CB specifics

Thank you for your input. It is appreciated.

 

I'm not sure if there is an advantage of using those antennas over properly tuned fiberglass ones. What's your opinion on this?

For me it was mostly mounting option.

 

For me it was mostly an aesthetic and ease of mounting thing as well. I ran the same NMO mount and coax set up on the passenger side for my ham antenna and I liked the simplicity of it. Also I have a nice rain cap that covers the NMO mount if I take the antennas off, they are hardly noticeable. Although I usually leave the antennas on all the time, but if Im going to park in a sketchier area or leave the truck somewhere for a few days Ill take them off. Also liked how the NMO27 whip more closely matched my ham antenna.

Beyond that I don't have anything specific info for a performance advantage over a properly tuned fiberglass antenna... I'm hoping the whip will stay in tune better? but I am still working on getting my tune dialed.

In my google searching I did find a few guys on other radio forums that swore by the Larsen NMO27 saying it was the best CB antenna short of 102" whip... and they "had" the swr numbers to back it up... but not much other real info.

 

I think I've read somewhere that shunt "grounded" antennas do not perform as well as fiberglass (like let's say a 4' Wilson), but I'm getting ~5 mile radio check in Brooklyn! (Tottaly urban environment) granted, the other guy was using a base station, but still!

 

I don't know why people buy external speakers. You can get a 3.5mm audio cable (male to male ends) and put it in the back of the cb radio jack and then run the other male end to the aux jack on the truck. Then go to apps then aux and run the cb radio through the speakers in the truck.

 

Why?

I have an 05. No aux jack on my truck’s audio system.

That is why.

 

Maybe they want to listen to music and monitor CB at the same time.

 

Or transmit poor quality/staticky music to other CB listeners

 

It's like your own personal AM Radio station.

 

Hey guys I have a question for the ones more knowledgeable than i. So I'm being told there's feedback when I transmit so I had a buddy at work with an swr meter test it and sure enough it was to high. He said the way to remedy this was to either shorten or add length to the antenna but couldn't remember which I needed to do to get the numbers in the green. Any one have any suggestions?

 

Here, try this guide :

https://www.rightchannelradios.com/blogs/installation-guides/18330687-cb-antenna-tuning-instructions

 

Awesome thanks a bunch now time to re test it

 

Finally got a chance to do an actual range test with my car (President McKinley/3ft Firestik) and my wife's car (my spare Uniden Pro 505XL/Lil Wil). She could only hear me from about a mile away, what gives? We were driving on what could be considered hilly interstates, but even on the flat areas, no dice. The McKinley has a built in SWR meter and I had a 1.2 at the time. I haven't tested SWR on the Uniden, but that should affect the transmit more than receive, right? I know the McKinley works fine because I have talked on AM to people 5+ miles away when I was on top of a mountain and SSB skip to people in West Virginia and Texas (I'm in TN).

Any Ideas?

 

How do you listen to music this way?

 

I mean you're probably running less than 5w of output power don't expect much range unless it's pretty flat with no obstructions.

Take a look at this https://www.rightchannelradios.com/blogs/selection-guides/18150035-cb-antenna-range-approximations

 

A question for those of you that are running the Firestick 3, 4, or 5 ft antennas. I usually have run the Wilson 1000 or 5000 magnet mount on my full size trucks, but with the Tacoma and the shark fin antenna; would there be any negative of running the Wilson that close to the shark fin? Should I look into the Firestick and locate it off the back by the tailgate?

 

I installed my CB and PA this weekend. I ended up with a SWR of 1 on ch40 and 1.2 on ch1 I really didn't feel like messing with it anymore that's close enough for me. Its almost a perfect match. I went with a President Johnny III, Firestik 5', Hustler SS Heavy Duty Spring, Small Pyle amp for PA, and a Speco 6" all weather PA speaker. I ran it threw my Spod and it seems to be working great.

 

do all firestiks need to br grounded? I hooked up my 3’ firestik to tailgate and ran the coaxial into cab but didnt run a ground as there was no ground on antenna to run

 

No. Only a few antennas might need to be grounded (they come with their own wire, and you ground them if you can't get a decent swr...)
With all standard antennas, just make sure your antenna bracket is grounded.

 

Ok so im using a tailgate bracket. Do i meed to ground this?