Taxi Driver Online

i have one of these atm from the office, can anyone enlighten me as to what the owner is saying please ? i keep dropping out in certain areas & he insists its my mag mount, he said i need a body mount , i honestly cant see how , i don't want to drill my car , any truth in this ? ant experts on here ? just so i can tell him from a pro

t could well be a faulty magmount.


but they can be just as reliable as a fixed arial if used corredctly. I thinkg a lot of bases and installers look for any excuse to cover for poor equipment and shortcoings in systems.


PMR can be patchy regardless of what arial is used

the lads at digitax reckon hes talking a load of crap they aint radio engineers though , just thought i would ask

The cable can get pinched between doors/tailgate and that can cause it to be damaged inside the insulation, leading to poor reception. The plug connecting to the back of the device can also be loose. If the equipment is all supplied by the owner, it could be that it has been used many times before and is therefore damaged.

The only main difference between using a mag mount and body mount is that the body mount cabling can be hidden behind the trim panels so is less likely to be repeatedly banged up.

Personally, I would just get a new mag mount where the whip is trimmed to the correct frequency length and the connector plug will also be new.

cheers

Zia's comments are spot on. The only real benefit from a body mount is that the cable is less visible and protected from the wear and tear that can happen when constantly removing a mag mount. The most important thing to remember is that new mag mounts are supplied extra long and need to be cut down to the correct length for your frequency. Fail to do this and the performance will be awful.

Bill

We have had this off and on for years. The lads at digitax told us:
1. No difference between mag and body mount
2. Length of aerial doesn't matter
Both statements are wrong.
No offence to digitax -on meter fitting they are excellent.

Radio engineers have consistently told us a body mount, correctly installed, will out perform a mag mount. I don't understand the technicalities of it - something to do with ground planes and bonding.

Most lads don't want to drill bodywork. Having said that, it should be perfectly possible to get a mag mount to work reasonably well. The above comments are spot on - whip length is crucial. Most operators don't know how long their antennas should be.
After that, keep a regular check on the exposed coax - they often get nipped in boot lids and / or doors. Be prepared to replace it every 12-18 months; it will be in freezing weather most of the winter and direct sun all summer; it will crack and let moisture in.

cns