102" mobile mount not working. Advice please

[222DBFL]

Fourstringburn is 110% correct on that ground plane for a mobile antenna. I don't care who it's made by. They simply don't work. Wilson makes them too. Snake Oil!! Spend the money on other things, good coax and connectors like Jazzsinger said. Amphenol connectors are great, the 83-1SP-15RFX, are the ones with the reducer. Nickel plated brass body and silver tipped. Coax wise, Beldin, times microwave, Davisrf, and a few others make good rg8x and lmr240uf. Worth the investment IMO. Spend what you can on the antenna system as a whole. Some mounts are better than others. Everything these guys are telling you is right. Good luck and hope you get it sorted.

 

[222DBFL]

Sorry for the bold text, not sure what happened there???

 

[Beetle]

Amphenol connectors are great, the 83-1SP-15RFX, are the ones with the reducer. Nickel plated brass body and silver tipped.

The "SP" used to stand for "Silver Plated", but Amphenol seems to have forgotten this, producing the nickel-plated crap that has to be wire brushed down to the brass so it can be soldered. Now and then some real silver plated 83-1SP connectors show up (dull finish; the nickel plating gives a bright, shiny appearance that won't take solder for beans).

 

[M0GVZ]

The "SP" used to stand for "Silver Plated", but Amphenol seems to have forgotten this, producing the nickel-plated crap that has to be wire brushed down to the brass so it can be soldered. Now and then some real silver plated 83-1SP connectors show up (dull finish; the nickel plating gives a bright, shiny appearance that won't take solder for beans).

The Amphenol 83-1SP I bought from Mouser.com at the back end of last year were silver plated and soldered like a dream.

Are you sure you're getting the genuine thing?

 

[jazzsinger]

The 83-1sp-15rfx is the budget version.

The 83-1sp is still silver plated

 

[M0GVZ]

Coax wise, Beldin, times microwave, Davisrf, and a few others make good rg8x and lmr240uf.

Ultraflex made by Messi & Paolini is another good make of coax although I don't know if its made it to the USA yet. Ultraflex 7 has losses lower than RG213 at 0.91dB/100ft but is slightly smaller in diameter than RG8 Mini and also has a minimum bend radius of 1.5" so very usable for mobile installations. For base installs, Ultraflex 10 is the same size as RG213 but only has losses of 0.65dB/100ft on 28MHz.

Unlike a lot of coax with foil coating on the insulator it is glued on with the ultraflex so it doesn't creep when you bend the coax.

 

[Dan Kinsman]

It hard to tell in your pic but it looks like you have the white nylon insulator bushing on the wrong end.

The base of the antenna should sit on top of this insulator and the insulator should sit on top of the mounting bracket. See pic below for an example.

The antenna isn't grounded as people may think, the antenna bracket is grounded from the shield of the coax then grounded and bonded with the vehicle with a solid mounting scheme.