Cooltech cowl antenna mount

[Bobba]

I was wondering if anyone has tried the Cooltech ham/GRMS antenna mount for the cowl? Rugged Ridge has a similar one that gets bad reviews. Complaints of bending probably due to its thin aluminum construction. The Cooltech version is stainless steel so should be a little tougher. Would be using a NGP ( no ground plane)

















































































































I was wondering if anyone has tried the Cooltech antenna mount that gets bolted to the cowl? Should be a little tougher than the similar Rugged Ridge mount (ss vs aluminum) Would be used for both ham and GRMS NGP (no ground plane) antennas.

Sponsored

 

[Bobba]

Sorry, not sure what happened there while posting. I know most would probably recommend a mount that places the antenna further forward but I have no desire to stare at an antenna "jiggling" around while driving. It seems like a cowl mounted antenna would be mostly hidden from view behind the A pilIar. I had a Diamond NGP antenna on my JK and it worked great.

 

[BearFootSam]

I used a Compactenna dual band with a hood mount on my Subaru that worked quite well. I know that it didn't have great gain but would still reliably reach out 50mi with my Kenwood TM-D7100.

 

[Teqsand]

EAG mounts from ebay, $22 for the pair... drilled a hole for the GMRS antenna, cb will go on the other side

 

[exfil offroad]

I have one from rugged radios for my midland gmrs, have had zero issues with it. Not sure what people are doing to bend it.. has not been a worry for me at all.

 

[Zero_Accel]

3 dollar tie down bracket from Lowes

+ Step Drill bit + Spray on bedliner with a stealth 3db antenna is what I'm using, never notice it, wiper blade still clears for windshield cleaning.

 

[beathan]

I've been using the Cooltech mount with a Comet CA-2X4SR for ~2 years and have zero complaints, it's worked well and has been through a few car washes when I forget it was there. I do a couple of nets each week from the Jeep and get out really well in the Atlanta metro area.

 

[FRAWLZLINE]

3 dollar tie down bracket from Lowes

+ Step Drill bit + Spray on bedliner with a stealth 3db antenna is what I'm using, never notice it, wiper blade still clears for windshield cleaning.

That's clean!

 

[beathan]

I'm also using their JL Mic Mount and like it pretty well. It's holding up the mic for a Yaesu FTM-400xdr.

 

[Zero_Accel]

That's clean!

Thanks, can't take credit for it though as I copied someone else on the forum, same bracket and everything.

One thing I would recommend is to just put it on the drivers side, while the wiper clears on mine, you have to bend the wiper out of the way, or you need to remove the antenna (which is easy to do, it's just hand threaded on).

I have it on the passenger just in case I want to run my whip style 6db antenna for more remote trips, keeps all my antennae on one side for a more organized look.

 

[hjdca]

Sorry, not sure what happened there while posting. I know most would probably recommend a mount that places the antenna further forward but I have no desire to stare at an antenna "jiggling" around while driving. It seems like a cowl mounted antenna would be mostly hidden from view behind the A pilIar. I had a Diamond NGP antenna on my JK and it worked great.

Yes, I am using 2 CoolTech Cowl mounts for my GMRS and CB antenna. They work great. Here is a pic:

 

[Bobba]

Appreciate all the input so far especially beathan and hjdca. So far, the Cooltech mount is looking like my best option. My goal was to find a mount that :



1. Positions the antenna out of my line of sight when driving as much as possible.



2. Securely mounts a 31-33" no ground plane antenna without bending.



3. No or minimal impact to any painted surfaces.



So it sounds like I would have to make the hole larger for a quality NMO mount such as Laird or Larsen. Any experience with that? I see on the Cooltech site you can buy these with a Midland mount/cable but it doesn't even say what size coax. Not exactly confidence inspiring. Last question, why has no one painted theirs LOL?

 

[b-roc]

I have this for a gmrs setup ... the mount is good ... the midland cable/mount failed during install despite backing it up ... I ended up getting an all metal nmo right angle adapter from ebay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2752961812...ldIntuQShW&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

And then bought the coax separately... so far so good

 

[Bobba]

b-roc-Could you provide a little more detail as to what broke on the Midland cable/nmo mount? After a pretty extensive search I believe the Midland coax provided with their nmo mount is RG58u. Cooltech also offers a kit that includes the bracket and a 10' shortened coax/nmo assy for front mounted installs. Of course they charge extra for the shortened setup. Since someone asked about the Rugged Ridge bracket, check out the Amazon reviews. Lot of bending complaints.

 

[b-roc]

The break was at the 90 degree adapter ... I have thrown the broken one away but did go ahead and get a (unused because the ebay purchase was of significantly higher quality) replacement midland that I am including pictures of below and will point at where the break occurred at the plastic weld on the original... the solder underneath also broke ... let me know what else

I suggest using the cooltech mount ... get a better 90 degree adapter that is suitable for being outside of a jeep ... pick your favorite coax

Sponsored