Ham Radio and Antenna Mounting Options for the 2022 Tundra

Hi bldavis11. Yes indeed, the Larsen glass mount antennas work very well. Actually, from my experience with them they are the only glass mount ham band antennas that are "properly" designed. The external whip of the dual band antenna is such that it presents a high impedance at the bottom, read where it cap actively couples through the glass. And the 2m single band version is the same being a proper 1/2 wavelength antenna. That one is rather long which presents some mechanical concerns, but otherwise is well designed.

 

In the Gen 3, where would you put the thru-glass as all the windows move, except front. Seems door lip is the option - unless you are a real radio person and go with NMO.

 

I was searching around for an antenna solution for my new truck. I found a fender mount that should work: https://albertaradiosupply.com/prod...-2022-2023-nmo-mount-1?variant=40159020122225

 

Good find. Is it just me or does it sill look like it's gonna rub on the fender?

 

I don't want to drill a hole in the roof and a glass mount on the windshield is not very appealing to me. Maybe I can slip a piece of rubber or something between that area that looks like it hits the fender.

 

@Eurodriver has used this to mount to the hood. @PapaDave418 used the same one to mount to the top of the passenger door. Just a couple options. I'm still looking into my options as well.

https://www.gigaparts.com/comet-antennas-cp-5nmo.html

 

Well, I'll let you know on that fender mount. I just pulled the trigger on that and a Tram 1180 antenna.

 

Can't wait to see the install pics! It's on my list to consider for sure

 

Time to clean your truck lol

 

Do you have the International Space Station dialed up? (Not a joke) haha

 

I had a bed pocket mount on my 2020 that worked well. Coax just dropped down under the cab and in a floor pan grommet behind the drivers seat.

 

Bingo jctmundra. This is a problem on Gen3 and many other vehicles. Going NMO in the roof is the best way to go from an RF perspective without a doubt. And I agree that I don't like large antennas on the glass. Seems that's just asking for trouble.

The NMO mount that bolts to the front fender by the hood looks good to me. I did a similar thing, home made, on the truck rail at the top of the side of the bed. It's not so pretty but holds a magnetic mount just fine. My problem with the front fender location is cosmetics. I might like to see an antenna hanging out there, but the wife not so much.

What ever you do, consider this: The "antenna" consists of the whip that we see PLUS the ground "plane" below it. This is why on the roof with is clearly the best. Cop cars will put it on the roof or the center of the trunk hood, both are excellent locations. And in the case of the trunk hood it's a bit lower height, but in practice that makes no difference as the lower radiation angle provided out weighs any loss of height or even any "absorption" going through the vehicle passenger compartment.

Also, don't be fooled by high gain antennas. ALL such mobile antennas are measured on a 1m diameter, or larger, metal plate. And the gain number is the highest gain they found even if that is up at a high radiation angle...it's easy to get gain at 45 degrees up actually. The only way to get gain at lower angles, say towards the horizon where you want it at VHF and UHF, is to either have a good ground plane, or believe it or not....a LOW gain antenna such as 1/4 wavelength. Frequently a 1/4 wave whip on a small ground plane will having more gain at the horizon than a 5/8 wave antenna on the same ground. These so called 5/8 wavelength antennas must have that ground plane and even larger than 1m diameter to get their advertised gain. If you do the radiation pattern modeling you'll see that the gain at the horizon is obtained only when there is a 2 or more wavelength RADIUS ground plane for a 5/8 wave whip.

Having said all of that, in practice we are stuck with the realities if the vehicle size and shape and available mounting locations. The only other advice I can give is to keep the electrical length from the base of the antenna to the large metal of the truck as short as possible. 3 inches is too long at VHF and 1-2 inches too long at UHF. If you need to have it that long, then go as wide as you can. Start with 2 inches wide and go up from there if possible. Some of the NMO mounts have articulation built into them which helps mechanically, but is a killer for electrical length which in turn destroys any low angle of radiation that you hope to get.

Hope this all helps.

 

Here’s my set up.

 

Hi MNMacht77. This looks really good and strong. How does it's ground attach to the truck body? I wish there was a better way to route the coax in our Gen3.

 

I only used it with a HT so I didn’t ground it. It did have a screw on the underside for a ground wire which you could attach to the frame.

 

Fender mount works fine, does not rub, however I did glue a piece of rubber to the backside just in case.

 

I also used the fender mount from Alberta Radio. The mount doesn't contact the fender or hood. To be safe, used 3M PPF on the fender and hood edges.

$14 3M Door Edge Protection Film, 36", Protect Door Edges From Chips, Scratches, and Scuffs, No Tool Required, Yellowing and Staining Resistant, Professional Grade Solution (08582)

https://www.amazon.com/3M-08582-Door-Edge-Protection/dp/B00650NY6G?keywords=ppf+door+edge+3m&sr=8-5

 

Used a couple standoffs and mounted directly to that dash piece. You can see the antenna in the ditch light mount.

 

I received my shipment from Alberta Radio Supply today. The mount looks to be of very high quality. I ordered the black finish mount and it even has bare metal areas for the NMO mount and where it screws through to the fender. I was sure I was going to have to sand down the finish to get a good electrical connection but it looks like I'll just be able to bolt it in as is.

I will also say, that this is probably the best packaged antenna I have ever received in the mail. Perfectly sized box with plenty of packing materials including cardboard inserts to prevent the box from being crushed or bent. I'm used to ordering antennas from Amazon and receiving them with the top of the antenna sticking out of the box by the time it gets to me. This was a welcome change and worth the wait.

 

Have you had the chance to install the mount?

 

Dang, it's been a month and I haven't got to it yet? I feel attacked

Seriously tho, I did install side steps, bed step and splashguards. I think I've been procrastinating because I'm not sure where I'm going to mount the faceplate yet.

 

I've had my mount for about 6 months and haven't got it installed either. I was hoping your photo(s) would inspire me to get it done. Now that I've seen PapaDave418 mount for his FTM400 head unit I've got to get busy getting mine installed.

 

what ditch bracket is that ? Looks low profile

 

That looks like a great solution for mounting an antenna with a bed cover. What mount is that?
Thanks!!

 

2024 TRD Pro Ham radio install. Easy-Peazy.... Pretty straight forward install. Just one cable through the firewall (coax). Fish tape is your friend for the power and control cables.

• Antenna mount & coax: https://www.walcottradio.com/toyota-tundra-antenna-mount-cable-p-3907.html
• Larsen NMO 2/70b antenna: https://www.dxengineering.com/parts...6kUSlR6ZPbMN358HVvYcB-qAimcohEHIt0sAHHr4Jpozu
  
• Yaesu FTM500: https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/ysu-ftm-500d
• Bulletpoint mounting: https://www.bulletpointmountingsolu...-toyota-tundra-dash-mount-phone-device-holder

 

Looking to see if either of the following exist before I go the custom fab from junk route:

1) I'm wanting to do an L bracket from the side unistrut rail over the side of the bed to hold an ATAS HF antenna
2) I want to do a 3rd light mount to put a 2m/70cm whip without having to drill the roof. (Bonus points if I can get a couple lights up there.)

 

Evil Offroad has one in the works that is supposed to be near finished.

 

Here's what I used on my Unistrut rails. It requires a bit of modding, but it's also quite strong. It'll have no problems supporting an ATA-120.

https://www.tundras.com/threads/ham...ions-for-the-2022-tundra.110994/#post-2979308

 

The only problem with that is that I need it to route out from under my tonneau cover. Ideally I'd like to bolt to the rail and "L" over the top of the bed to the outside.

 

Checkout Breedlove mounts. Pretty stout stuff https://breedlovemounts.com/