What kind of CB radio antenna should I get?

[Irving]

Hello again. I was doing some more research on this, and will probably get a Firestik II tunable kit. I see that there are antennas made for vehicles that don't really have grounds (like boats) and I am curious about this. Where is the important part to be grounded in the system?

My actual question is, can I use a mount like this and still be properly grounded? I think a 4-5ft antenna mounted this way will get me up over the roof and work out okay.

[RichM]

If you install an antenna besid your vehicle instead of above it, the vehicle effectively becomes a reflector and you will have a highly directional antenna. This is especially true with an antenna with a coil at the base. The more antenna you have above the jeep the more omni directional it will be.

[Irving]

I'm thinking with a 5' antenna, mounted the way in the picture, will give me about 3' above the top of my truck.

[Irving]

So, will this set up be grounded correctly? Is it the radio that needs to be grounded or the antenna?

[DFBrews]

So, will this set up be grounded correctly? Is it the radio that needs to be grounded or the antenna?

What does the bushing on the spare tire carrier look like is it insulated? if so just run a ground strap to the frame of the vehicle ground are very important in order to get range. Irving lets setup a day and i will look at your set up and give you pointers.

[Irving]

Thanks for the offer, but I don't quite have a set up yet, I'm trying to decide how I want to mount it before I buy all the part. My concern, is that my spare is the factory aluminum. It makes perfect sense to just run a ground wire though. I don't know why I didn't think of it.

[Irving]

Okay, I picked up an antenna, some cable, and a mount. I'm going to run the cable and install the mount tomorrow. I was able to pick up the cable where one end unscrews, so I don't have to drill such a large hole in my truck.

DFBrews, do you have an SWR meter? Should I pick up a spring like the one being used in the photo I posted? How important is that spring?

[ridgewalker]

Irving, a spring will in effect change the SWR of the antenna, but it will prevent damage if you accidentally drive into a garage, parking garage or tree limb. It will reduce stress on the mount.

Ideally an antenna should be as long as possible, mounted as high as possible and centered on the ground plane to get the best transmission in all directions. Barring this, everything is a compromise (what's new?)

The SWR will let you know if you have a good ground as well as allow you to "center" on the frequencies (channels) you want to use. Example: if you only use the lower half of the channels including emergency 9, then you may want to make them the optimum. But if you want to average over all the 40 channels (assuming the antenna can do it), then center it on 20, just make sure it is still good enough to use channel 9.

[BlasterBob]

Another member here, baglock1 is/was also looking for someone to help check out his mobil CB. Maybe he'll check in on this thread and get something going for his radio/antenna too.

[Irving]

Ridgewalker, after I posted about the spring, I realized exactly why I need it. I'm a bit worried about my antenna location though, so we'll see how it goes.

I realize that the spring will add to the height of the antenna and affect the way it is tuned. I'm going to get a spring today so I'll have it when it comes time to tune.