so ive been running a dual band mag mount on my F150 for about two years now, nothing fancy just one of those diamond NR770s stuck on the roof. works fine for hitting the local repeaters but ive been thinking about going to a proper through-hole or lip mount setup because the coax routing is driving me nuts and i keep worrying about scratching the paint under the magnet.

anyway someone at the club last week was talking about screwdriver antennas and i kind of zoned out because i thought those were just for HF but apparently you can get them configured for VHF too? or maybe he was just talking about HF screwdrivers and i misunderstood. either way now i cant stop thinking about whether a properly mounted 5/8 wave or even a 5/8 over 5/8 collinear on a NMO mount would actually make a noticeable difference vs what i have now.

the mag mount is centered on the roof so the ground plane situation isnt terrible but still. anyone gone through this and actually noticed a real world difference or is it more of a clean install satisfaction thing

the screwdriver thing is definitely HF, guy was probably just talking past you on that one. for 2m/70cm the NMO route is absolutely worth it if you can stomach drilling the hole or doing a lip mount. i ran a mag mount for years on my jeep and when i finally put in a proper NMO with a Larsen NMO2/70B the difference wasnt massive on receive but the install just feels solid and the coax runs clean through the door jam. no more wondering if the mount shifted overnight.

the 5/8 over 5/8 config does give you a little more gain toward the horizon which is what you want for repeater work anyway, flatter pattern than a straight 5/8. if youre mostly hitting local repeaters within 30-40 miles the NR770 is honestly pretty capable already so dont expect miracles, but a permanent mount is just nicer to live with. i used a locking NMO from Amphenol and havent touched it in 3 years.

yeah the through-hole NMO is the way to go, did mine last spring and kinda wish i did it sooner. just tape off the area really well before you drill and use a step bit, takes like 20 minutes. the coax routing through the firewall is the annoying part but once its done its done. i ran mine down the A pillar under the trim and its completely invisible.