• 1/4-inch x 3″ x 48″ aluminum flat bar is more than enough for antennas, consider 3/8 or 1/2-inch thick if you are going to add lights (or tweak as necessary for your needs)
• four 8mm-1.25 bolts with matching flat washers (double-check this if you have a pre-2004 Discovery)
• tape measure, a marker, a 4mm allen wrench, a drill with a 9mm (or 5/16ths) metal bit, a chop saw or even a hacksaw (aluminum is easy to cut), medium file (for rounding edges), fine-grit sandpaper
• mineral spirits, bedliner and appropriate brushes (I’ve had good luck with Rustoleum, Duplicolor came out awful)

Home Depot carries the bolts and washers, Metals Depot has great prices on the aluminum.

There are two threaded holes near the rear of each factory roof bar on a Discovery, these are intended for the OEM cross-bar accessory for which Land Rover charges ~$300. These holes are weight-bearing and designed to handle things like canoes, roof racks, and other cargo. They also make for quick-and-easy attachment points for home-built accessories. With the 4mm allen wrench, remove the two protective caps currently occupying these holes. Then grab your aluminum bar and start measuring. I suggest adding a curve to the aluminum bar as this will add strength and rigidity, and provide additional clearance for your antenna/light mounts.

The pictures are pretty self-explanatory. Measure twice and drill the holes in your aluminum bar, including the holes you’ll need for your accessories. Once that is done, test fit the bar with your lowest-hanging accessory and bolt it down so you can make sure nothing touches. At 48-inches, the aluminum flat bar will be within a couple inches of where it should be so you’ll only need to trim a little off the end. Measure and mark for the amount you wish to trim, then take the bar down and trim it. Double-check the fit, then use your file to round the corners and the leading edge of the bar (for aerodynamics). Sand it down all over with the fine-grit sandpaper, then rinse the bar well with mineral spirits and allow it to dry. Follow the instructions that came with your bedliner, and give it an extra day of dry time before attaching the bar. When the bar is completely dry and hardened, attach it and your accessories to the roof. Once everything is in place you can use a little extra bedliner to cover up the shiny bolts.

A Note on Wiring

There is only one clean way to run wires down off the roof, and that is to drill a hole. Despite the horror stories regarding such things, if done right there is no reason for this to cause any leaks or rattles. Where you place the hole is really a personal preference thing, but the location of the new antenna/light bar does happen to be right above a spot in the headliner that has ample room for wiring and an access panel to get at the roof. This panel can be found by sitting in the rear seats and looking up… it serves double-duty as a dome light. Pop the lens off of the light, then carefully pry the light housing out of the surrounding plastic. With the assembly out you are looking up at the bottom of the roof metal, right where the new roof bar is located. A little careful planning and some fish tape and you can finish up wiring your new accessories without even dropping the headliner.

I mentioned this to a friend not long ago, and with his help was able to get this elevation profile:

So, I’m just over 55 miles from the Keller Peak repeater… and half of that distance is through solid rock.

Enter the Elk

On his recommendation I ordered an Elk Antennas 2-meter/70-cm antenna, along with their carry bag since I figured this would end up becoming part of my standard kit in the truck. The antenna packs down small in the bag (about 24 x 6 x 1.5 inches) and is very light and easy to assemble. All of the individual rods are color-coded so there is no confusion getting them in the right order, and everything goes together without tools. The mount fits snug onto 1-inch PVC conduit readily available at any hardware store, which I have since cut to the length of my roof rack for easy transport.

I was able to test it out for the first time under less than ideal conditions (mostly my fault), and I am very impressed. Despite my hastily assembled “pile of firewood and a ratchet strap” mounting bracket, only knowing generally what direction the repeater was in, using the only very poor coax I had on hand, and with strong winds blowing the entire assembly around I was able to hear the repeater crystal clear, and transmit to the repeater with a scratchy-but-useable signal, which would impress everyone from ADT security experts to communication tech-wizards.

(Keller is behind the mountains in the distance on the right)

I think with a proper mount and an accurate bearing from here to the repeater I’ll be in business. I also think I’m going to order a second Elk to leave in Dani’s truck – something so useful and so easy to carry, it almost seems silly to be traveling the back country without it.