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There is a little "pinhole" in the paint on the inside of the lip. The 2 set screws have a point on them to purposely make contact with the bare metal on the inner surface of the lip.
No, I'm not installing it on the Tesla. I'm giving up 2m due to lack of activity in the area. If you want to buy the setup (Kenwood TM-G707A duobander with remoteable head and Comet duoband antenna), let me know :smile:
You could always purchase a strong magnet and double-stick tape it to a location under the headliner on the roof or hatch trim where you want your mag-mount located. Fully removable, and a good ground plane.
SeminoleFSU
Voluntaryist
this. Or an EMP, solar flare, war, false flag, major earthquake, tsunami, hurricane, etc.. don't think for a minute you can rely on internet and/or cell phone in major emergency situations. Always have a backup, and a backup for your backup
KM4HOX
- - - Updated - - -
Going to a field day today in fact.. ARO's and prepping kinda goes hand in hand. And other like minded people are good to know in bad situations
Egads.
I would be worried about all that RF (at 2 meters) next to all the antennas and radios in the Tesla. I wouldn't worry about a handheld but even then you might have problems with the tinting and all.
I'm a ham..and a Tesla owner. While I hang out on HF with a KX3, I wouldn't think about doing it in a car. I've used mag mounts (Hustlers) in the past and always got scratches. Somebody did say you could use the crossbar mounts if you got a pano roof and that's the direction I would go if I had to do it. But then how do you route the coax?
So many communications in the car I'm thinking I don't really need it.
de W0QR
I would be worried about all that RF (at 2 meters) next to all the antennas and radios in the Tesla. I wouldn't worry about a handheld but even then you might have problems with the tinting and all.
I'm a ham..and a Tesla owner. While I hang out on HF with a KX3, I wouldn't think about doing it in a car. I've used mag mounts (Hustlers) in the past and always got scratches. Somebody did say you could use the crossbar mounts if you got a pano roof and that's the direction I would go if I had to do it. But then how do you route the coax?
So many communications in the car I'm thinking I don't really need it.
de W0QR
SherSlick
Member
It's been a while for me, but having a solid ground plane under the antenna helps keep all the waves going up and out instead of down and into the car.
The part about the antenna being connected to the ground plane (car body in this case) comes down to the wavelength of the antenna. To get away with a smaller antenna you leverage the ground plane as part of the "antenna system." However most magnetic mount antennas are 1/2 wavelength and thus do not require electrical conductivity with the ground plane to function properly.
Most ham VHF mobile antennas are 5/8 wavelength.
I haven't used a magnetic mount antenna in 20 years. They do scratch the paint.
I actually thought about getting a license a couple years ago. I took an online practice test and passed (just barely) without studying, just based on my college physics and stuff my dad taught me when I was a kid (he's been a licensed ham for decades).
When sh** goes down, ham radios become invaluable, and possibly the only form of communication. Not that I live in an area where we are likely to get a tsunami or something. :scared:
That said, I don't think the Model S was designed for ham radio operators in mind.
I like the trunk lip mount idea (assuming you're wanting to do VHF, not HF).I have used these in the past with good success.
On the other hand, it depends on how hard core you are. I got a Mercedes, and immediately drilled a big hole in the right rear fender to mount a big antenna base with stainless steel spring.I could put the Hustler antenna base with changeable resonators for 80 thru 10 meters. My wife said, "Oh, my god, you've ruined your car!" - Actually, I thought it was a great upgrade. Worked a lot of DX from that car, used it in field day, etc etc. I don't think I would do this with a Model S, though.
Another thing I've seen is to mount an antenna to a trailer hitch. You can get a lightweight trailer hitch for the Model S (see multiple threads on this) - it is designed to be able to carry bicycles, but could be fine for an antenna. If you do that, remember to mount a tennis ball in the right spot so that the antenna will not bang against the edge of the rear hatch.
On the other hand, it depends on how hard core you are. I got a Mercedes, and immediately drilled a big hole in the right rear fender to mount a big antenna base with stainless steel spring.I could put the Hustler antenna base with changeable resonators for 80 thru 10 meters. My wife said, "Oh, my god, you've ruined your car!" - Actually, I thought it was a great upgrade. Worked a lot of DX from that car, used it in field day, etc etc. I don't think I would do this with a Model S, though.
Another thing I've seen is to mount an antenna to a trailer hitch. You can get a lightweight trailer hitch for the Model S (see multiple threads on this) - it is designed to be able to carry bicycles, but could be fine for an antenna. If you do that, remember to mount a tennis ball in the right spot so that the antenna will not bang against the edge of the rear hatch.
wcalvin
Member
The windshield is conductive enough to cage MHz from the car interior (but not GHz). Anyone tried it as the ground plane? de WB7RAY
William, could you explain this? Glass is an insulator, and normally transparent to RF. Is the Tesla windshield doped with something that makes it conductive? And even if so, I would expect the effect to be even more pronounced in the GHz than in the MHz. I would like to understand...
SeminoleFSU
Voluntaryist
K5ING
MegaMiler
Sometimes glass treated to block solar radiation will block RF too. Remember those big GM cars whose windshields had a purplish tint to them? That was to block solar rays but it also blocked people's GPSs and radar detectors (and RFID tags I suspect, hence the problems with tolltags on Teslas). I used a "thru the glass" inductive 2m antenna on my Golf that sort-of worked, but not as good as a regular antenna, but I know it wouldn't have worked at all on glass that was treated for blocking solar rays. He may have meant that the stuff that blocks the sun and RF may spread the RF throughout the glass instead of letting it through and make it into a ground plane. But I don't think it would make a very good one personally.
beeeerock
Active Member
Wow... I haven't been on the air in more than a decade now... so long ago, I rarely even think about it anymore. I passed my exams in the summer of 1978, a few months short of my 13th birthday. Good to know there are so many of us on this forum, even if not active!
I've still got a couple of old HF radios - an old Kenwood TS 520 and a much more modern 830 (it even has a digital display!!!). :biggrin: I keep that stuff because I have no reason to get rid of it... and whether I pull it out and string up an antenna after the apocalypse, will depend on whether I feel like talking to anyone... if it's really gone pear-shaped, I might be in a foul mood and not feel like shooting the breeze... LOL I gave up 2m in the late 90's when my mobile gave up the ghost. Not much activity, so no reason to justify replacing it. If/when I get back to the hobby, it will likely be exclusively CW on HF.
With all the web connections possible to remotely control your own home radio - whatever band - I almost wonder if you need to petition Tesla to build an app for that... rather than mount an antenna...
However, if I was to do it today, I think I'd probably look at how I could adapt the roof rack mounting points to take a typical 5/8th whip. Even if you were to mount the antennas to a single whispbar, that would probably give you enough electrical connection to the body to serve as a ground plane. That's probably the cleanest install possible without doing permanent damage to the car itself.
de VA7AV
I've still got a couple of old HF radios - an old Kenwood TS 520 and a much more modern 830 (it even has a digital display!!!). :biggrin: I keep that stuff because I have no reason to get rid of it... and whether I pull it out and string up an antenna after the apocalypse, will depend on whether I feel like talking to anyone... if it's really gone pear-shaped, I might be in a foul mood and not feel like shooting the breeze... LOL I gave up 2m in the late 90's when my mobile gave up the ghost. Not much activity, so no reason to justify replacing it. If/when I get back to the hobby, it will likely be exclusively CW on HF.
With all the web connections possible to remotely control your own home radio - whatever band - I almost wonder if you need to petition Tesla to build an app for that... rather than mount an antenna...
However, if I was to do it today, I think I'd probably look at how I could adapt the roof rack mounting points to take a typical 5/8th whip. Even if you were to mount the antennas to a single whispbar, that would probably give you enough electrical connection to the body to serve as a ground plane. That's probably the cleanest install possible without doing permanent damage to the car itself.
de VA7AV
I have an Elecraft K3. It and the Tesla are very similar (though it does weigh a lot less). I've owned the radio 5 years and it has improved dramatically over time with new firmware downloads.
K5ING
MegaMiler
............With all the web connections possible to remotely control your own home radio - whatever band - I almost wonder if you need to petition Tesla to build an app for that... rather than mount an antenna...
de VA7AV
I don't even remember the last time I was on. Probably doing some storm watching for Skywarn, but it's been at least a decade, probably longer.
One could always try Echolink. It uses streaming 2-way audio and the internet to talk over the whole amateur radio spectrum. I played with it once many years ago just for grins and logged into a 2m repeater in southern Illinois and actually managed to hook up with a couple of hams up there who knew a friend of mine from that neck of the woods.
Would the Tesla browser even do 2-way audio?
beeeerock
Active Member
As the hardware is configured today, I don't see why not. It can stream music from the Internet (Slacker) and the voice recognition ("Play Rolling Stones") appears to do the processing remotely. I say *appears*, because that is my impression and I have no hard facts to back that up. But both being true, it would presumably be possible for two way audio.
Of course, the reality is that the API to develop apps would need to be released, with adequate access to the features necessary. I personally don't expect that will happen anytime soon, so it's probably more reasonable to simply say "no, it won't do 2-way audio"!! :wink:
VerityZooms
Member
Necro'ing and cross-posting this from another thread, just so I can send notifications to all the old HAMs in this thread:
ThisIsTrue
Re-member
Except there are more licensed hams in the U.S. today than at any other point in history. "Dying" in your house doesn't mean dying everywhere else!
I was referred to this thread from the one I started last night (sorry -- I'm new around here!):
Have Any of You Put a 2M Ham Radio in Your Car?
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