ICOM 207H 2M HAM Radio Install - Help with antenna ideas please

[SilverBullet]

Well, I forgot to take pictures during the process, but I installed the Ham radio today. No holes inside, all factory look. Thank goodness for Industrial Strength Velcro!

Here is the control head


The axillary switches you see are hooked up. AUX 1 Powers the radio. This is a factory, switched, 15A circuit, perfect.


The microphone (on the bottom of the photo) comes out under the dash. The large blank are on the plastic is where the radio is. 2 strips of industrial Velcro are holding it in place. No rattles, no wiggle, and no sight of the radio itself. Speaker is plenty loud to hear through the plastic.


Antenna will be mounted through this 1" hole (below the screw hole). This is the only drilling I had to do. I realized my previous antenna was broken, so I am at a stand still until I get a new one.


There is a small tab of metal below the hole, so I figure I will drill through that also for the antenna when I get one. Any suggestion son what to get?

[SilverBullet]

Okay, check this article out for installing a CB antenna. This was my inspiration for the location, so can I do a 2M antenna the same way?

http://www.frontiernet.net/~jmray/F250cbAntenna.htm

[brussum]

That's a pretty clean install (both yours and the link's). I don't see why you couldn't mount a 2m antenna the same way. A lot will probably depend on the type of antenna mount you use. My antennas use an NMO mount, so the base tends to be wider (but fairly short). It might still work if the base of your antenna is short and can fit between the metal tab and plastic cowling. Then, the antenna will just stick up through the hole. You could even get a folding 5/8 wave so you can drop the antenna down for garages, etc. My only concern would be the counterpoise for the antenna, but that may or may not cause you to lose sleep.

[SilverBullet]

Any info on brands to look at? I don't have an antenna yet, but would prefer black over silver. I don't think that tab has enough room for an nmo mount, so I am thinking UHF.

[DaveInDenver]

Hustler makes a 2m antenna that has a 3/8" threaded base like is typical of CB antennas. Might be chrome, though. If you want the SO239 base, which I normally don't like but can understand for your installation, there are several options from the Japanese manufacturers. Comes down to what you like. Probably the Comet SBB-5 and Diamond NR770HB are fairly straightforward choices. Both are popular and generally have good reputations. They don't try to do anything super fancy, pretty much their version of the Larsen NMO2/70.