CB radio Installation. I've got questions...

I'm a Ham operator. Ill post pics of my Kenwood TM-D700 Install. I also did a NMO mount in the roof. Had it on my old truck. Didn't hurt the trade in value one bit. Plus a solid ground plane is the key getting the best out of your setup.

Suggestions:

For power I highly suggest you wire it directly to the battery with a relay to turn it on and off with the ignition. That's what I did with my ham radio. wasn't hard to do.

 

OMG! That's not clean at all. How is the mount flush to the roof? I admit the finished product looks sweet. I originally wanted to go that way but I didn't want a hole in the roof.

 

He is using a NMO mount. The best way to go. The problem is he is using to wrong tool for the job there. As for CB antennas, I'm not sure what is available in a NMO mount. The great thing about a NMO is there are all sorts of options when you remove it. They make these little stubby antennas you can put on that look like the Sat antennas found on most newer vehicles.

I'll get some pix of my install later.

This is what you should use for a NMO mount.
http://www.wpsantennas.com/hs34-antenex34x-actholesaw.aspx

 

I saw someone else mount theirs this way, and it solves the issue of grounding it. I just removed the tail light, drilled 4 holes in this metal piece, and bolted the mount on. I also really like the break away piece so it lays down when I'm not using it...also, I will be re-rerouting the coax cable so it looks better...

 

wow ok lol, ill post the rest of the pics later of the install, trust in this...it's all flush

 

Better signal or something?

 

You have it right Mr. Monkey! Great plane for signal too. You're motivating me to take that step too! Keep up the work! Did you ever get you cv axle squared away?

Edit: Commercial trucks do this all the time - even at time of sale there are good plugs to cover these if the new owner doesn't want it.

 

With the location of my antenna, I'm pulling right over a 1 on the SWR with no tuning.

 

Thought this might add to understanding...

Copied from RadioReference.com written by N5IPT

If you have any doubt about what a ground plane does or how it works, please read this! This should clear up any questions about how they work, what they do, etc. If it's not enough, Google can take you to sites with more detail.

First lets be very clear up front. a Ground Plane does not need to be electrically grounded to anything. It simply needs to be a plane of metal.



Pictured Above: A nice ground plane. Don't you wish you had one as perfect as this?

Lets answer your questions specifically.

PICKUP BED RAILS:
Electrically grounded or not, you do not have a ground plane back here (unless the antenna is mounted IN THE BOTTOM OF YOUR BED) You've got it mounted on a bedrail which makes up about 0.5% of a full ground plane. I'm not even sure what shape the emitted field would look like from transmitting here. Wouldn't be a donut field thats for sure.

VEHICLE HOOD
If it is on the hood lip, you now start getting closer to an almost perfect ground plane. You can see that your hood starts representing the picture above more closely.

BELOW THE ROOF LINE? Good or bad?
Yes it creates signal problems.

E.G. Signals coming from behind your truck will be attenuated if the antenna is on the hood. The reverse will apply with the antenna in your bed. Otherwise the reception will be excellent on the hood because of ground plane. Mediocre at best for the bed rails with no ground plane.

How do I achieve the perfect plane?
In a perfect world you would mount the antenna in the CENTER of your roof. It would be highest and it would have a large ground plane. Failing this, you would mount it in the center of your hood. This would give you the best ground plane. We all know mounting an antenna in the center of your hood would look really strange and nobody would want to do this. Thats why the world is not perfect.

Why in the center? Since the antenna is omni-directional and the antenna field is shaped like a donut -- you want a ground plane that surrounds the antenna from each direction equally. This is ESPECIALLY important when transmitting, or the field you emit may not be a perfect donut shape (in the areas lacking ground plane the field is subject to distortion.) The more of a ground plane you supply, the more uniform a transmitting signal field becomes. For the receiving end, the more signals are directed into the antenna with a ground plane

Examples of ground planes in the wild.
The metal top of a refrigerator is a ground plane.
A filing cabinet is a good ground plane.
A tin roof is a ground plane.
The top of a barn with galvanized roof flashing is a ground plane.
A vehicle hood or vehicle roof is a ground plane.
Mama's cookie sheet is a ground plane.
A metal computer case flipped on its side is a ground plane.

Some people don't care about a ground plane. Others build a steel plate over their house and stick the 20 meters antenna in the center for the ultimate ground plane. It is your decision on which extreme you want to go. I usually try to keep a centrist view of things and supply the best ground plane possible conditions permitting around my house and vehicle.

HBMurphy Comment: I still think Mr. Monkey's setup is the way to go.

Mr MonkeyProof, what antenna's are you mounting up there?

 

magnum mini mag radio and a wilson 5000 mag mount on the roof.....removable and REALLY TALKS!!!!

 

HBMurphy posted some good info about antennas..



some more good info about CB antennas from Firestix...all of your questions about CB antennas will be answered here... http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs.htm

even more awesome info about CB's and antennas compiled by Wilson Antennas...http://www.wilsonantenna.com/tsindx.htm





and, to answer HBMurphy's question about the antenna that i am using with the 2meter ham radio..

currently i am using 2 different type of antennas..i call em "the little guy" and "the big guy" haha..

the little guy is a short 19" whip 1/4 wave NMO mount by Larsen...part number NMOQW144. i use this one for the trails since it short in length, less of a chance for it to catch on something..it's actually shorter then my Wilson "Lil Will" mag mount CB antenna. plus, we are usually in shorter distance to each other on the trail and using less power then the max 65watts that our radios have. so don't really need something big.

the big guy is a tall 46" 5/8 wave NMO mount by again by Larsen..part number NMO-150. this one is used for achieving max distance, signal strength, and db gain from the radio. usually this one will be used primarily out in the desert or in places where i don't have to worry about clearance.

these ham radios are sweet..we are jumping on the Catalina Repeater and talking to people from Redding Ca. (580 miles from L.A.) and the audio is crystal clear! plus these ham radios has features that blows any CB radio away..too many to list lol.

here are some reviews about the antennas..

the little guy..
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/6066

the big guy..
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/5384

 

Thanks! I like the idea of the 2 meter too!

 

I didn't want to thread jack so i posted pics of my ham install over in the audio video forum.

My radio has APRS. It uses position data from a GPS to transmit your position on the air. This is great if youre out trail riding you can load up a laptop and pinpoint where your friends are.

Yeah, Ham radio is far superior. If you're hearing redding on the catalina repeater its gotta be a IRLP or Echolink connection. The repeaters are connected through an Internet link. If you have the access codes to the node you can dial up and connect to other nodes. The other day i was driving down to my moms and an australian station connected to the vacaville repeater. It was pretty cool. I was talking to an Aussie who was driving across a mountain range in eastern Australia.

http://www.irlp.net

http://www.echolink.org

 

I agree, Two meter equipment is readily available and the cost is not totally outrageous. If I remember correctly it was less than $20 for the license. For the best of both worlds, consider a hand held talkie capable of 5 watts output. Don't let the wattage fool you. 2M is a way superior frequency range compared to the citizen band frequency range. You can use this inside you home on a power supply and with a large outdoor antenna array or you can use it mobile with an external antenna or the "rubber duck" antenna. My handheld was just shy of $200, but you can get occasional use/no frills one for less.

At least you should look into it.

 

Thanks for the info. but, I have an extra class license and plenty of equipment .

I have a Kenwood TM-D700 Dual band 2m/440 in my truck with a diamond super gainer antenna.

At home I have a yaesu FT-8000 dual band mobile connected to a Diamond X200 dual band antenna at about 50ft.

I also have a Icom IC-718 HF rig with a multi band dipole.

For hand held i have a Yaesu VX-6r tri band 2m/220/440.

and I have a mobile solar/battery setup with antenna that I can pretty much operate indefinitely in an emergency situation.

But, this is good info for anyone who might be interested. With a decent repeater system you can talk much much further than you can with a CB even on a hand held and a brand new 2m mobile rig will only set you back about $130-150. The tech level exam really isn't very hard to pass. Amateur radio operators are heavily involved in emergency communications around the nation. http://www.hamtestonline.com Is a great place to start studying. it really makes it very very easy. To study and pass the tech exam will only take you a good solid 4-5 hours of studying.

 

PreRunnerSeth,

Did you pop the dome light out than drill for the NMO?
Have any issues with the air bags?
I have an Icom IC-208H I am going to mount. Want to put the main body behind the drivers side rear seat. Am hopeful to run the coax under the headliner down the rear corner pillar post to that point and bring in power for a small rig runner type of distribution panel. Probably bring the power under the truck through a nearby grommet

I have the Antenex 3/4 NMO hole saw. Its been a while since I did two way installs and of course not with 6 air bags running around either.

Gary K8IZ

 

Yeah I removed the dome light and the oh-crap handle on the drivers side as well as the trim on the drivers rear c-pillar. Then I placed a piece of cardboard between the headliner and roof and drilled from the top. I posted pics of my install in the a/v section of the forum. That is the same place I mounted mine.

 

i did pretty much the same thing..

when you pop out the dome light you'll see a brace thats right above the dome light..i drilled the hole in front of it (facing towards the windshield).

i did'nt want to mess around the the side air bags so i ran the cable towards the back and in the middle of the head liner, then down the rear pillar next to the back glass. since i mounted the radio behind the cup holder thats on the back of the center counsel i had plenty of cable length to play with.

 

I'm very interested in this location and how the antenna folds down, but I do have some questions.
Who makes this fold down mount or bracket because I can't find it on-line, how is it at highway speeds, and is it secure or is it loose?
I do plan on using the same length on the antenna (4 feet) and location, thanks.

 

A quick disconnect is what folds down, as shown here...Link
It works great on the highway! The antenna itself can move around a bit, though the mounting bracket is very secure, and it does not hit the tailgate. I like the fact that I can drive around with it up, and then lower it without any tools.