10M mobile antenna that is garage friendly?

[kd0fx]

As the title says, I'm looking for a 10M mobile antenna that is garage friendly. With a full size pickup and a 7' tall garage door, I have to rule out anything roof mounted. So I can either put something at fender/rail height (like a Larsen nmo27B) and hope it can take some door/roof scraping, or a fender mount 108" ss whip. I'm thinking anything rigid is automatically out.
Anyone got some experience on which is more likely to survive? Or point me in another direction if I'm missing something.

 

[kd0fx]

Or do I just need to suck it up and unscrew the antenna before I go in teh garage?

 

[The DB]

They make quick release adapters that plug inline with antennas that work for longer whips and anything that can screw into the same mounts.

One works similar to a BNC, push it in and twist it.

The other is screw on, providing a stronger hold if that is what your worried about.

Either allow you to put an antenna on or take it off in two minutes or less, and either can be had for under $20 on ebay. I own the bottom one, and tightening it hand tight holds the 102" whip attached to it well.


The DB

 

[Beetle]

Back in the days when cars were made of metal, including actual bumpers, I used a Hustler on my rear bumper. The bumper was well-bonded to the rest of the car ('67 Impala), and I had the resonators for all of the bands. 40 and 80 were just too long to be able to squeeze into a regular garage, but 20 and higher frequencies were fine. Using a Kenwood TS-520 (when it was NEW!) I was able to work all continents during one trip from Bremerton to Crater Lake OR. This was mostly on 15.

Today, less metal in the car, and not much bonding between metallic pieces means a less efficient ground plane. The antenna length is determined by physics. You can shorten a ten meter antenna, but you have to add that amount back in the form of a matching network.

My Hustler had a fold-over base that would allow the resonator to be manually lowered to horizontal when needed. I don't know if they still offer this, but it came in handy in my brief, long-ago venture on HF mobile.

 

[mr_fx]

just run a 102 whip and tie is down... I did that on my old Jeep

 

[North Texas Mudduck]

if you had a tool box
you could mount a Predator 10k with a 21 inch shaft then put the flatside kit on
now its not a true flatside
it is vertically polarized so its still a vertical

or you can just get the coil and top section and flatside kit and then measue from the top of garage to top of coil give your self a few inches and then you might call kale and have him just Kale and have him make you a shaft

 

[kd0fx]

Seems like I just need to man up then. Good enough; thanks for the advice.

 

[Lil'Yeshua]

A Sirio Performer PL5000 has that L-shaped threaded shaft between the coil and the base. You can loosen it and lay it down. You still have six feet of antenna and mounted on a roof it performs similar to a 102" whip. That is if you think about how much of a 102" whip is beside the vehicle if mounted low.