SxS Mobile

I recently purchased a new Kawasaki KRX 1000 Side-by-Side and added a mobile 2m/70cm radio to it. I had  ideas of placing an antenna on the rear roll cage, and the following is what I came up with.

I used a whip light mount on the roll bar, ordered it thinking I could drill out the hole for the whip light and use an NMO mount. I found an NMO to SO connector on Amazon, along with a new TRAM 150Mhz/440Mhz/800Mhz tri band NMO antenna, and the mount.

I drilled the mount out to match the 5/8″ of the NMO connector. Went together rather easily.

I was able to use my nanoVNA and get less than a 2.0VSWR on 146.52 and less than a 1.5 on 442.55. Better antennas may do a better job on getting the VSWR down, but this is for off-roading, so I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on an antenna that’s likely to get destroyed.

Here’s some pics.

The radio is a cheap Baofeng mobile I found at a yard sale – if it gets water damaged, I am out $20. I added the radio bracket to a custom cut piece of kydex, matched up the 6 mounting holes in the roof, and bob’s your uncle.

I added the kydex as reinforcement for the bracket. The bracket is bolted to the kydex and through the front of the kydex to the mounting holes toward the rear of the roof (2 holes) and the kydex is mounted to the front of the roof with 4 holes.

All in cost: $84 +/-

Parts:

Baofeng Radio (yard sale), $20

Antenna, $28 –  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBT62GYG?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

NMO Mount Connector, $17 – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2MDMHGP?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Pair of Whip Light Mounts, $19 – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DNHBPQYP?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title