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My pic is from an ‘18 Dodge (3/4). Bed is bolted to welded on mounts. For companies doing otherwise...I wonder if it’s different from class to class.

Good point, beds aren’t cabs. Fortunately we don’t have to crawl under our pickups and replace “bed mounts” like we do cab mounts. Though, the latter problem seems to be mostly a FORD thing. Lol.

My NanoVNA came with calibration plugs...an open, a short, and a 50ohm. Calibrate AFTER setting the range you plan to use it...and not across DC to daylight. There is a finite number of test points on the sweep, you don’t want them spread across 800Mhz.

I’ve never done any bonding on any vehicle other than two straps on the hood of my pickups. Have a roll of braid sitting here...but every time I get the ambition to do something there’s some propagation that gets in the way. I wish I had the experience on the topic to quantify the value in...

I would really encourage you to stick with the whip. Not everyone can run one on their vehicle due to size, but as that’s not an issue for you, it’s the best antenna you can run. While shorter antennas can perform acceptably, I have zero doubt a whip will beat any loaded 1/4 wave antenna ever...

Yep - agree 100%.

Sporadic E contacts are a terrible way to test an antenna. Don’t let that get to your head. The change in antennas is tricking your meter. No one would know the difference in 60 and 80 watts. It would be totally undetectable. I played around the other day, with some F Layer...

Take a look at this post by Marconi, where he was modeling 1/4 wave antennas on different vehicle types. https://www.worldwidedx.com/threads/which-mobile-vehicle-model-here-performs-the-best.247381/page-2 Note how different the lengths are to come up with a low SWR on Ch 20. The results are...

Yes, I tried to clarify after seeing the photos. The mount is adding substantial length to your antenna....length that it appears you may not need in this application (at least if tuning by SWR is your goal).

Makes perfect sense....your antenna is too long if you’re wanting lowest SWR on the regular 40. Are you using any sort or longer than usual stud, riser, or spring? If so, can you take it out and check like that? EDIT, Sorry. I did not see the photos included. That mount is very long. I...

I don’t typically rely on the radio’s meter, but just took this photo for illustrative purposes. This is with a roof mounted 102” whip. No spring, riser, no nothing added on channel 20. You can see what the radio detects for SWR...flat.

Have you checked the SWR on more than one frequency? I don’t want to reread everything, but it seems you noted the SWR on ch 20. Maybe post what it reads on 1 and 40 (or beyond that if you can). I know the conventional wisdom is that a 102” antenna is too short without additional length, that...

And will only work on TX, which would have pretty much no use.

More or less. LOL. Paddlefish...known for caviar that rivals the best sturgeon stuff from mother Russia. :confused::eek:o_O

I don’t run anything hard enough for 1.7, or even 2.0 to be an issue. I did not always believe it to be the case, but I now think a setup, well bonded to a vehicles body, with good coax, and with a properly functioning amplifier and transceiver, can have common mode issues. That said, my end...

I just put some ferrite on and stopped thinking about it.

I tend to think an antenna mount could be well-connected to the body, and still have CMC issues which might cause the SWR to change with coax length. But, I was just jesting anyway. Lol.

Well don’t leave us hanging, lol.

Any chance we can address the feeding arrangement of the HF antenna in another thread? Some folks (referring especially to myself) have little to no familiarity with anything other than a basic 3/8 x 24 mounted 1/4 wave antenna. But...I don’t want to hijack the OPs thread with my questions ;)

Nah, I’m a total greenhorn. For real. I just try to share what I learn and am happy to see/hear some WWDX friends on the band and cluster. It’s fun working the international stuff, and I won’t lie that I’m lucky to be in a location where propagation is good most every day. I see your account...