- November 14th, 2018, 4:11 pm#4910725
I recently picked up a pair of MT-500's and I'm looking to make some stubby antennas for them as well as acquire a holster.
Stubby Antenna
My first attempt at the antenna is using a bolt to screw into the antenna mount. After much trial and error I found that a 5/16" fine threaded bolt screws in correctly or at least well enough I'm not worried it's going to ruin the threads or fall out. A 2 3/4" long bolt seems to be pretty dang close for the length when in comparison to screen grabs.
Some plastic tubing with an interior diameter of 5/16" over the bolt and electrical heat shrink made quick work of the body. I ordered some screw protectors to go over the end to finish up the look.
The colour isn't quite as shiny black as I'd like but I'll reserve final judgement on if the colour bugs me enough once I receive the caps and see how it looks. If I have to some plasti-dip will probably work but that's an added cost and might mess with the thickness for the cap to still fit. I think I need to extend the tubing on my text attempt and maybe find a way to taper the bulge down a bit so it's not quite as stark a difference at the end of the tube. I'm going to have a lot of materials left over so assuming I get a decent result I may be able to sell them until I run out of materials.
You can see my result below, let me know what you think.
Holster
I've spent the last 2 weeks combing the internet looking for a holster for the radios. I know the correct holster is the HT440 hard plastic one. I've had no luck tracking one down and everything i've read about them is they they're brittle and break easily. I'm OK with a relatively accurate leather case as long as it fits the MT500. Does anyone have any recommendations? I don't see anyone selling them on the forums, and trying to find a different motorola model holster that is still available that will fit the MT500 is proving to be quite the challenge. Any help or advice on this would be greatly appreciated. I found one or two MT500 sized cases but they either don't ship to Canada or shipping prices make it a no go. Even searching Etsy hasn't yielded any results apart from one very inaccurate version.
My thinking is that any good looking leather case that roughly resembles GB1 is probably a fine as we're the only ones who will pick apart the accuracy of a radio holster.
Stubby Antenna
My first attempt at the antenna is using a bolt to screw into the antenna mount. After much trial and error I found that a 5/16" fine threaded bolt screws in correctly or at least well enough I'm not worried it's going to ruin the threads or fall out. A 2 3/4" long bolt seems to be pretty dang close for the length when in comparison to screen grabs.
Some plastic tubing with an interior diameter of 5/16" over the bolt and electrical heat shrink made quick work of the body. I ordered some screw protectors to go over the end to finish up the look.
The colour isn't quite as shiny black as I'd like but I'll reserve final judgement on if the colour bugs me enough once I receive the caps and see how it looks. If I have to some plasti-dip will probably work but that's an added cost and might mess with the thickness for the cap to still fit. I think I need to extend the tubing on my text attempt and maybe find a way to taper the bulge down a bit so it's not quite as stark a difference at the end of the tube. I'm going to have a lot of materials left over so assuming I get a decent result I may be able to sell them until I run out of materials.
You can see my result below, let me know what you think.
Holster
I've spent the last 2 weeks combing the internet looking for a holster for the radios. I know the correct holster is the HT440 hard plastic one. I've had no luck tracking one down and everything i've read about them is they they're brittle and break easily. I'm OK with a relatively accurate leather case as long as it fits the MT500. Does anyone have any recommendations? I don't see anyone selling them on the forums, and trying to find a different motorola model holster that is still available that will fit the MT500 is proving to be quite the challenge. Any help or advice on this would be greatly appreciated. I found one or two MT500 sized cases but they either don't ship to Canada or shipping prices make it a no go. Even searching Etsy hasn't yielded any results apart from one very inaccurate version.
My thinking is that any good looking leather case that roughly resembles GB1 is probably a fine as we're the only ones who will pick apart the accuracy of a radio holster.