Best CB Antenna Configuration?

As the title suggest, looking for what you all have found to be the best configuration for distance and clarity.


Disclaimer, claiming a lot of ignorance here as I know very little about CB's


My thought was to mount a long antenna to the rear bumper.

 

Lrgrnr,

Thanks

I 'assumed' a longer antenna (which allows for longer wave length) would provide greater distance. As such the greatest length could be achieved by mounting the antenna at a lower fixed point; thus, the bumper mounting position.


Also, any preferences for CB Units?

 

The unit isn't what matters, it's the antenna. And you want a wilson roof-mount because there's almost no metal in the bed/bumper area, meaning grounding is less effective.

The only downside to a roof mount antenna is drilling a hole in the roof of your vehicle. Not a big deal if you have patience and a steady hand with a drill.

 

Jandrews,

Thanks.

I'm in the process of buying and Off Road bumper from Brute Force, so there ought to be plenty of that conductive stuff.

However, it seems most here are sold on the roof mount, so I'll do a bit more research on it.

 

What your after for optimum performance is a good ground plane.. this mean a large flat surface that completely surrounds the antenna, this allows the signal to radiate out in all directions..... thus the reason lots of us choose the roof.

 

For your knowledgehttp://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/Bumper-mnts.htm

http://signalengineering.com/ultimate/mobile_antennas.html

Think of the ground plane as a launching pad for the radio waves.
Now think of yourself as a radio wave, ready to bounce into the air.
The roof of a vehicle is like a trampoline...
A roof rack is like clotheslines.....
Now which would work better to bounce from?
It would take a lot of clothes lines to make a good trampoline.
It would take a metal floor roof rack to make a good ground plane.

Given all this, your two best mounts IMO are the roof, OR the front edge of your bed with #6 AWG groundwire (short as possible) to truck body.
You can also get a bracket mount and do an install at the windshield end of the hood on the driver side. Your radiation pattern from that point will be directional but you still have a good groundplane.


By the way don't forget that if you scroll to the bottom of your threadpage, you have several other related threads with more ideas and knowledge

 

Some rules of thumb with CB antennas are: Little antenna, little signal and the higher the better. Also do yourself a favor and don't skimp on the radio, you usually get what you pay for.

 

dont go by larrys people will never hear you

 

x2 i bought a shitty midland $50 radio and it sucked and fried instantly before i tuned my antenna. I got a cheapo cobra though and its mint. Also if you don't want to mount on the roof, firestik has like 90000 mounting options, check em out highly recommend. You could even mount over your hood or in your door jam, I personally have mine mounted on my tool box and have a 4 foot so that sticks over the cab and has the roof and the bed to bounce off and it works good, 100% tune your antenna though some people don't and pay the price like my self.

 

I permanently mounted a wilson lil wil roof mount which has worked great. I utilized the pre drilled hole in the roof (for satalite antenna)

 

Everyone is only talking "Ground Plane" Antennas.. Where do the "Non Ground Plane" Antennas stand here?

 

I've seen a buddy mount a 6 or 7' whip between the bed and cab to the frame below. I know nothing about cb's but his sounds as clear as a radio talk show and gets some pretty good distance

 

I have a 4' fiberglass firestik and it works pretty good, not too great for long range but if you're just using it for wheeling trips, mint.

 

Go with a "roof mount" or "hood lip mount". I had a hood lip mount on my 05 Tacoma and I had a very good range. The most important thing is a good "ground plane" and a properly tuned antenna. Don't listen to the better radio BS. 4 Watts is the maximum tx allowed by the FCC. You aren't legally going to see a gain in performance between a cheap radio or a real expensive one.

 

I've got the same thing, yet to install... Trying to find someone to make me a mount...

 

What do you have in mind? Where do you want to mount it?

 

Agreed. The roof is definitely the best gound plane available. There's also another option which is the hood. There are mounts available for the front fender that attach inside the engine compartment. For example:

http://www.pro-fit-intl.com/shopantenna.htm

 

dude just get one from firestik, look on Amazon mine was like $5 i think.

 

OP, I think you might already have the info needed, but just to tell you what I run is a uniden CB unit, (Best in my opinion and many others who I have spoke to) and a Wilson lil wil with the magnetic base on the center of my roof. Way better than the firestik knock off type antennas I believe.