Magnetic Mount Antennas

Mobile and Transportation Mag Mount Antennas

With more than forty mag mount antennas to choose from in the Westward Sales antenna family, you’ll find models that address cellular, DSRC, transportation, PTC, GPS, Iridium, UHF, VHF, various military use cases, and Wi-Fi applications. Magnetic mount antennas (aka “mag mounts”) find their place in mobility scenarios. Such mag mount antennas, most often vertically polarized, are omnidirectional.

Heavy-Duty and Superior Hold Mag Mount Antennas

The magnetic mount itself varies in size, with heavy-duty mag mounts using multiple strong magnets. For example, the Parsec PTA0330 magnetic mount provides a combined pull strength of 40 lbs. Mag mount antennas typically have a low wind load and are not adversely affected even when traveling at speed. Magnetic mounts placed on the trunk deck or roof of a vehicle do not connect directly to bare metal.

The primer, paint, and clear-coat finish create a capacitive connection to the vehicle, which becomes the ground plane. Placing a cloth or other protective material between the mag mount antenna and the vehicle eliminates that capacitive connection, which means the antenna cannot operate properly. [1]

In military applications, mag mount antennas give troops rapid antenna deployment with the ability to remove or reposition the antenna as battlefield conditions evolve. In addition, the mag mount antenna attaches to vehicles and any other ferromagnetic surface, enabling troops multiple ways to communicate with their command.

Mag Mount Antennas for Various Applications

Let’s scan the mag mount antennas from the Westward Sales antenna family. First, we offer antennas designed for DSRC (Dedicated Short-Range Communications) — a wireless protocol that allows vehicles to communicate with each other and other road users directly, without involving cellular or other infrastructure. In the “autonomous vehicle” market, DSRC is an essential technology. The Mobile Mark  MAG6-5900/1575 mag mount antenna works with ITS (Intelligent Transportation Systems), Smart Highway, and Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) in ITS trials. The antenna operates on the Dedicated Short-Range Communications band, with the frequency covering 5850 to 5930 MHz. Plus, this antenna tunes in GPS signals in the 1575 MHz band.

The Panorama GPSKM GPS magnetic mount antenna provides GPS and VHF/UHF operation for police cars, buses, taxis, utility fleets, and other public service vehicles. You can choose the driver element from several antennas; with the proviso, they do not exceed 500 mm (19.7-inches). The recommended frequency range for this base is 140 to 960MHz, but with selected whips, it can operate up to 2170 MHz. The Mobile Mark A2131B dual-band mobile antenna is another option that provides unity gain on VHF and 2.5dB gain on UHF. This mag mount anteanna provides coverage over 30 MHz of bandwidth at both VHF and UHF at less than 2:1 VSWR. User trimming at specific frequencies can bring the VSWR to below 1.5:1. The magnetic mount for this antenna features a strong magnetic base that secures the antenna at highway speeds up to 100 MPH.

Look no Further

No matter where you may be in the design phase or what your RF project requires, we suggest you obtain advice from a specialist before completing the project. Westward’s sales engineers are standing by to speed your search for the antenna best suited for your application. So speak with us today to find the mag mount antenna you need.

Sources
[1] Magnetic Mount Antennas Don't Suck