mounting Vhf antenna?

[ciaranp]

Bought Vtronix raider antenna whip aerial.
It has the L shaped bracket for mounting it to A-Frame, the only thing is i have a single a-Frame with no flat plate or surface on the side to screw it onto. The old one was mounted on a plate on the top of A-frame next to all round white light.
Should i mount it where the old one was? if i do this i will have to flatten out the L shaped bracket supplied so as to have it flat to screw to the plate already there. Any ideas?

or can you buy some sort of rail mount?

[martini]

Isn't there a stud underneath the antenna which the bracket is bolted to? If so you can take the bracket off and bolt the antenna straight to the flat plate on your A-frame

[9D280]

I got round that problem when I discovered the raider fits the middle section of a Glomex 2 way adjustable nicely, which can be U- bolted to the frame....

Will post a pic if you want.

[9D280]

Originally Posted by martini

Isn't there a stud underneath the antenna which the bracket is bolted to? If so you can take the bracket off and bolt the antenna straight to the flat plate on your A-frame

There is, but it's M16 Coarse thread, which is a lot bigger than the "standard" threads on the bottom of everything else. Big round file or a taper drill might open the hole in the plate?

Vtronix do an adaptor to fit it to a "conventional" 1"x14tpi male thread, but it's about 2/3 the cost of the antenna!

[martini]

Originally Posted by ciaranp

Bought Vtronix raider antenna whip aerial.

They are a bit crap anyway

[ciaranp]

Originally Posted by 9D280

I got round that problem when I discovered the raider fits the middle section of a Glomex 2 way adjustable nicely, which can be U- bolted to the frame....

Will post a pic if you want.

Ye do post a pic, thanks

[9D280]

OK, will try & do it tonight. Been away the last couple of days.

[ciaranp]

Originally Posted by 9D280

I got round that problem when I discovered the raider fits the middle section of a Glomex 2 way adjustable nicely, which can be U- bolted to the frame....

Will post a pic if you want.

Would i get the Glomex 2 way in any chandlers? Have you a part number?

IF i just straightened out the L Shaped bracket and screw it to the plate next to the all round white light where the old antenna was?
Haven't been near the rib since i bought the antenna so hard to judge till i see it.

[9D280]

I guess any that stock Glomex Kit?

If you can straighten the supplied bracket out I can't see why not - I'd have done it myself if the garage door was 2 feet taller! might be worth repainting it before you screw it down tho' coz I'll bet the paint won't survive that!

Anyway, here's the long awaited pics.......
Apologies for the image quality - hopefully you'll get the idea. The thing to note is that to centralise the Raider in the slightly oversize hole, you need to put the big nut on the bottom upside down. The taper to make it look pretty then does the centralising job nicely.

Hope this helps.

[ciaranp]

Originally Posted by 9D280

I guess any that stock Glomex Kit?

If you can straighten the supplied bracket out I can't see why not - I'd have done it myself if the garage door was 2 feet taller! might be worth repainting it before you screw it down tho' coz I'll bet the paint won't survive that!

Anyway, here's the long awaited pics.......
Apologies for the image quality - hopefully you'll get the idea. The thing to note is that to centralise the Raider in the slightly oversize hole, you need to put the big nut on the bottom upside down. The taper to make it look pretty then does the centralising job nicely.

Hope this helps.

thanks for that, will try straighting the L bracket first and painting if not i'll try your idea.

[ciaranp]

This a pic of my A-Frame.
Was going to try mount it to the left of the white stern light, you can just see whats left of the old antenna.
Any other suggestions people?

[Chris]

Originally Posted by ciaranp

This a pic of my A-Frame.
Was going to try mount it to the left of the white stern light, you can just see whats left of the old antenna.
Any other suggestions people?

Why don't you just discard the Vtronics bracket and mount the antenna through the plate where the remaine of the old one is?

[9D280]

Yeah, you'll need a 16mm drill if the old antenna is (was?) a "standard" whip. But looking at that frame I'd just drill the hole to suit the raider & bung it straight in. If you're lucky the original cabling will be there and save you the hassle of pulling cables ......

Unless of course you need it to fold to go through doors, in which case see previous post!

[ciaranp]

Originally Posted by 9D280

Yeah, you'll need a 16mm drill if the old antenna is (was?) a "standard" whip. But looking at that frame I'd just drill the hole to suit the raider & bung it straight in. If you're lucky the original cabling will be there and save you the hassle of pulling cables ......

Unless of course you need it to fold to go through doors, in which case see previous post!

Ye i'll just put it in the old space. The end or base of old antenna is still there and the cable connected to it so can put the new one in the old hole and connect old cable to it besides feeding new one through the A-Frame.

[ciaranp]

what is the range of the Vtronix raider antenna? how may miles?