-239 adaptor and you will then have to trim your stock antenna shorter to get the correct SWR at the GMRS frequencies (about 460Mhz), this will make your antenna significantly shorter and likely is not the look your going for, but it would work and look fairly factory.

Another option is to use a standard 90*ball mount and whatever GMRS antenna you want. I believe @Zorba does something similar to this, it would let you use the stock location but would deff. look like an aftermarket antenna

If it were me, I would go with an A-pillar mount and run the "ghost" or "Nub" antenna for simple trail comms, it'll work well enough. and stays out of the way nicely, that or go full porcupine and run it off the taillight mount with a high gain full height antenna (this is what I do with mine.)


hope this helps - might have created more questions than I answered but LMK and I'll be happy to answer anything I forgot.
 
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so I'm going to start with "pictures will help" and "It can be done, but how committed are you?"

Mounting the GMRS (midland antenna) where the CB antenna was will be easy, you can run the same coax and depending on what type of mount your CB antenna runs you will need very few adaptors.

Midland antennas run a NMO style antenna mount if I remember correctly,(this is my favorite and what I run for all the HAM stuff) getting it to work with the CB mount you will have to drill the mount out to 3/4" and get the correct NMO to SO-239 coax to run between the antenna and the radio.

Mounting to the Stock antenna location is going to be a royal pain, depending on how OEM you want it to look. if you want to use the stock antenna mount (the black part) then you will need a AM/FM to SO-239 adaptor and you will then have to trim your stock antenna shorter to get the correct SWR at the GMRS frequencies (about 460Mhz), this will make your antenna significantly shorter and likely is not the look your going for, but it would work and look fairly factory.

Another option is to use a standard 90*ball mount and whatever GMRS antenna you want. I believe @Zorba does something similar to this, it would let you use the stock location but would deff. look like an aftermarket antenna
If it were me, I would go with an A-pillar mount and run the "ghost" or "Nub" antenna for simple trail comms, it'll work well enough. and stays out of the way nicely, that or go full porcupine and run it off the taillight mount with a high gain full height antenna (this is what I do with mine.)


hope this helps - might have created more questions than I answered but LMK and I'll be happy to answer anything I forgot.

The ball mount I have is for the CB antenna. GMRS is a little unity gain magnet mount jobber on the front driver's side fender - should be good enough for trail comms.
 
This site contains affiliate links for which Jeep Wrangler TJ Forum may be compensated.
so I'm going to start with "pictures will help" and "It can be done, but how committed are you?"

Mounting the GMRS (midland antenna) where the CB antenna was will be easy, you can run the same coax and depending on what type of mount your CB antenna runs you will need very few adaptors.

Midland antennas run a NMO style antenna mount if I remember correctly,(this is my favorite and what I run for all the HAM stuff) getting it to work with the CB mount you will have to drill the mount out to 3/4" and get the correct NMO to SO-239 coax to run between the antenna and the radio.

Mounting to the Stock antenna location is going to be a royal pain, depending on how OEM you want it to look. if you want to use the stock antenna mount (the black part) then you will need a AM/FM to SO-239 adaptor and you will then have to trim your stock antenna shorter to get the correct SWR at the GMRS frequencies (about 460Mhz), this will make your antenna significantly shorter and likely is not the look your going for, but it would work and look fairly factory.

Another option is to use a standard 90*ball mount and whatever GMRS antenna you want. I believe @Zorba does something similar to this, it would let you use the stock location but would deff. look like an aftermarket antenna

If it were me, I would go with an A-pillar mount and run the "ghost" or "Nub" antenna for simple trail comms, it'll work well enough. and stays out of the way nicely, that or go full porcupine and run it off the taillight mount with a high gain full height antenna (this is what I do with mine.)


hope this helps - might have created more questions than I answered but LMK and I'll be happy to answer anything I forgot.

I have a standard Teraflex tail light mount for the Firestick..
2022-02-12 TJ CB Antenna 56.jpg


If I mount the GMRS antenna in this location, it would be helpful to be able to use the current connectors, but I gather from your info that it will require some adapters. That could be fine, and I could trim some of the excess coax I have coiled up under my front carpet. I did understand that a shorter run of coax
would be better which is what led me mounting in the stock radio antenna location.

Not looking to use the stock antenna. Rather, I would like to mount either of the Midland antenna's using the stock mount with the plastic cover. Using the AM/FM to SO-239 adaptor would allow connecting the coax to the wire that goes to the OE antenna. Is there a way to then mount one of the Midland antenna's to the stock antenna mount?

If I can't mount the Midland antenna, I have no problem cutting down the stock antenna. I still have it, just don't use it. However, I assume that then becomes a deep dive into tuning the length which it seems I wouldn't have to do if I stick to the little antenna that comes with the Midland kit.

So, with that said.. could I use the stock Midland 2db magnetic antenna and just stick to the Teraflex mount after removing the Firestick? And maybe mount the longer 6db antenna in the second hole in the Teraflex mount and then either relocate the coax between antenna's or use some kind of switch to swap antenna's? Or am I overthinking this?

The ball mount isn't for me.
 
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I have a standard Teraflex tail light mount for the Firestick..
View attachment 376563

If I mount the GMRS antenna in this location, it would be helpful to be able to use the current connectors, but I gather from your info that it will require some adapters. That could be fine, and I could trim some of the excess coax I have coiled up under my front carpet. I did understand that a shorter run of coax
would be better which is what led me mounting in the stock radio antenna location.

Not looking to use the stock antenna. Rather, I would like to mount either of the Midland antenna's using the stock mount with the plastic cover. Using the AM/FM to SO-239 adaptor would allow connecting the coax to the wire that goes to the OE antenna. Is there a way to then mount one of the Midland antenna's to the stock antenna mount?

If I can't mount the Midland antenna, I have no problem cutting down the stock antenna. I still have it, just don't use it. However, I assume that then becomes a deep dive into tuning the length which it seems I wouldn't have to do if I stick to the little antenna that comes with the Midland kit.

So, with that said.. could I use the stock Midland 2db magnetic antenna and just stick to the Teraflex mount after removing the Firestick? And maybe mount the longer 6db antenna in the second hole in the Teraflex mount and then either relocate the coax between antenna's or use some kind of switch to swap antenna's? Or am I overthinking this?

The ball mount isn't for me.

right, so you could mount the GMRS antenna on the Teraflex mount, you would need to drill out the hole to 3/4" and get some NMO Coax because both of the midland antennas use an NMO mount. This is what I did on both of my mounts.

I know of no way to mount NMO antennas to the stock AM/FM mount

Cutting down the stock antenna does enter into the land of tuning and you have to be careful to not overshoot, it would be a decent pain but it will look at least decently OEM.

I wouldn't bother with a coax switch and all that jazz, just get out and unscrew the ghost antenna and screw on the 6db, no reason to make this overly complex.
 
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I wouldn't bother with a coax switch and all that jazz, just get out and unscrew the ghost antenna and screw on the 6db, no reason to make this overly complex.
^^^THIS^^^

I have a similar setup for the CB - I have a 5' for road use, that comes off and is replaced with a 2' for trail use. Takes about 30 seconds including finding the correct size wrench.
 
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^^^THIS^^^

I have a similar setup for the CB - I have a 5' for road use, that comes off and is replaced with a 2' for trail use. Takes about 30 seconds including finding the correct size wrench.

best part for the NMO's, don't even need a wrench. I just grab the cap out the glove box, hop out, unscrew the antenna, screw on the cap ant throw then antenna into the back of the jeep, then I can go into the parking garage. same thing at the trail head, throw on a shorter antenna so I'm not trimming ALL of the trees.
 
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Looking at some radios tuff for another project today, I cam across these UHF to NMO adaptors, Wish I knew these existed when I did my tail light brackets. I think you should be able to get one of these, thread it though your bracket connect the coax and screw the antenna on top - I did it what is apparently the "hard way" though so can't garuntee that it'll work.
 
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Looking at some radios tuff for another project today, I cam across these UHF to NMO adaptors, Wish I knew these existed when I did my tail light brackets. I think you should be able to get one of these, thread it though your bracket connect the coax and screw the antenna on top - I did it what is apparently the "hard way" though so can't garuntee that it'll work.

Adapters are a good solution but I would NOT recommend the one you linked. I bought one and the threads in the brass ring were so far out of spec and loose that I could not tighten it down to the mount. It was a complete waste of money.


I am giving this one a shot instead. Hopefully it will have better quality control.

1668408620368.jpeg
 
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Thank you all!

The piece of the puzzle I am missing is which antenna's utilize the common threaded base. The OE Midland antenna that comes with the MXT275 is a magnet mount. The 6db antenna is a threaded mount, which I understand could make use of the above adapted it I opt for mounting to the Teraflex mount. The "cap" ? Is that the stubby wide body Ghost antenna?
 
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Thank you all!

The piece of the puzzle I am missing is which antenna's utilize the common threaded base. The OE Midland antenna that comes with the MXT275 is a magnet mount. The 6db antenna is a threaded mount, which I understand could make use of the above adapted it I opt for mounting to the Teraflex mount. The "cap" ? Is that the stubby wide body Ghost antenna?

could you send pictures of the Antennas you have? ideally the base where they mount
 
You can do it much easier by ditching the idea of using the factory stereo antenna mount and get a simple A-pillar mount for the driver side, along with an NMO mount/with coax. route it under the hood and find a hole to punch thru the firewall and inside the dash. Manual trans options has a pre-stamped plug you can drill a small hole in.
 
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You can do it much easier by ditching the idea of using the factory stereo antenna mount and get a simple A-pillar mount for the driver side, along with an NMO mount/with coax. route it under the hood and find a hole to punch thru the firewall and inside the dash. Manual trans options has a pre-stamped plug you can drill a small hole in.
I think I’ve abandoned the idea of using the stock antenna mount.

I don’t want anything mounted on the A-pillar.

Thank you for the idea though.

I’m likely going stick with the teraflex tail light mount since the coax is run already.
 
Adapters are a good solution but I would NOT recommend the one you linked. I bought one and the threads in the brass ring were so far out of spec and loose that I could not tighten it down to the mount. It was a complete waste of money.


I am giving this one a shot instead. Hopefully it will have better quality control.

View attachment 376620

I changed my mind and went with a Breedlove mount instead. It was about $30 but I have used their products before and know them to be of excellent quality. Buy once, cry once…
 
Adapters are a good solution but I would NOT recommend the one you linked. I bought one and the threads in the brass ring were so far out of spec and loose that I could not tighten it down to the mount. It was a complete waste of money.


I am giving this one a shot instead. Hopefully it will have better quality control.

View attachment 376620

I don't have a picture of it, but I used this same adapter and drilled the 5/8" hole in the left fender. Tightened it, ran by rg8x through the shock mount hole, into the firewall and into the radio. Perfect 1:1 swr on all gmrs channels. 👍🏻
 
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Maybe I'm missing something, but if I get the antenna adapter and reuse the (CB) coax; what is needed at the other end?
Do I need another adapter at the radio?
 
Well that depends on the radio, likely nothing but maybe a PL-259 to BNC adaptor. Chances are the coax and the radio have the same so-239/pl-259 connection