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Question about antennas for my hotspot


RMD3819

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I have a hotspot that has antenna ports for two antennas.

 

We just bought a new rig and am considering having these installed on the roof:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/371437895349?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

 

Does anyone have any experience with this type of setup? Will these work on a fiberglass roof? Concerned about the antennas not being grounded to metal.

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I'm not sure about that one, but I run two of the Wilson / WeBoost stubby antennas with the AC791L, and have been extremely happy with the performance.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003NPYON8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

This pair of adapters will convert from the antenna port to the AC791L port:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PP0MEBS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

They do need to be mounted on a metal ground plane, but it appears that the one you linked does as well.

I mounted two pieces of sheet metal to the roof with eternabond tape (no screws through the roof), and stuck the antennas to them.

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Hello,

 

I'm no expert in this by any means, but given my limited experience with similar setups, I'd be very surprised if the OP-linked antenna didn't need a metallic ground plane too. IMHO, the fact that it has a magnetic base is a dead give-away...

 

Robert, the sheet metal plus eternabond tape is a good idea (I used a stainless-steel pizza pan plus gorilla tape). You don't mention its format but I'd use something circular (after all the EM field irradiated by the antenna is supposed to be circular-like too) for each antenna separately, and with a radius at least as large as the antenna (seems intuitively right to me). But again, I'm no expert and perhaps a squarish piece of metal of whatever size you can attach would have the same effect...

 

Cheers,

--

Vall.

Getting ready to join the RV full-time lifestyle in 2017!

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Robert, the sheet metal plus eternabond tape is a good idea (I used a stainless-steel pizza pan plus gorilla tape). You don't mention its format but I'd use something circular (after all the EM field irradiated by the antenna is supposed to be circular-like too) for each antenna separately, and with a radius at least as large as the antenna (seems intuitively right to me). But again, I'm no expert and perhaps a squarish piece of metal of whatever size you can attach would have the same effect...

 

I used zinc coated steel sheet from Lowes or Home Depot. It's square but I rounded the corners a bit to keep the sharp edge from hitting the rubber roof. They are probably about 12" x 12" (I believe that 8" x 8" is the ideal minimum size for that antenna),

 

The first one I added a couple of years ago for a Wilson / WeBoost booster. When I got the AC791L I added the second plate / antenna so that I could connect them directly. The second antenna is 6 or 8 feet from the first to keep some separation between them (probably way overkill).

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