CB thoughts

[djthumper]

I hadn't thought about the grounding issue with the vehicle. You seem to be the "right guy" to ask about these things judging from your link.

Where do you think a CB antenna should be located on this vehicle type?

LOL, I am the communications technical director for that race. So basically I engineered the voice and digital networks for the race and have assisted several of the teams get their communications working properly.

As a standard the best location on any vehicle is going to be the center of the roof. It provides the most even ground plane around the antenna. But I know for most of us that is out of the question due to then we can't put anything else up there. If you have a full roof rack you can get a mirror mount and use that. I would have to see what kind of continuity we have between the roof rack rail and the body to see if it will provide enough bonding to provide a decent ground plain. Mounting it higher will aid in you hearing more and being heard better.

I haven't gotten all of my antennas mounted permanently yet because I still need to get a rack and stuff up there. So presently I have them just on mag mounts. Mind you these are ham radio and GMRS radios at this point, I will be adding a CB to it.

[bgwolfpack]

Jeez talk about "Mine is bigger than yours"!

I have also thought of mounting to this point next to the windshield. Thinking that with a spring at the base the antenna will only be hit by branches rather than the mount itself.

Thoughts?

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[Philberto]

If you don't have a good ground with your mount, simply install a ground strap to the mount and the other end to your vehicle's ground. That is what i did on mine. SWR is 1.2 on both ends on mine.

[djthumper]

I have also thought of mounting to this point next to the windshield. Thinking that with a spring at the base the antenna will only be hit by branches rather than the mount itself.

Thoughts?

OK I had to go out and look at where you were talking about to figure out the pic. That area could work and you might even be able to use the mount that you have in that spot. You may have to use a small spacer to fill the gap and get your set screws to hold or find longer allen set screws.

[djthumper]

Jeez talk about "Mine is bigger than yours"!

Naw not bigger really. 3- dual band ham VHF/UHF antennas, 1- GMRS UHF antenna and an antenna for my CDMA aircard for my laptop. So pretty much 7 frequencies and 4 antennas. I do quite a few events where I use them.

[Trail X]

For some reason I thought the ground for the mount was already carried by the coax cable... you don't actually need the mount to ground to the vehicle directly... As long as the radio and the body of the vehicle share a common ground, you don't need to run a ground between the antenna and vehicle directly... right?

At least, that was what I determined when doing my CB research.

[djthumper]

For some reason I thought the ground for the mount was already carried by the coax cable... you don't actually need the mount to ground to the vehicle directly... As long as the radio and the body of the vehicle share a common ground, you don't need to run a ground between the antenna and vehicle directly... right?

At least, that was what I determined when doing my CB research.

Not totally true if you are having a problem getting your antenna to tune up properly. It isn't truly a ground that you are going for to help tune up the radio as much as it bonding with the surrounding metal body. The body of the vehicle is a ground plane for the antenna and aids in it operation and can act as a director making your signal stronger on one side of the vehicle than the other or even control the direction of your signal. Since your antenna is on the right fender and has a good bonding with the right fender it doesn't necessarily bond with the hood and your signal is stronger on the right side of the TB. The more conductivity your mount has with the entire vehicle the more effective your antenna is.

You guys have come a long ways from several years ago when you trying to figure out what you wanted for the CBs and the antennas. I wish I had a TB then to help everyone but it is what it is. Now I can try to help fine tune your setups to make it even more effective communications. With the 4-5 watt output of the CB in AM mode you can get further than the 3-5 miles you are getting with a more efficient antenna you can easily double that depending on the terrain. And when you are running the trails in the woods you can actually lose distance since trees absorb RF.