CB Antenna Type & Location?

[ABennin]

You have a nice truck and want something that works good and looks good. The fender mounted antenna, I would probably go with a 4 ft firestick or something similiar, that is fiberglass. My friend has 102's on his truck. Reception is great, but they move alot, some side to side motion but on the interstate they bend back about 5 ft. On my work truck I have a Wilson 1000 and it has worked great over the years. If you don't mind having a magnet mount on the paint that would be a good choice. My work truck is not pretty so I don't care if it scratchs.

 

[jeepit]

TGentry, No it does not extend above camper. About 3" shorter than camper and it works great.

It is just a cheap magnetic mount.

 

[TGentry]

Thanks! Here's a photo of our 4' Wilson No Ground Antenna. It was on my wrangler in the late 90's, and I never was really all that happy with the CB performance. Although, at the time we were connecting in to our Cherokee AH-100 hand-held, which might have been part of the performance issue?

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Here's a mock up photo of this antenna mounted on the fender. Looks like it's going to fall ~2' below the top of the camper, which is a bit of a concern.

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I held it on top of camper jack that's located just behind the driver side doors... it looks like it'll just barely clear the top of the camper, if mounted to the top of the camper jack.

Hmm, like everyone is saying there's really no easy choice here?

 

[TLane]

I would mount two fiberglass whip antennae on the camper - one front and center and one on the rear. Or mount them on opposite sides, near the front of the camper. They don't need to stick up above the camper, each antenna covers the "blind spot" of the other antenna. The two antennae need to be connected with a "phasing harness" - you can't just use a "T". Bring the lead from the antennae to a connection point at the front of the bed, near one side where it's easy to get to. When the camper is removed, open that connection and put a magnetic mount on top of the cab, connect it to the same point. Run a cable from the connection point underneath the truck to get it inside to the radio (remove one of the rubber plugs in the floorboard, poke a hole in it to run the cable thru, re-install the plug and seal as necessary).

 

[TGentry]

I would mount two fiberglass whip antennae on the camper - one front and center and one on the rear. Or mount them on opposite sides, near the front of the camper. They don't need to stick up above the camper, each antenna covers the "blind spot" of the other antenna. The two antennae need to be connected with a "phasing harness" - you can't just use a "T". Bring the lead from the antennae to a connection point at the front of the bed, near one side where it's easy to get to. When the camper is removed, open that connection and put a magnetic mount on top of the cab, connect it to the same point. Run a cable from the connection point underneath the truck to get it inside to the radio (remove one of the rubber plugs in the floorboard, poke a hole in it to run the cable thru, re-install the plug and seal as necessary).

I like this idea What would you say to mounting this dual antenna kit on the front two fenders?



http://www.rightchannelradios.com/firestik-fs-dual-cb-antenna-kit.html



For my application, would a single Wilson 1000 out perform the above dual CB antenna kit?

 

[ABennin]

I would try one mounted on the drivers side fender first. My concern is that with dual antennas mounted on the fenders that you would get interefence through the truck radio. I have been told that this should not be a concern but I have had it happen when using a high powered radio. I like the camper mounting idea by TLane. If I were to do that I would mount on the sides like a big rig that has them mounted on the sides of sleeper. This way you have better reception to your front and back. I have tried many mounting options on my trucks and friends trucks. As a result I have many antennas and mounts left over in the garage.

 

[jeepit]

Did your antenna stick above your camper? Which antenna did you use?

PM me your email address and I can send you a picture if you are interested

 

[TGentry]

PM me your email address and I can send you a picture if you are interested

Thanks for taking the time to send the photos of your setup, jeepit!!!

 

[TGentry]

Guys, thanks for all your suggestions. I bought a 102" SS whip from Radio Shack, ordered a fender mount from Right Channel Radios, and CB mount from Geno's Garage. My wife donated a yellow Wilson tennis ball, which I've already fitted to the 102" whip antenna. The plan is to slightly preload the 102" whip with the tennis ball resting against the front of the camper. The typical fender bolt location isn't going to work for my application due to the overhang of the camper, so the plan is to add a backing plate behind the fender flat area to sandwich the fender metal between the added backing plate and fender mount.

What do you guys think?

 

[TGentry]

Does anyone care to share their RG-58 cable experience? It looks like I have both solid and braided/stranded core available in my spare parts bin.

I haven't found a pre-drilled hole in my truck's firewall that will fit a pre-formed CB antenna coax cable.

So, I'm thinking of making my own cable ends, just wondering do I go with solid or braided/stranded?

Also, it looks like I might have the necessary hardware to bolt the coax cable end to the bottom of the 102" SS whip connections? Anyone see any issues with this? I can upload a photo, if that helps.

 

[TGentry]

Here's a photo of the braided coax cable connections:
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[TGentry]

Okay, I guess I'm not too far off, as the fender mount comes with a similar setup.

Two thumbs up for service from Right Channel Radios!!!
http://www.rightchannelradios.com/dodge-truck-hood-mount-crimp-on-1994-2003.html

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[TJJEEPER]

The stranded cable will hold up to twisting and bending MUCH better than the solid conductor.

 

[TGentry]

The stranded cable will hold up to twisting and bending MUCH better than the solid conductor.

Agreed I'm going with stranded, just not sure what this cable is, as it doesn't have expected markings.

 

[TGentry]

Mounted 102" SS whip antenna on the Dodge Ram fender mount that Right Channel Radios shipped to me. I used the forward fender bolt, which already has a support behind it.

~1. 2 SWR while transmitting on channels 1-40 with the spring, and maybe a little better without the spring, shown below. Using the meter on my Galaxy DX 959 unit.

Hard to say exactly, but it appears the mount flexes more with the spring than without? The hood hits the spring, when opening and closing, so I'm going to first try without the spring.

I'm looking for ideas on how to pre-load this antenna, just a touch, by connecting it to the camper, putting a slight bend in the antenna?

This antenna extends ~12-18 inches above the tallest item on top of my camper, which is already ~12. 5' tall:

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[TGentry]

Oh and my daughter, Blu, and I had a hard time finding a quiet channel this morning just to do an audio check

Here's where the forward fender bolt locates the mount:
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[TGentry]

For our first experiment to preload the 102" whip, my daughter and I just drilled a small hole in the camper's gutter, and tied off the antenna using a string. This did slightly impact our SWR readings, from ~1. 2 with antenna straight to ~1. 4 with antenna slightly preloaded, as in the photos below:

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It would be nice to eventually find another mounting point say 6" away, but parallel to the ground, to add a second string tie off point to add some triangulation.

 

[TGentry]

We're very impressed with how well Geno's CB Mount has worked for our installation needs.

Their mount hugs the bottom of the seat, by reusing the two 13mm seat mounting bolts.
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Used a #10 drill bit to attach the CB mount to Geno's mount using six (6) M5 x 10mm button head bolts (the same ones used to mount the CB itself) with six (6) M5 x . 8 stop / nylon nuts.
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Geno's CB mount works well with their cup holder.
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Geno's CB mount really hugs the seat and doesn't take away the much needed storage space under the seat.
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Geno's CB mount works well with all modes of the transfer case shifter.
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Geno's CB mount works well with Galaxy DX 959 built-in speaker, even in the top most mounting postion.
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Driver's side view:
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[TGentry]

Oh, and once again, Blu and I had a hard time finding a "quiet" channel today. We sat in the truck for about an hour listening to people talk from Mohave Desert, Memphis, Baja, etc. Some of the conversation wasn't well suited for a 4-yr. old, so we wrapped up our outside work, leaving routing power to the radio from the battery to yet another father / daughter day - sometime soon I hope

 

[TGentry]

Mounted a three (3) D-cell Maglite loaded with Malkoff LED module on Geno's CB mount. Also, flipped the CB mount around to gain ~3/8" clearance for the antenna cable connector contacting the transfer case shifter housing. This goes against the three way bolt holes adjuster, but it seems to have worked just fine.
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Maglite mounted low on Geno's CB mount. I used a #29 drill bit with the supplied Maglite's mounting screws. Then just cut them off on the back side, followed by some RTV and tape, so I didn't have to wait for the RTV to dry.
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