Best antenna for my cobra 75 cb radio

@Ayeele sorry brotha. I don't mean to hijack your thread.

 

No worries man.. any advice is great. I got mine working so its all yours now lol

 

It was right next to a truck stop so theyre getting some good business. I just passed by a popular truck spot And bam.. spotted it

 

Bought my own tuner for 20 bud. But maybe if I spot something along the way

 

I dont know anything about radios/electrical so id pay to have it done right. Now i can youtube and learn so next time i can doit myself lol

 

Yeah, pretty easy to do once you know how to do it.

Also, for the poster that said his contact was roughly "20mi away" or at least that is what the contact claimed? This is possible with HF (High Frequency bands... such as 11m, which the CB band is in). It is called "atmospheric skip" and weather/sky conditions permitting, typically during the evening hours, it is possible to get skip. I have yet to get any skip, but my farthest non-line of sight contact was roughly 6mi out with CB. But, typically, you are rarely going to get anyone beyond 2-4mi away, if that. The wattage output of 4W does not help matters either.

Honestly, I don't know why they just can't make CB, at the very least, 10-20W max legal power... at least 15W??? Is 11m close to the 10m band? Yes it is, but VERY DOUBTFUL that there is going to be any channel interference???!!!

Now, try to put some logic out of this one... SSB CB (Single Side Band) is 12W max legal power??? Is it CB? Yes it is, more or less CB, but "tunable" in that sense, if you will (i.e. the clarifier)!!!

Anyways, I would THINK that a SSB would be more problematic to the 10m HAM band, if anything, because you are STILL, more or less, within the same 11m band AND it is STILL close to the 10m HAM band??? I don't know, pretty F'N retarded if you ask me!!!

interesting read on SSB and how it basically works...
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~rtoyama/ssbcb.html

Btw, SSB CB units tend to be a bit on the expensive side. Not THAT expensive, but not all that cheap either. But with that said, just make "regular CB" around 10-15W, at least??? Just like stated above, it is more or less within the 11m band in the first place!!!

 

Hey you managed to wire the coax, power and ground. That's pretty impressive, don't sell yourself short

 

AGREED!!!

 

I've personally not done test between the two but have always had better range with the Wilson name. They've done plenty of independent testing of their products vs other big name antennas...i'm sure much of that info is available via Google.

 

Now for the FRS/GMRS topic. This one is confusing. It is an FM band of communication in the 462-467mHz range shared by both systems. Operating an FRS radio is FREE, GMRS requires an FCC licence to legally operate. To make this MORE confusing the FCC changed things about a year ago based on transmit power. If your GMRS radio transmits at 2 watts or less it's now considered to be an FRS radio. Before I got my ham ticket I had (& still keep it active) the GMRS licence, it is pricey (around $80 or $90) and was only valid for 5 years. FCC changed it to be valid for 10 yrs now. I am grandfathered in to my licence covering myself and immediate family. New rules say the licence is only for individuals now. I'll add a few supporting links:

https://midlandusa.com/gmrs-or-frs-radio-how-to-choose/

https://www.buytwowayradios.com/blog/2017/09/which_frs_gmrs_radios_are_license_free.html

https://www.fcc.gov/general-mobile-radio-service-gmrs

To add to this confusion my GMRS call sign is wildly different from my ham call.

I'm not trying to be "that guy" but just trying to share information...I feel it's better to know, than not know.

 

Comparing AM carrier power to SSB PEP power is not really an apples to apple comparison. But yes, with properly designed and operated radios there is little danger of interference with the 10 meter band.

 

Yeah, I was just pointing out that it's not all that much different... regarding the frequencies in general really. I just have a really hard time seeing roughly +10W on top of the 4W having an issue with the 10m band. Now, if someone had 100W RF amps then that maybe a bit different? I honestly don't know how much it would start to "step on" the 10m band, but even then a little doubtful. For CB, since it is HF, has some really good potential for reaching out with very little power, in my humble opinion.

I can't remember how much power output they were doing, but I was at a Field Day event on a 20m band and I was talking to someone a few, A FEW, states away back east???!!! I was super stoked about that!!! An example of atmospheric skip using 20m, if I remember correctly and I want to say it was on 100W, but the point being here that we're talking +1000 miles, LOL!!!

But yeah, you get what I'm talking about.

Oh, before I forget, the FCC rules, as far as I still know, you cannot have any contacts past 155mi with CB, if I remember right? So, what if you have atmospheric skip? HAHAHAHAHAHA, they're going to penalize someone for something that is "naturally occurring"??? It's like, "ummmm, wait, you're 155(.1)mi away so I can't talk to you..."???!!! Just absolute garbage rules. I believe in most of the rules, don't get me wrong because there are people that just do NOT understand the "whys"!!! There ARE very good reasons, but I can't stop people from doing what they do, correct? There was one instance, for example, of not understanding something as simple as "squelch"?! Anyways, I'm not about to be "that guy" and plus it only hurts "me" in the end when trail riding. CB is SO MUCH easier to deal with in the end, in my humble opinion. If you need to contact someone that is that far off trail, then something isn't quite right? Either too big of a group, poor planning, or someone not paying attention to group members falling back/getting lost.

 

100 Watts is typical of HF Amateur Radio transceivers with no external amplifier. With a decent antenna and band conditions that is easily capable of world wide communications on 20 - 10 meters. CB was meant to be a short distance communication service. You don't really want a lot of interference coming in from long distances. Hence all of the restrictions.

 

Now THAT is understandable good sir!!! Honestly never thought about that part of it. But, I just want to add in with my hard-headedness, they could still up the wattage a wee bit instead of 4W... maybe 10W, at least??? 10W can get you pretty far out there... considering.

But yeah, I was pretty damn stoked when I made contact that far. It was well later in the evening after I had left, but someone had made contact with a guy in Hawaii I found out later. I live in/near Huntington Beach, CA. It was HB RACES and they were the ones that were basically "hosting" field day out in that area.

But yeah, you're right!!!

 

Dead thread, couldn't find one in search, and this seamed to have some knowledgeable radio enthusiasts here.

On the 3rd gen Tacoma using a bed mount like the C4, or a generic one mounted to the utility rail in the bed, would it be more effective using a No-Ground-Plane antenna?

From my understanding when I used to install CBs in my Subarus, having a relatively decent ground plane is important to maximize tx signal. A ground plane being defined as a large hunk of grounded metal surface to "reflect outwards" the radio waves. That's why a trunk lid, roof, or hood work best. I also learned that placement of the antenna, and vehicle features that contribute to the ground plane, have an impact on transmission direction. (that's why a lot of Semis have an antenna on both sides).

Given that the inside of our beds are composite, would mounting with a C4 style mount end up utilizing the bed side and tailgate (if even grounded well enough, I doubt it) as the ground plane? Essentially making transmissions most effective off the driver side of the truck?

Would this possibly be a case where an NGP antenna would provide greater performance?

 

You might be better off trying your luck with a regular antenna first; and run a ground strap from the mount down to your frame. An NGP antenna works best when there is no metal involved; whereas the signal will reflect off the ground or off of water. In the case of a truck bed, yes the bed is composite, but it's sitting on top of a steel frame. That's just my thoughts on it anyways, I've used a standard antenna mounted to a steel bed bar before with no issues and acceptable SWR's, but have no personal experience with using an NGP in the bed.

 

I have a regular antenna mounted off the back corner of my 2017, and I think it works pretty well. I was worried about ground plane as well, but I think it's ok. I have SWR 1.8 or below with a 2' firestik and below 1.3 with a 5'. Both get out ok (no surprise, the 5 seems to be better than the 2). I've never tried a NGP, so I can't compare. But I seem to have enough metal for a decent performance with a regular antenna.

 

1) The best range is the 102" antenna.
2) A fiberglass 48" to 60" is better for lower head room.
3) 30" to 40" center load using the antenna mount using where the AM FM is so does not look like you have a CB.

A rule of thumb is 1 to 2 miles per foot of antenna . Remember a antenna is just wire regulars of brand.

Dave