DO GLASS MOUNTED ANTENNAS ACTUALLY WORK?

[@Subgunman]

I have literally installed hundreds of these antennas in the early AMPS cellular days. They were relatively effective in providing good communication to the cell sites. There was ONE MAJOR DRAWBACK! If there was a factory tint on the glass there was a good chance it would not work. Glass manufacturers were using a metallic compound in the tint and it would interfere with the coupling between the antenna and the coupling box. There was a tool that consisted of a capacitance meter and a coupling box. If you hook the two together and set for picofarad scale and zero out the meter, you bring the coupling box up to the glass and if the capacitance went above 31 pico farads, the glass was incompatible with the antenna. The customer would have to settle for a magnetic mount antenna or a drilled in antenna on the roof (for best performance ). Trunk lids were frowned upon since the antennas became directional and there were problems with grounding the trunk lid to allow it to radiate as a ground plane. Still have my test setup from the mid eighties. Antenna Specialists ( as they were known as back in the day ) also developed UHF and VHF versions as well. The UHF worked great however the VHF version a pain since they used a self adhesive coupling tape with a short wire back to the box but you had to pull down the headliner and try and stick that tape to the metal roof. I like the counter poise whip idea.

[@kg4hlz]

I ran into that with a Volvo. They impregnate there glass with metals for UV shilding.

[@Subgunman]

@@kg4hlz yup, they were always a pain to work with, Lincoln was another brand that issues with both front and rear glass, yes I had some customers who wanted the antenna on the front windshield. Mainly contractors with pickup trucks since they hauled stuff in the back.

[@MrCCW26]

I’ve seen these glass mounted antennas and always thought they were gimmicks (90s mobile phone marketing, haha). Glad to see they actually work. Might have to put one on my big American pickup truck,haha. Ford is all aluminum. Thanks for the great videos, especially on the ID-52!!

[@SqueekyBums]

The improvement the funnel antenna's made to mobile phones using car kits was astounding. And that's when mobile phones actually had an antenna not just a coil of wire inside the handset. These are really useful for coach-built motorhomes that have nowhere to mount without drilling the body, which is often plastic anyway.

[@johnmayer158]

Hi Andy, These antennas do actually work. They not only make these types for 2m. 70cm, but also 11m here in the U.S. They use capacitive coupling through the glass. The only thing to watch, is be careful in cold, winter weather, since there could be rf warming at the connection overlay, and Crack the glass, if running too much power. Good luck, and have fun, AND 73S. John, N8SGM.

[@andykirby]

Thanks John! The 11m one sounds interesting too!

[@drahtfunker]

Good advice 💪🏻

[@electronic80s]

Alot of our under cover detective cars use by Police use a UHF glass mount antennas here in NSW, Australia which is a good way to spot one often.

[@stuartsinclair6269]

I did a cheeky test on a modulator 2 aerial in the house in the back room, I could hear more and send out more further by putting the mag mount base to a large biscuit tin👍🏻

[@electronixTech]

I have an old 2m Larsen mag mount on a steel pizza baking pan in the house and it works great.

[@blackpepperprepper2025]

I use Tram Browning glass mount antennas. They do well too. I agree with you about drilling holes. I used to but now the performance of glass mount antennas are good enough.

[@gtretroworld]

I’m genuinely surprised at how effective that antenna was…great video especially the byway drive …classic 😂

[@SIGINT007]

Larsen makes fantastic glass mount antennae. Antenna Specialists used to make great stuff too.

[@TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

I suppose it depends on how thick the glass is and now much surface area the antenna base. After all it's only forming a capacitor with the glass as the insulator. So you could calculate the a close approximation of it's value. When you think about a mag-mount on the roof of the car, the ground plane is coupled via a capacitive affect between the base and the roof. that's the problem RF does not need an electrical connection any overlapping area will do just fine, it the gap is small enough.

[@OZ6JO]

I'm retired now but used several one of these while working with leased Sprintervans for 18 years, no problems, a pleasure to drive 5 years /350.000 km and let the next owner take over a car with no holes! - then I retired and got one from my normal supplier i Germany - Wimo.. and put i on my private car - a Toyota Aygo.. and the thing blow of just like that! JUst now I got all the thigs together again, removed the sticky tape and aplied some new from China! - I'm letting the glue harden waiting for tha postoffice to call - and then I take it for a spin... but I can hear APRS signals coming in on 144.800 just fine..

[@briantheminer]

Used one very effectively about 10 years ago, but didn’t have any way of measuring output those days

[@alfa409]

I bought a “Tram” through-glass antenna and found it worked really well on 2 metre band on the road. I have one in each car now.

[@MarkyMMP]

Wicked video Andy. Great seeing a live demo of the conductive antenna. Looking forward to the off road chunky tyres exploits 😂 Best Regards M0PPK.

[@brianfields4479]

That's brilliant, and bye way, great fun. Go for it man.

[@sarkybugger5009]

Had one of these connected to a Nokia CARK-91 in car hands free kit back in the late 90s. Wonderful for us road warriors. I still have a working 6310i that fits in it, although I believe they are killing 3G next year, so that will be the end of it. Believe it or not, the original battery still holds a good charge, after over 20 years.

[@Manu-hm5rv]

on glass antennas certainly work, but they always remain compromised solutions. I personally use the Larsen dual band on glass on my 50k car, ok they are expensive but they are the best on the market. Small tip, you can perfectly place a fixed antenna on an aluminum or plastic roof. for example, the NR-770 dual band does not require a ground plane. I installed it at the time on motorcycles that provide guidance for cycling races and they work fine.

[@DarrylParkes]

I used these antennas on two of our company coaches. Never had a problem. Advantage with being on a coach windscreen was the hight. Top right on both vehicles so was out of the way for any vandals..lol

[@stuartsinclair6269]

I use to have a midland cb with highs muds and lows, then a Harvard unit which was my preferred and I actually had the euro sonic handheld, and a nice person down the road gave me a 25ft scoffing pole so I could get it above the roof lines, once I got the swivel clamps I had a cheap thunder pole, I lived on a hill at the time but I could hear everything even through the the handheld I listened to Tower Brigde announcing bridge to go up a few times, other than that I changed the thin coax aerial to the thinker one, I was hearing and speaking to Europe, loved it when at a certain time of year you could here Americans Australia and Russians with there big wattage and I was pushing nothing, funny enough I live 5miles from Harpenden 👍🏻

[@StreakyP]

simplest antenna is straight quarter wave..... if you make one that is too short you use a base loading inductor, (Thunderpole, Tornado Stinger etc etc) conversely if the antenna is slightly LONGER you need CAPACITIVE base loading.... all a capacitor is is two close plates that don't touch each other with a dielectric (like air or glass) between them. These aren't snake oil. There is sound science behind them. There is some calculation around how much longer than a quarter wave, the capacitor plate area, the glass thickness & the glass dielectric so these are not easy to "home brew" but the commercial manufacturers have done all that for you. I'd still choose a metal mount if i could, but if that isn't possible these CAN provide a very useful alternative..... There are certainly a few snake oil antennas out there but this isn't one of them.

[@andykirby]

Useful info, thanks. As you say, whoever has done the calculations has obviously done a pretty good job here. I tried searching for some homebrew designs of this type of antenna but couldn't find any more information.

[@hlarks]

I had one for a 2M ham radio. It worked well.

[@nxesr]

You could use a longer wire for the counterpoise instead and see if that drops the SWR down. Can I use a Baofeng radio with this antenna❓

[@jonjohnson2844]

I'm intrigued as to how the radio can measure the distance?

[@andykirby]

So both radios transmit and receive gps information, when one radio receives a call and GPS information from another one it compares it with its own GPS position and calculates the line of sight distance between the two radios and displays it on the screen. Clever system 😁

[@ChrisDunnG4KVI]

Used one of these for years on a company car. Not as good as a central mag mag but completely except able for everyday use.

[@dodgydd]

Hi Andy, I have often wondered about the best option for a ham radio antenna for the Twizy. I sent you a message asking about it a while back on Facebook, not sure you got it or not, though. Anyway, I've gone ahead and bought this glass mount from Moonraker, might put it on the plastic see through wind shield part instead of the windscreen. G5VHF

[@james-5560]

I really enjoy range tests

[@MarkRider]

Good video, thank you.

[@lonecrapshooter6197]

You should have used the I C 705 SWR test system

[@K24Z3CU2]

I have two magnetic TS9 connector LTE antennas that I mount to both sides of my trunk and then run the cables inside the car to the glove box where I have a 5G WiFi Hotspot - it works famously - especially in hard to receive signal areas. Plus it also makes my car look like a suspicious government or undercover cop car!!

[@SonnyPruitt-q1s]

I had a glass mount like that on my pickup truck and it hit every repeater in and around my city just fine..some out 20 miles and it held on to the glass more than 10 years until I sold the truck.

[@outdoorsman3147]

Question for you for the icom do you have any suggestions on any hotspots that you recommend for DStar?

[@delmare1]

So if you lived in a flat or apartment would this be a good thing to use on a double glased window, If you were not allowed to install a propoer antenna?

[@EnglishTurbines]

I still have my EZUHF Radio tx module Andy. That works on the 433 band too. Endless range...🤔😳😏😏😏🇬🇧

[@arthurtwoshedsjackson6266]

Used Panorama loads and Watson, would be my really last resort as a choice to mount an antenna

[@iaincartmell6074]

I have one on my aixam crossover car they work grate

[@RabbitStu-M7UTS]

Do you know of a 868 version for Meshtastic?

[@66zey]

Ground plain?

[@jaycross2449]

I've put one of these on my Freelander and I can't swr in on both frequency I have to re swr it in when I change from 2meters to 70cm

[@donne9uk]

Where did you by it from

[@drahtfunker]

I'm using it as it's the only option for a car with a carbon body and it works really fine.

[@andykirby]

Nice! What car is it? 😁

[@drahtfunker]

@@andykirby It's a BMW i3.

[@paulshirley844]

Did the windows have the typical "blue" tint films inside the glass?

[@drahtfunker]

@@paulshirley844 No. Definitely not on the tiny side window in the rear. Another advantage of this position is that it's not movable and the distance to the trunk where my radio is installed is minimal.

[@IfanJones]

A thought - would it work ok through a double-glazed window? I'm in a flat and have no way of getting an external antenna setup!

[@andykirby]

No I doubt it, the gap between the glass panels would be too much. You could use a suction mount to the outside of the window and use a TV aerial standoff pole then put any antenna you like on it, RG58 coax or smaller will shut in the window gap without a problem. I've done this before 😁 there's some big industrial style suction cup mounts available that never fall off.

[@chrislynch924]

I drove a Renault megane whichwas fibre glass as a taxi so nowhere to put a mag mount so had a glass mounted taxi antenna which worked ok

[@bondubasher]

Used these in the old cb days, worked but not that great at 27 mhz

[@Jan-OlovKarlsson-j4t]

I test a glass mounted antenna at 27Mhz in Sweden in 1986 and it was one of the best antenna I`ve got.

[@stephengunrunnerhanson3550]

It works great o 446 pmr and i do not do 2m as its boring but pmr is fantastic and i like the trizy is it battery or petrol

[@andykirby]

Yeah they cover PMR446 😁 twizy is electric yeah 👍🏼

[@fastmover45]

You say dipole and induction coil

[@hfvhf987]

They were everywhere 20odd years ago for car phones

[@captainmidnight5958]

It's amazing to see so many that think a glass mount antenna is "gimmicky" and "shouldn't work". Am I that old now? 😂

[@26TM034]

Worked with the bloke who invented it... Yup they work originally for phones..

[@andykirby]

Nice!

[@hetrodoxlysonov-wh9oo]

I've had a couple, they fall off.

[@andykirby]

Not if you clean the glass properly 😝

[@hetrodoxlysonov-wh9oo]

@@andykirby The first one was professionally fitted for a DAB radio, when i say professionally i mean Halfords, i took it back and they refitted it the guy said they're nothing but trouble, it fell off a few time more over a period of about 5 years i couldn't have got it any cleaner, to tell the truth i left the Arial off and it didn't effect the DAB radio reception that much.

[@BillyNoMates1974]

pah just fit a 11meter map loop on the roof of the car. they will work would make your twizy look like a radio controlled car. ha ha

[@andykirby]

😁👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@steveacab77]

Come on Andy m8 aluminum magnetic ;) glass antenna looks cracking tho bro

[@iaincartmell6074]

2e0liu

[@dl8cy]

tnx 4 that nice vid about that antenna - vy 73 de DL8CY Mike