Amateur Radio in Mk4 Golf

Mike_04GolfTDI

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Nov 19, 2003
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Richmond, BC, Canada
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Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI
I put a 2m/70cm band mobile transceiver in my 2004 Golf today.

It's a Leixen VV-898.



For an antenna I just have a little magnetic mount 1/4 wave (on 2m). Eventually I plan to replace that with something on an NMO mount in place of the stock radio antenna. I'm going to hide the FM radio antenna inside the headliner, or maybe in one of the panels beside the rear hatch, and then put the NMO mount in the existing hole (modifying size of hole as needed). That way I'll still only have one antenna on the roof, and I expect FM broadcast radio will still work well enough. I hardly listen to music on the radio anyway, so it's no big loss if reception is poor.
 

Steve99

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Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Location
Langley, BC
TDI
04 Golf TDI, 04 R32
Nice install.
I always dreamed of using the coax from the stock radio, and the antenna base with its guts removed. Then mounting a dual band antenna to the base. It is pretty small coax though and isn't 50 ohms so I didn't bother.
 

Mike_04GolfTDI

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Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI

Mike_04GolfTDI

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI
Well, I managed to get the original antenna to fit in the space between the headliner and the roof, so it's completely hidden, and still works. Found out the hard way, the base of the antenna needs to be grounded or else you get no AM reception at all. Simple fix. Just run a wire from the base of the antenna to a good ground.

I used a dremel to round out the square hole where the factory antenna mounts, and then put an NMO mount there. Attached my 2m/70cm band NMO antenna to that. It works pretty well. SWR is 1.5:1 or better within the bands, but rises sharply outside of the bands (to be expected).

Here's a photo. Yeah, that's snow on my roof except for the little patch I cleared off before opening the hatch...



Next problem to solve is the whistling sound this makes at highway speeds! Apparently a bit of heat-shrink tubing over the coil helps, so I'll try that.
 
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Stealth TDI

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Feb 13, 1998
Location
Newport News, VA
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2017 GTI APR Stage 3 (395 hp/376 lb-ft)
Nice! An NMO fit in your factory opening without leaks? Do you recall the dimensions of the hole? On the Mk7, the square opening is ~1.5 inches:



That's a reason why I'm considering a Breedlove mount. Is your factory antenna a sharkfin? I'm not sure mine will fit under the headliner. But I'll certainly try it.

Scott
 

Mike_04GolfTDI

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Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI
My ham radio is in my Mk4 Golf. (I'm not allowed to do it to the Mk7 ;) )

The antenna hole was slightly smaller than the NMO mount so I made it larger with a dremel. The nut that holds the NMO mount in has an o-ring and the antenna base has a gasket. I don't think it will leak. I sprayed everything with silicone lube before assembling, so that kind of helps repel water as well.

If your photo above is for a Mk7, yeah, that does look like a difficult place to put an NMO mount if that hole is 1.5 inches.

My factory antenna was not a sharkfin, but I was able to jam it in the headliner and you couldn't see it. Unfortunately, I was never able to get acceptable AM reception. As I mentioned in the other amateur radio thread, I'm going to run a long piece of wire under the black trim on the roof of the car. That wire will be connected to the original antenna base, which will be hidden somewhere in the car. So, nothing will be visible to the casual observer, but I'm hoping that will give me back AM reception. I only use the radio for traffic reports, and those are all on AM.

The only other issue I have is the car produces lots of interference on the 2m band. 70cm is okay. I'm not sure I can do much about this as I believe the noise is coming from the ECU. It's not alternator whine. It sounds like typical computer noise and does not change with engine speed. It stops when I shut the engine off. Part of the problem may very well be that I'm using a cheap Chinese radio. The noise is also not coming through the power lines because it doesn't change if I run the radio off an external battery. Unplugging the antenna makes it stop. I probably just need to shell out for a better radio. (This was $59).
 
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Mike_04GolfTDI

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Nov 19, 2003
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
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Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI
To what is the radio's bracket mounted?
It is screwed right into the left knee panel. It's surprisingly strong for a piece of plastic.

I'd imagine it wouldn't be hard to get this piece from an auto wrecker should you not want to defile the original.

More photos for your viewing pleasure...





 
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romad

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May 27, 2011
Location
Prescott, AZ
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2005 Jetta GLS Wagon "Cranberry"
I think I'd still reinforce the back of the panel with a metal strip/plate.
 

Mike_04GolfTDI

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Joined
Nov 19, 2003
Location
Richmond, BC, Canada
TDI
Mine: 2019 Golf R DSG, Wife's: 2015 Golf Comfortline TDI
I was originally going to, and I had material ready to do that, but once I put the screws in I was amazed at how sturdy the attachment seems to be. It's really tough plastic.

It's easy enough to add reinforcement later, if any looseness develops.
 
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