CB Antenna Type & Location?

[TGentry]

Having a hard time deciding what type of CB antenna and where to mount it?



I have a 4' Wilson rigid (fiberglass?) no ground antenna, but not sure it would survive well above the camper? Not sure where or how to mount 102" whip or maybe even Wilson 1000.



I have a galaxy 959 and plan on getting a geno's garage mount for it.



Most of which is waiting on this all important antenna decision



Any recommendations, guys?



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[jgillott]

I used to have a 4' Wilson mounted on a front fender mount which located it almost directly across from the radio antenna on a former Silverado I owned. The local CB shop I purchased it from got it to tune OK and give fairly decent reception for being mounted so low. That may be the way to go for you with that slide in, but it would have to be a little farther foward on the fender I would think by the amount of forward overhang your unit appears to have.

Currently, I have a magnetic mount Wilson Little Wil that I place in the middle of the roof on our trucks when we are making a long trip conected to a Uniden pc68xl. Certainly not a high end set, but works well and I have it set up to move from truck to truck as needs require. Again, I purchased both from our local mom and pop CB shop and they have it set up very well. I used to use a Cobra 29, but started to have some trouble with it. The Uniden was suggested by the CB shop owner and so far, I have been happy with it.

 

[leaky gasket]

I'm guessing you are in San Diego someplace. Looking at the top photo you are in the san elilo beach campground.
If you need a good local CB shop Try Mud shack on El Cajon Blvd.

 

[JHumphries]

I would mount the 8 footer on the front bumper. The length of the antennae should make up for some of the problems with mounting it low.

 

[Tractorat]

Do people even use cb's anymore ? The last several years I havent heard hardly any chatter on my road trips.

 

[TGentry]

I used to have a 4' Wilson mounted on a front fender mount which located it almost directly across from the radio antenna on a former Silverado I owned. The local CB shop I purchased it from got it to tune OK and give fairly decent reception for being mounted so low. That may be the way to go for you with that slide in, but it would have to be a little farther foward on the fender I would think by the amount of forward overhang your unit appears to have.

Currently, I have a magnetic mount Wilson Little Wil that I place in the middle of the roof on our trucks when we are making a long trip conected to a Uniden pc68xl. Certainly not a high end set, but works well and I have it set up to move from truck to truck as needs require. Again, I purchased both from our local mom and pop CB shop and they have it set up very well. I used to use a Cobra 29, but started to have some trouble with it. The Uniden was suggested by the CB shop owner and so far, I have been happy with it.

Thank you! I was thinking of mounting my 4' rigid antenna in that location, too. I've seen several people mount their antenna in that location, but wasn't sure of all the trade offs. Also, I'm not sure about mounting the antenna in my field of view, while driving. I'm sure I could get use to it. Plus, as you pointed out having the camper on the truck is what makes all this so challenging I wonder how a 102" whip antenna would do mounted in that location?

My truck/camper combo is approximately 12. 5' tall. So, I'm guessing no matter where I mount a 4' rigid antenna... I'm going to run into some performance issues?

I have a second Galaxy 959 in my Jeep Cherokee. I purchased a Wilson 1000 roof mount for that application.

 

[TGentry]

I'm guessing you are in San Diego someplace. Looking at the top photo you are in the san elilo beach campground.
If you need a good local CB shop Try Mud shack on El Cajon Blvd.

Great tip! And as an added plus, once a year I travel down to the Cummins Service Center in El Cajon

The top photo was taken at Carsbad SB, which is close to San Elijo SB. We do frequent San Elijo SB, too

 

[TGentry]

I would mount the 8 footer on the front bumper. The length of the antennae should make up for some of the problems with mounting it low.

Yeah, I'm liking mounting the 102" whip on the front bumper, too. I tend to agree that's probably the best I can do with my setup. Just have to get use to the 102" whip moving around right in the middle of my field of view while driving, I guess

Anyone make a CB antenna that retracts and extends with the push of a button on the dash?

 

[jgillott]

Thank you! I was thinking of mounting my 4' rigid antenna in that location, too. I've seen several people mount their antenna in that location, but wasn't sure of all the trade offs. Also, I'm not sure about mounting the antenna in my field of view, while driving. I'm sure I could get use to it. Plus, as you pointed out having the camper on the truck is what makes all this so challenging I wonder how a 102" whip antenna would do mounted in that location?

My truck/camper combo is approximately 12. 5' tall. So, I'm guessing no matter where I mount a 4' rigid antenna... I'm going to run into some performance issues?

I have a second Galaxy 959 in my Jeep Cherokee. I purchased a Wilson 1000 roof mount for that application.

I still have a 102" in the garage somewhere that I had mounted on the back bumper of my '92 Dodge. The negative was that it flexed so much in the wind, it was always bouncing off the back corner of the bed. Remember seeing old tennis balls on those whips years ago to prevent that? I would imagine that a 102" would flex enough on the front fender to come back and hit your camper under certain situations.

 

[TGentry]

Do people even use cb's anymore ? The last several years I havent heard hardly any chatter on my road trips.

I don't think too many people communicate with CB's anymore. I was discussing all this with my father, a retired over the road truck driver, and the entire time even he was looking at me like "why"?

Organized Jeep trips, like Easter Jeep Safari, still make use of CB's, I think Essentially, that's what motivated me to install one in our Jeep Cherokee.

It might be convenient to use CB's to communicate between our truck/camper and our Jeep Cherokee. Of course, we have other alternatives, too

I must add, that I've had these two Galaxy radios for many years, and finally getting around to wanting to install them

 

[TGentry]

I still have a 102" in the garage somewhere that I had mounted on the back bumper of my '92 Dodge. The negative was that it flexed so much in the wind, it was always bouncing off the back corner of the bed. Remember seeing old tennis balls on those whips years ago to prevent that? I would imagine that a 102" would flex enough on the front fender to come back and hit your camper under certain situations.

Interesting point! Hmm! Would it be a bad idea to just bend it back and tie it off somehow?

 

[JJPage]

I've had these two Galaxy radios for many years, and finally getting around to wanting to install them

I have had this Galaxy Pluto for twenty years or better, never have mounted it in a vehicle... sure is a nice radio though.

 

[jeepit]

Sorry no picture but I had a metal plate in the shape of an inverted L with 2 holes drilled in it and mounted it to one of the camper jacks near the cab and just use my magnetic mount antenna.

 

[TGentry]

I have had this Galaxy Pluto for twenty years or better, never have mounted it in a vehicle... sure is a nice radio though.

That one looks like it gets the job done

 

[TGentry]

Sorry no picture but I had a metal plate in the shape of an inverted L with 2 holes drilled in it and mounted it to one of the camper jacks near the cab and just use my magnetic mount antenna.

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

 

[Tractorat]

Organized Jeep trips, like Easter Jeep Safari, still make use of CB's, I think Essentially, that's what motivated me to install one in our Jeep Cherokee.

I think the little hand held family radios have a greater range now than CB's, dont they ?

I do still listen to the cb on a long road trip though. If I hear a conversation in another language (mexican, arab, etc), I will quite often join in. I dont know what 'gobble gobble gobble" means in those languages, but I usually have quite a conversation going with them.

 

[TGentry]

I think the little hand held family radios have a greater range now than CB's, dont they ?

I do still listen to the cb on a long road trip though. If I hear a conversation in another language (mexican, arab, etc), I will quite often join in. I dont know what 'gobble gobble gobble" means in those languages, but I usually have quite a conversation going with them.

We have one of those little FRS units, too .

Part of the issue is that you just don't know who will have what communications equipment and when. We have a Cherokee AH-100 hand held CB radio, as well as a main pit radio (~155MHz) that we use to communicate with our race car. Our main pit radio isn't mounted, and is more setup to set aside our trailer when camping, so everyone around our camp site can hear what's going on during a race.

We're fairly well setup with those hand helds and base camp unit, but the antenna for the Galaxy 959 is proving to be a challenge for our setup.

 

[ABennin]

I agree with the others about a fender mounted antenna for your situation. I don't really like that antenna location, but there is not a lot of options. Performance may suffer a little, but at least it will be out of the way when you want to remove the camper. I placed two 62 inch antenna's on my headache rack and can rotate them down with a switch in the cab, this way I can get in the garage without getting out. When I have the 5th wheel hooked on my SWR goes up to 2. 5, I normally run about 1. 2 empty or with a bumper pull trailer. A good SWR is good to have.

 

[TGentry]

I agree with the others about a fender mounted antenna for your situation. I don't really like that antenna location, but there is not a lot of options. Performance may suffer a little, but at least it will be out of the way when you want to remove the camper. I placed two 62 inch antenna's on my headache rack and can rotate them down with a switch in the cab, this way I can get in the garage without getting out. When I have the 5th wheel hooked on my SWR goes up to 2. 5, I normally run about 1. 2 empty or with a bumper pull trailer. A good SWR is good to have.

Would everyone prefer the 102" whip mounted on the fender? Or other antenna type mounted on the fender? If other, any recommendations?

 

[jgillott]

I'd personally go with the 4' Wilson you mentioned earlier. If tuned well, it will perform OK for what you are going to use it for and you will have no issues with it hitting anything. Now, if you were talking about a very high powered set, then it would be the 102".