Radio Antenna, recovery points etc

[aaron.miller]

Hi guys,
Firstly a little about me and my car, my name is Aaron and I have just bought a 2000 td5 Series 2 Auto. At the present it is stock std, apart from the cloth seats being reupholstered in leather, and federal h/t tyres. My father owned a series of range rovers in the early 90's, in them we went to cape york and the simpson desert plus lots of trips around nsw.
That was 15 years ago and I was a sprightly 15 year old. I helped out heaps with getting the rangies prepped for the trips but am a little hazy on some of the finer details.

My partner and I would love to retrace some of the trips I did as a kid plus fraser island south east queensland and tasmania.
So i am starting down the road of customising the disco.
Being a diesel my first priority will be a safari snorkel, then a arb winch bar, recovery points front and rear and fitting a uhf radio. Later as funds allow cargo barrier, shelves/fridge slide, cdl etc.

I have spent many hours over the last few weeks trawling the forums for tidbits of info about the d2 and am starting to get an understanding of whats involved thanks to the info all you guys have provided.

Okay questions,
I have seen several disco's with the uhf antenna mounted on a vertical bar which appears to be mounted to the rear wheel carrier.  On some which I think is a great idea there is also a light mounted on the top of the bar. The aerial I am looking at will be something like the gme AE4012/7K2 which is ground plane independant with a sprung base. How does the height of the top of the solid metal part of the aerial which I assume allows the ground independance relative to the roof line affect performance? I want it as low as possible so it doesn't get caught in trees.

Recovery points, as the car has airbags I will not be relying on the recovery points fitted to the bullbar but will attach them directly to the chassis. There seems to be two options, a hook or a solid plate such as from 4x4 discovery. Are there any advantages of either type??

What about at the back, i have seen either hooks again attached to the chassis or one big chunk of metal which goes in to the tow hitch. I am thinking i would be better with the seperate hooks than the big block of metal??

Thanks guys your a fountain of information

Aaron

[Sniegy]

Hi Aaron & welcome to the site.
I am one of the people who have both items you are questioning.
I have my UHF aerial mounted on an aluminium bracket that is attached to the bolt holes that hold the spare wheel carrier, some say to much of a problem to remove rear door trim, but its not if u take your time.
I have the end of the aerial mounted at just above the roof line, so u then attach the whip, it stands roughly 500mm above that.
The roof then acts as a ground plane. You get better Tx & Rx (transmission/reception) by having it this way.
The imprtant things are that the aerial is installed properly, good supply & good earths. The aerial also needs to be terminated properly & not ran next to main wire harness...
I have been on many trips including the Simpson with this setup & have had no problems. I am not sure of the aerial & whip u are looking but i thing there shouldnt be a problem.
I also have the 4x4Discovery brackets, that bolt to the chassis, the best option in my opinion. Its a neat fit & works very well.
I also have a removable tow hitch that has a hole in the end so as to attach a "D" shackle & then a snatch strap or whatever is required.
There are others that just have a hook welded/bolted into the end.
The tow bar is pretty strong & takes the pulling very well.

If u have any other questions dont hesitate to ask, the group is a wealth of knowledge.
I also have a pic in my folder under "Sniegy"

[aaron.miller]

Thanks Sneigy,
I had a look at the rear wheel carrier yesterday and your way seems better than my idea. I was going to bolt the metal tubing to the side of the carrier, but why not use the existing bolts. So did you also put another piece of metal of the same thickness on the other side of the carrier, ie the carrier protudes further out than before?? I assume so.

With the recovery brackets did you install them yourself? Do they make use of existing holes or do i need to drill new ones? What about bracing/sleeving the chassis??

Thanks again

Aaron

[discovery_xas165]

[Winaje]

With the recovery brackets did you install them yourself? Do they make use of existing holes or do i need to drill new ones? What about bracing/sleeving the chassis??

Thanks again

Aaron

Aaron, the recovery points are quick and easy to fit.  You can probably fit them both within 30 minutes, using existing holes.  They do come with different bolts, and AFAIK there is no need to make any changes to the chassis.

[Sniegy]

Hi Aaron, I bolted a piece of 25mm tubed aluminium to where the existing bolt holes are, i basically put the tubing against the wheel carrier & then bolted through, so there is no need to space on the opposite side.
Wheel carrier against door & the bolt the tubing to the carrier.
The recovery plates are just a bolt on using new bolts which are longer & marinally thicker, but did not have to drill holes. There is also no need to strengthen the chassis.

Pete, i used to use this method for recovery, but found that trying to stuff the end of a snatch strap into the receiver was a pain when full of mud or whatever you were bogged in, so i purchased a tow tongue rear recovery point, i think its easier & i like it.
Thank you for correcting me wrt the aerial, i am no radio expert & dont pretend to be, i also use a GI aerial at the rear & kind of remember that the roof top did act as a plane but only when in a certain direction, but i could be wrong.

I have noticed though that the reception on the rear of the vehicle is far superior to when i had it on my bullbar.

[discovery_xas165]

[bobbyh]

I have just purchased a set of front recovery points from 4x4 design engineering which bolt to the chassis rail where the bull bar is also attached. Easy to do, use existing holes. If you don't have a bull bar you may have to cut out part of the bumber bar for access. They seem to me to be the way to go along with the single removeable tow hitch with hook.

[Bytemrk]

I have a set of the 4x4 design recovery points... REALLY good product.

Even if you don't have a bull bar - you can still get access to the left one through the access hatch for the factory tow hitch... it's a little fiddly.. but worked for me before I put the bullbar on. Now I can easily access both.

I would highly reccomend them... work well, really tough, easy to fit...

Mark

[aaron.miller]

Peter D,
what do you mean by unity gain antennae??

With the ground independant antennas, am i right in that it is the metal tube that makes it ground independant. If the length of that tube is varied does is make any difference?? If the top of that tube is below roof level will it make any difference??

Regarding the recovery points thanks guys thats really great info. Most of the mobs in sydney want to charge $300 plus to fit recovery points to the front of the car.

A friend gave me his uhf radio last night with a ground independant anntenna rated at 6.5 db. This is mounted with a bonnet mount. It has just a metal wire antennae with a spiral in the middle. How do they compare to a wound wire around fiberglass jobbie??

Thanks

Aaron

[discovery_xas165]

[discovery_xas165]

[aaron.miller]

Thanks PeterD,
that had to be the most thorough explanation I have read in a long time.
I think the guts of it is the bottom of the ground plane tube should be higher than the roof of the car.

Secondly what about this thick fencing wire like antenna with a spiral in the middle, does it really compare in quality and effectiveness to a fiberglass wire bound antenna??

Thanks again

Aaron

[discovery_xas165]

[dm_td5]

If an antenna is mounted near any metal and that metal does not form part of the ground plane ( the top of the door and the turret in your case) then this metal will distort the antenna radiation pattern...The amount of metal behind them must shield most of the radiation destined for the rear of the car. The metal in the bull bar and the body and radiator must detune the antenna severely as well.

This is a good point, Peter.  I'm going through where to mount my antenna as well.  On the 03 Disco there is also the SatNav antenna gromit in the roof.  This would be ideal, if I could work out how to easily get to it.  Has anyone looked at this option?