so ive been running a mag mount diamond NR770H on my f150 for about two years now and its been fine, gets into the local repeaters no problem, but ive always had this nagging feeling im leaving performance on the table. the mount sits on the roof toward the back and the cable snakes through the weather stripping on the rear door which honestly isn't great long term.

been thinking about doing a proper NMO mount through the roof — drilling the hole is what keeps stopping me. truck is a 2019 so still feels kinda new to me and i keep putting it off. anyone actually done a side by side comparison between a decent mag mount and a proper NMO install with the same antenna? like is the difference even noticeable on VHF or am i overthinking this

also curious what people are using for the antenna itself if i do go NMO. was looking at the Larsen NMO270 or maybe just getting a whip and tuning it myself

did this exact thing on my silverado a few years back, went from mag mount to a proper NMO through the roof and yeah there is a difference, not night and day but noticeable. biggest thing for me wasn't even the RF performance it was just the cable situation — no more worrying about the door seal squishing the coax or the mount sliding if i brake hard. the antenna just feels more solid, less rattle on bumpy roads too.

drilling the hole sounds scary but honestly its not bad, you just gotta be careful about where you place it and seal it properly. i used a step bit and took it slow, silicone under the mount flange and never had a water issue. the NMO270 is a good antenna, ive heard good things about it. i ended up with a Hustler but thats just what my local shop had. if you're already thinking about it you'll probably always wonder if you dont just do it

the cable routing through the door seal is what would push me to do the NMO honestly. that wears through the jacket over time and then youre dealing with a shorted coax which is a pain to diagnose. mag mounts are fine for temporary or if you swap vehicles a lot but for a dedicated install the NMO is just cleaner.

one thing worth mentioning — ground plane matters a lot on VHF. the roof center is ideal but if your mag mount is already on the roof and you've got decent metal around it you're probably not losing that much vs a mounted whip in the same spot. the connection and cable quality is probably more of a variable than mount type tbh. i ran LMR240 on my last mobile install and it made a bigger difference than i expected compared to the el cheapo coax that came with the mag mount kit