My WB4SON-mobile is a Chevrolet Avalanche. Despite the fact that I’ve owned that truck for over a decade, I’ve never had a permanently mounted rig or antenna, relying instead on my handheld with a mag-mount antenna. After about the sixth time of forgetting to take the antenna off the roof before entering the garage, I decided it was time for a permanently mounted antenna, but one that could be raised or lowered remotely. Adding to the challenge is the fact that the Avalanche is quite tall, clearing the garage door by only a few inches.
I finally decided on a Diamond Antenna K9000 LRMO Motorized Antenna Mount. (Note I said LRMO, the “O” means “Oversized” — my dealer insisted the standard LRM would work — it is simply too small). This was mounted to the luggage rack, with the control cable and coax passing into an existing gasket between the passenger front and rear doors (sealed with a bit of RTV to prevent water incursion). The two cables conveniently fit underneath the gasket, which allows them to be directed around to the front of the vehicle where they exit at the end of the gasket between the front door and quarter-panel.
Diamond K9000 LRMO Motorized Mount.
The only only trick I used was getting the coax and cable into the passenger compartment. To do this, I pinched the gasket along the front edge of the door, and cut a small slit about 3/8″ long close to the base of the gasket. This allowed me to pass the control cable and coax through the slit, putting the cables on the inside of the door frame. At this point they were simply routed into the fuse box area of the dash as shown in the photo below. Note that the gasket was also sealed with a bit of RTV to keep it from leaking and to avoid the slit growing longer over time.
Cables entering passenger compartment via slit in door gasket
Finally, the radio was mounted to the center console. Here are two photographs of the antenna (a Diamond SG7500A) raised and lowered.
Antenna lowered prior to entering garage
Now all I have to do is to remember to put the darned antenna DOWN when I pull into the garage! The rule is: If the rig is OFF the antenna is DOWN. Heaven help me when I forget (actually the mount allows that to happen).
Antenna in operating position (tip is ~10 feet tall)
