For this install, I wanted some lower-profile antennas to accomodate low-clearance places like parking garages. This gives me
7-1/2' of clearance, which is sufficient for most of them. These are plain Larsen 1/4 wave whips for 2 m and 70 cm and a collinear whip for 900 MHz. They
all work great. I was surprised just how well a 6" whip can work on 70 cm.
The antennas are barely visible in this image; scroll down for a
close-up.
UPDATE 2024: These have been replaced by my Larsen 2/70. It
provides better gain on 70 cm and I'll just choose to not use parking garages :)
Nothing beats NMO-type, through-hole antenna mounts. There's a reason public safety vehicles use them and the hole will not
ruin your car. Use the right hole saw drill bit and you can't go wrong. I normally
do my own installs but this vehicle has a rather complicated headliner so for the antennas, I went to
APW Electronics when I was living in
Austin, TX. John did a terrific job, including routing the power cable from the
battery to under the driver's seat where I mounted the Kenwood.
The Kenwood TM-D710G is the best V/UHF mobile radio I've been fortunate enough to own. Features like dual-band
capability, alpha-numeric memories, and cross-band repeat are enough to make this a great radio. It really shows
its value with the built-in APRS system. It comes in handy when I'm traveling and I can see information on repeaters
in the area.
I also keep a 900 MHz Motorola Spectra in the vehicle. 900 is a great band, we
just need more people on it!