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Posted: 4/15/2024 8:27:01 AM EDT
I have about 2" of my antenna hitting the garage door when I pull in/out of the garage.

Anyone ever just put a bend in their antenna to shorten the height?  I was thinking about using a tube bender and seeing what happens....lol

Attachment Attached File

Link Posted: 4/15/2024 9:13:25 AM EDT
[#1]
It's irritating, happens to my truck in the car wash too. I'd just go slowly to avoid damage to the antenna.
73,
Rob
Link Posted: 4/15/2024 11:24:43 AM EDT
[Last Edit: Frank_B] [#2]
Mine did that for years. The only damage was a narrow strip on the steel beam over the garage door opening where the paint had been worn off. I did pop the antenna off when I went through car washes.
No longer a problem. There hasn't been a rig in my vehicles for the past 15 or so years. VHF around here sucks.
Link Posted: 4/15/2024 11:29:36 AM EDT
[#3]
It will change the tuning a bit, whether its enough to matter for your use will have to be checked with an analyzer.
Link Posted: 4/15/2024 11:48:20 AM EDT
[#4]
I just finished dealing with this a month ago, and ended up just building a new antenna that cleared the
door from parts of multiple old ones.

If you have a nanoVNA, you should be able to see what's happening. Since I was working with a highly loaded 11M antenna
a couple inches was huge, so I had to re-wind loading coils until I got things tuned.

On 2M with minimal loading it probably won't be quite so bad, so I'd try the bend trick first. If you can get some
stainless rod, you could copy the antenna you have with an extra loop or two of loading if it's wildly out of tune.

Of course you can go antenna shopping as well. For low doors my go-tos have been either the Diamond NR72BMO
or more recently the Comet SBB-1NMO.
Link Posted: 4/15/2024 1:50:58 PM EDT
[#5]
a slight bend in the middle where the coils are would probably be unnoticeable.  if you're talking bending the top 2 inches down at a steep angle, that's ill advised
Link Posted: 4/15/2024 2:13:12 PM EDT
[#6]
How critical is your 440/UHF antenna performance?

Using a straight 2m 1/4 wave on 440, you'd lose a little over an S unit (6~8dB) on 440 as a 3/4 wave. If that performance hit is acceptable, then the easy solution is a Sti-Co or Signal Stick nitinol whip 1/4 wave antenna. Nitinol whip will easily flex over completely as you go in your garage and pop back up* when you leave.

I used a Sti-Co antenna on my SUV for a few years, there was about 3 inches of clearance between the vehicle roof and the garage door opening.

(*Nitinol "springiness" is a temperature-dependent characteristic. Depending on the exact alloy, below a certain temperature, the nitinol will flex but then stay flexed and not pop back to straight, until the temperature warms up. Depending on the alloy, that temperature is generally somewhere between -10F and about 15~20F. If you're in a really cold climate, nitinol might not be a good choice.)
Link Posted: 4/15/2024 3:15:14 PM EDT
[#7]
I have the same issues with 7 foot tall garage doors. I drive a 2023 Ford Escape and a 16" long NMO mag mount antenna is as long as I can go without the antenna dragging across the garage door. I went with the Comet SBB1-NMO antenna and it works great.
Link Posted: 4/15/2024 11:46:34 PM EDT
[#8]
Hook an SWR meter to it and test it out. Bend it and retest.
Link Posted: 4/17/2024 10:58:38 PM EDT
[#9]
Use a shorter stubby antenna for day-to-day driving, then if you need more antenna, screw the old one back on.

Compactenna or similar.
Link Posted: 4/18/2024 10:54:05 AM EDT
[#10]
I ran a compactenna on my truck for 5 years. Worked great!
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