Quick On/Off Suction Cup Antenna Mount

I've been looking for a way to mount a quarter-wave 2 meter ham antenna on my truck that I could take on and off quickly and easily. I saw this idea on a ham radio website and thought I'd give it a try. It holds tight and is as easy to put together as it looks.



Pick up a suction cup at Harbor Freight for 8 bucks, get a fiberglass whip and a mirror mount, replace the nuts on the mirror mount with wingnuts for quick on/off and you're in business. Attaches to passenger window or any smooth metal surface. I noticed that HF also carries a dual suction-cup model that would probably work for larger antennas.

Suction cup: http://www.harborfreight.com/aluminum-suction-cup-lifter-92825.html

 

No, it's a basic truck stop Firestik whip on a mirror mount. It's just a different way to attach it if you don't have a tubular mirror bracket or if you slipseat.

 

Having been a licensed ham since 1971 I completely understand the basics of dipole antenna design. Again, the attempt here was not to design an antenna, but to offer an inexpensive, convenient way to mount an existing design on a truck that doesn't offer the traditional tubular mirror mount.

The same principles apply to this mount that apply to any other ungrounded mount. Someone who wants to design a dipole can fab a bracket like this. http://www.wolfington.net/articles/dipole/ (Scroll down to "Antenna Assembly") but I have doubts about it's practicality as a mobile on the 27 mHz band.

And after driving with it mounted for a week I can report that it held tightly to the side of the truck--which was the whole point of the OP to begin with.

 

That's the next step. I also attached a metal plate to one of the suction cup handles yesterday and this week I'm going to see how it holds a 5/8 wave magnetic mount antenna. That will put a lot more pressure on the suction cup.