New UHF antenna, but which one (AE4018 K3 or AE4702)?

Mine didn't last long once I hit corrugations, it snapped off halfway along the Oodnadatta Track!

I have had mine mounted on the front guard using a "Z" mount. Up until I sold my 100 series, the antenna had been on 3 different cars over 20 years. I would like to have kept it, but couldn't get the blasted thing off...

They don't like the vibrations from a bullbar mount.

I have to agree that of all the places you could mount a uhf aerial on a 4wd ...... for a variety of reasons the bullbar is the worst possible.

Ive been running a knock down bracket on the side of my roof rack for arround 5 years now.
It puts my aerial high and clear,
In the middle of the wheelbase where vibration is less
It lies flat when not in use, and knocks down if struck.

Gets better results from a cheaper aerial


Cheers

LOL last year I was crossing the Simpson with 3 other vehicles, all of which had bull bar mounted antennas including one that had a massive broomstick, must have cost him $250.

On one occasion there were some vehicles coming the other way, but about 10 - 15 km away. I was having a discussion with the oncoming group for several minutes, chatting about traffic, track conditions, chit chat etc. They came in loud and clear. After the conversation I asked our group if they got all that, and all said they could really only hear my transmissions. The guy with the huge broomstick said he could occasionally make out something, but could not understand anything of what they said.

My lil ol AE409 for $100 on the roof left em for dead. Also it has a PL259 connector and I replace it with a 6" rubber ducky antenna when there is a lot of overhead trees and we are in a tight group. Another story is prior to moving the antenna from the bull bar I could never trigger a repeater on Mt Dandenong from my house with a 6.5db antenna. After moving it to the roof, even my little rubber dick antenna could contact the repeater reliably.

The down side is that I always end up leading or tail end charlie on dusty dirt roads so we can spread out more. Not enough range for 3 - 4 vehicles with a bull bar mounted antenna to allow the tail end to talk to the front.

I recon bull bar mounted antennas were started by ARB putting a mount there and people sheepishly followed. It make no sense and ARB is a steel company, not a radio company.

yeh people simply don't grasp that UHF is pretty much line of sight ....... high and clear is what gets the job done.

gain and radiation pattern are pretty much irrelivent if you are not close to line of sight and unobstructed.

going from the bullbar to the roof rack can gain 2 to 3 feet in extra height ...... that can gain a hell of a lot of range in certain terian.

OH and at the risk of harping ........ plenty of the expensive big white sticks either have less gain than the common elivated feed antenna or only so little more it makes no difference.

the 6.5 db elivated feed whip remains the best bang for bucks uhf aerial available ...... this is why just about everbody makes one.

cheers