CB specifics

Never heard of a Wilson 40? I've used the 1000 and the little Wil. Problem is you need to mount them to your roof. The reason I didn't recommend it. You stated you had two racks.

 

I may have the wrong number off the top of my head... but it's an older model (K40) that I see for sale used up here. It's worth a test run for what I can get one for.

 

Word of caution. Beware of used CB equipment. I've been burned before. A Little Wil will run you about $35. That is an antenna and the coax. Just plop it on your roof and plug it in. Done. No mounts or grounding to worry about. And in most cases no tuning needed.

 

It's hard to find CB accessories here in Canada, except for Amabomb.ca. I just found out that the Flying J truck stop near my place (30 km) has everything that I need. I'm going to take a look.

 

Flying J has EVERYTHING!

 

Good to know. Worth the drive then?

 

Go dirty and hungry, and in need of truck stuff. You can shower, eat and buy all the radio and chrome your wallet will stand...

 

I read somewhere that coax is best in 9' increments which is why 18' is such a common length. Don't know how true it is though

 

I've got an old K40 with the mag mount, still talks great, and can handle something like 500 watts. Stays on the back seat when not used, I hate thieves.

 

Not true. Enough to get the job done is ideal.

 

Good to know. I was also living under the impression that 18 was optimal.

 

If you can get away with only needing 9ft and you can get the antenna SWR at a 1.5 or lower with 9ft then there is no need to run 18ft, most people get an 18ft piece because it gives them the ability to put the antenna anywhere on their vehicle and not have to worry about running out of coax.

The 9 foot increments has to do with wavelengths.

 

The feed line length is important on a ladder line fed dipole, but I don't think it matters much for coax.

 

Subscribed. Tons of great info. I might try to fab the angle bracket that @ZIB made or just grab the

$30 SS-204A Adjustable Stainless Steel Vertical Door jamb Mount

SS-204A from Amazon. I sure wish that there were nicer mounts available like there are for the first and second gens.

 

I started a build thread and the first project on there was my CB install. Mine is working great minus a few interference issues, which I will be fixing soon. I hope this helps or inspires ideas for some of you!

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/metalheads-angry-taco.452919/

 

I`m not new at this, I`ve been doing this a long time.

Feedline line is important regardless if it is coax or ladder line, the longer it is the more loss you have.

The frequency that you are operating on with said coax has different losses as well.

Here`s a few good charts.

http://rfelektronik.se/manuals/Datasheets/Coaxial_Cable_Attenuation_Chart.pdf
http://www.jpole-antenna.com/faq/coax-feedline-attenuation-chart/

More good info
http://www.hamuniverse.com/coaxdata.html
http://www.jpole-antenna.com/2013/01/12/what-type-of-feedline-coax-should-i-use-for-my-antenna/

Hope this helps.

 

With that being said, DO NOT coil any leftover coax into a circular shape! Excessive amounts of leftover coax should be made into a FIGURE EIGHT (8) and tie wrapped in the middle - conceal/hide the FIGURE EIGHT as best as possible so as not to damage the coax.

If a relatively short piece of coax is leftover then just conceal it as best as possible in the vehicle.

 

I like your ditch light bracket with it pointing towards the outside vs. the others i have seen that tend to put the antenna towards the windshield view more. Which brackets are they?

 

Not making it into a coil came from cb`ers years ago that had no idea what they were doing. Excessive amounts of coax SHOULD be coiled, thus making an RF Choke, aka as a Balun, which makes an unbalanced feedline balanced, if done right it will help.

Below are a few examples.
http://www.k3dav.com/rfchokecoil.htm
http://www.hamuniverse.com/balun.html

Winding an RF Choke.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJCYCfPLoZ0

For those that choose to make a RF choke with their excess coax, put the choke as close to the feed-point of your antenna as you can get it.

Hope this helps.

 

Works for me. 4' Firestik and Cobra handheld. The switch forward of the console allows me to kill power to the connector.

Antenna up:


Antenna down:


CB plugged in:


CB unplugged: