#tacoma — Public Fediverse posts

It's time to start thinking about #antennas for my #Toyota #Tacoma 3rd gen pickup. I've got a RCI Ascent roof rack on the way (couldn't be avoided having a roof rack. Yes I know about the fuel economy hit I'll take and the wind noise issues. It's this one -- https://rcimetalworks.com/brand/rci-offroad/p-rci-taco-05-roofrack-dc-ascent-roof-rack-05-23-tacoma/ and I got it for half that price shipped) and at some point I'll have a canopy/topper/camper on the bed for increased storage back there.

The roof rack is all aluminum. The side rails are powder coated or painted and the cross rails are anodized. I know this makes it less than ideal as a ground plain unless I grind through the anodization and powder coat or paint, and connect ground straps across everything plus a ground strap running down to a frame ground point on the vehicle. But the cab roof itself should be well-grounded and this is a non-sunroof truck.

In the past I've used NMO mounts and I think I'll do the same this time because I'm trying to keep things more low profile.

I will be installing a We Boost cell signal booster antenna: https://www.weboost.com/products/drive-reach-overland

I am planning to have a #GMRS radio in the cab and a 2M/70CM #amateurRadio #hamRadio in the cab as well. I would like a #CBradio as well but that's a nice to have in this day and age.

I do have a Tram 1180 Amateur Dual-Band NMO 38 Inch Antenna VHF 144-148 and UHF 430-450 MHz ( https://mtcradio.com/products/tram-1180-amateur-dual-band-nmo-38-inch-antenna-vhf-144-148-and-uhf-430-450-mhz-for-mobile-radios ) from my old truck that still should be good although I'll need to make sure it's tuned properly.

I might still have a four foot Firestik II CB radio antenna somewhere in my garage. ( https://www.firestik.com/ ) It was a well-performing antenna but it requires some significant mounting hardware that I probably don't want to do on this truck.

I do have an 8'6" clearance that I need to make to get into work every day. With my old truck, I'd scrape my antennas along it every morning which was annoying and would sometimes make the guards unhappy. And since they have guns I'd rather them not be unhappy with me.

I could move to the various "stealth" or "low profile" antennas on the market although for the WeBoost I already have the unit (bought it last year for very cheap with a bunch of stacked coupons and rebates and such) so I am a little hesitant to change it out although there are low profile antennas using NMO mounts available that would be about $65 including the antenna and the NMO mount and correct length of cabling.

I would rather have high gain antennas that will help me to punch signals out when I need to do that.

In terms of radios, the GMRS radio will probably end up being capable of between 30 and 50 watts max power but will normally be throttled to 5 watts or less. The 2M/70CM probably will be max power of 50 watts but maybe more and normally will be at 5 watts (my old 2M only radio that I still have but is too large to put into the truck can pump out at 70 watts which gives it some real reach-out-and-touch-you capabilities). The CB radio will be a normal CB radio (4 watts -- not planning on SSB).

I may also put a solar panel and/or a satellite internet dish (Starlink, Leo, etc.) at some point in the future.

And I might throw up a separate 2m antenna dedicated APRS someday although that'll probably be a small antenna.

Oh also there'll be LED lights on this roof rack. Probably a single row light bar will be forward facing although it could be 5", 7", or 9" round lights in a cluster. On the sides I'll have some low profile flush mount LED lights to illuminate sideways. A very cheap light bar that was surprisingly good that I got a decade ago was incredibly noisy on RF but the newer stuff seems better.

So I'm trying to think through what antennas I should get and how I should mount them.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

The #Tacoma Narrows Bridge is currently closed eastbound. According to the hellsite, multiple agencies are dealing with a suicidal subject.

Sending support to the negotiators and the person in crisis. 💔