Re: where to install an HF antenna?
Reply #4 –
Here's Bob's response:
Hi Michelle,
Well I imagine the Foretravel is not unlike our Newmar in that the sidewall and cross memebers for the roof are metal studs or metal tubing. When I installed mine on the roof I used a stud detector that senses metal as well as wood and made sure I drilled holes for the mounting bolts that passed through the metal infrastructure. The center of the roof is the best ground plane for an HF antenna but not always easy to access. With the massive amount of metal presented by the coach it usually is not an issue though. My only caution would be not to mount one of the larger HF antennas on the sidewalls because of the weight. My mount is motorized and retracts down to the horizontal position when traveling. I then just raise it when we are stopped and I want to use it..
On that same topic, the 5 watt CB type transceivers usually do not bother the electronics of a coach but when you raise that to 100 watts from a typical HF transceiver, strange things can happen. In mine it would cause the slide to retract and sometimes start the generator (we have auto start for the gen). The RF can get into the wiring easily because of the proximity of the antenna so if higher power is used (100 watts and up) be prepared to start installing clamp on ferrites around the 12v and 115v wiring to suppress the EMI caused by the RF.
Also, if the question is truly oriented to an HF antenna, the best is one of the screwdriver types that will provide use on many HF bands. Scorpion, Hi Q and Tarheel are some of the better ones and allow remote tuning. Be sure to use a choke balun like the ones from Balun Designs <grin> at the feedpoint of the antenna and also at the end of the feedline before any transceiver.
Hope that helps Michelle and just let me know if you or the forum have additional questions.
Bob, KZ5R Balun Designs
Topic: where to install an HF antenna?