StG58, that was one of my concerns. I know ideally, mounting an antenna over a nice flat ground plane would be great, but not many places on a Jeep will work. I have been told, that a half-wave antenna should work okay in that position, but a quarter or 5/8ths would have trouble without a decent ground plain. So I am looking for a half-wave to initially try. The cable routing might be fun. I seen a youtube video on running the coax inside the tailgate, but haven't looked to see if that was a TJ or a JK. I will post some pictures once I get everything done.
You will probably laugh at me, but wouldn’t a magnet mount antenna on the hood, cowl or even front fender give you an adequate ground plane, especially if it’s a temporary thing?
 
I’m actually surprised that the indexers of the internet don’t surface our addresses easier from any HAM. Maybe there’s a terms of service on the FCC’s site that prohibits this.
 
You will probably laugh at me, but wouldn’t a magnet mount antenna on the hood, cowl or even front fender give you an adequate ground plane, especially if it’s a temporary thing?
Yes.

This is anecdotal, but I’ve never noticed any particular performance drop off with a mag mount 5/8. I’ve used Larson mag mounts on many rigs for many years. I’m sure you can find pros and cons on magnetic vs. mechanical coupling and ground plane surface area if you want to get technical about it. I just don’t think that w 30-60 watts on VHF with relatively nearby repeaters it will make much difference in the real world. I do suggest that the radio is well bonded to ground via a solid DC cable connection and mount. Inadequate grounding is way more problematic than the coupling or surface area issue.

The problem I’ve had with with mag mounts is ... they get
knocked off! I try to mechanically mount everything for that reason and the Larson NMO mag bases I’ve collected are mounted to the shop refrigerator and pulled into service for temporary use in a pinch along with a variety pack of NMO whips - dual band, 1/4 and 5/8. I still manage to snap off whips and always carry a spare. I have a mostly irrational fear of being incommunicado in the woods.
 
I’m actually surprised that the indexers of the internet don’t surface our addresses easier from any HAM. Maybe there’s a terms of service on the FCC’s site that prohibits this.
That's actually good to hear - maybe the data amalgamators have run afoul of the FCC or something. I'm always taking down my info on such sites when I find it.
 
Just to say a UK ‘Ham’ here GM-6FTE....given our geographical area and the fall off in use for repeaters I’m not planning on using a 2m or 70cm rig in the ‘yellow peril’...so it’s GSM or walk to where you can get a signal..
 
Thank Goddess I'm testing this coming Sunday! That's the good news. The bad news is I already paid the $70 for GMRS!
 
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If you are going to pay the fee and learn a little about how GMRS works, I think it is a good stepping stone for getting your feet wet with HAM.
 
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