Best CB Antenna Configuration?

Mine is mounted right here NMO style. No SWR issues, and no alternator noise issues either. The wire is dual shielded and goes straight into behind the firewall.

 

In general:

The bigger the antenna, the better.

The higher the antenna, the better.

For a ground plane antenna, the center of the vehicle is the best place for uniform coverage in all directions. For a pickup truck, that's the roof of the cab.

If you don't mount in the center, you will have the best coverage in the direction where you have the most ground plane metal. For example, if you mount on the rear bumper, your coverage will be better towards the front of the truck than the rear.

 

I have the exact same setup and it works great. I wasted a lot of money on firesticks and other fiberglass antennas of this type including wilson, k40 ect.. Nothing gives you the range and clarity of a roof mounted ground plate steel whip antenna.

 

Similar to this one but I want it to fill in the corner and not be as far out into the bed. Also I want it to be able to mount in the channel of the bed rail, using the bolts that hold the rail to the bed.

 

i have a uniden cb and a lil wil mag mount and it works pretty good and cheap too

 

rightchannelradios.com

 

Roof mounted Wilson 1000. SWR of 1.1

Purchased from http://www.walcottcb.com/

 

Agree with MrGrimm. Had one on my last truck.

I went with the K40 on this truck. No pics, but it's a huge SOB, and can/will hit stuff. Also kind pricey, but it's a great antenna.

SWR on that mounted on the driver's-side front area of the bed off of the rails netted 1.2 SWR. Un-modded Cobra 29. If I did it again, i'd get the Wilson 1000 and put it on the roof, but I may be selling soon, so not in a rush to drill through anything I can't repair.

 

my swr readings are ch1-0, ch19-1,ch40-0 Uniden with lil wil

 

That's some awesome install Dean-what other rigs are you running in there

 

Larsen NMO 2/70 going to a Yaesu 8800R. I will get some pics up of the interior setup once it is complete. CB for close range vehicle to vehicle comms. HAM for long range comms.

 

Very nice! I haven't gone for a ticket yet (still on the fence) but I do run two Icom HF comm rx's as a hobby-an r71a and an r75 off a 100' longwire on the roof here. So I am into that much of the HF scene anyway-plus I run a scanner in the truck off a glassmounted tribander.
You have a very respectable mobile IMO just sayin

 

Nice. I want to get into HF in a few years. For now VHF/UHF/CB works for my needs. I did ALOT of research when I decided on a radio. Snagged it for $225 used that was a plus.

 

I have tried 2 different setups.

- A 4 foot firestick mounted on the bed rail with a grounded mount.
- A Lil Wilson magnet mounted antenna in the center of the roof.

The Wilson in the center of the roof gave me much better transmission distance and reception quality.

 

x2

On the front of my truck is a 2m firestick, on the hood is a 2m/440, on the back is a 9' fiberglass whip for my ft-100d. I'm going to add another hi gain 2m/440 on the other side if the 9' whip when I get back home. I would have mounted them on top of the truck but I'm going to get a roof rack and also I have to park in a parking garage

 

Cool that 2m/60cm mobile of yours-how many miles out can you hit a repeater with it? I always wondered about the real range on them-like how many miles can you talk "simplex". I have heard some guys can activate a repeater with 3 watts from 25 miles-but that was from mountaintop to mountaintop. Sorry about the threadjack.

 

I have had alot of good luck with roof mount Wilson (Lil Wil). they are tunable, and swing pretty good for a none boosted setup. I would also reccomend the Cobra 75 just to save space. I still have my Black Faced Johnson lying in wait of a huge truck to put it in. It's a relic and way too big for a Tacoma. Good Luck.

 

Best ground is had with flat copper strap. If you must use wire even No 6 keep it as short as possible. Round wire tend to radiate RFI. Remember RF rides on the outside of the wire called skin effect.
One asked about an antenna that did not require a ground plane, that would be a half-wave. At 11 meters it would get pretty long, double the 8 foot whip for full size. I am sure there are some coil loaded ones around.

 

Where I live the highest mountain is monkey hill at the zoo and that's 14' above sea level lol. With a 3-5 watt ht I can get into a repeater about 40 miles away. Right now I'm up in Arkansas and with a 50 watt mobile I can get into the local repeater about 15 miles with me driving on a hill. With simplex it depends. In New Orleans you can easily talk from mobile to mobile about 20-40 miles using simplex if there is nothing in between ya'll but if the city is between you and them it really gets hard because of the buildings. My call is W2XXX 73's

 

Nice! That is some good simplex range-very crucial in emergencies! I gotta get a ticket. My r75 can go mobile if I need access to HF comm nets in an emergency but it would be way helpful if I could actually communicate with others when the shit comes down. I honestly believe there are no HF hams in my area and a handful of 2m-and UHF none. Not a good scenario.