CB antenna advice

[coaxial]

Hello,

I just bought CB radios for myself and a friend and we are looking at how/where to mount antennas. Here are the radios we got http://www.amazon.com/Midland-75-822-Ha ... B00000K2YR
They are "portable" but have very good reviews and come with a vehicle adapter which hooks them into 12V power and an external antenna. We haven't bought the external antennas yet as we are still researching the best one to use and the best place to mount.

I'm thinking of somehow mounting the antenna base to the front brush guard or using a round bar mount on one of the guard bars, and then securing the end of the whip antenna to a rain gutter somewhere towards the back of the vehicle. I would make the rain gutter clip openable so if I wanted really good range I could release the whip and let it go verticle. The rest of the time it could be secured mostly horizontal and not affect height clearance.

Any recommendations on antenna choice, mount type, or mount location?

Thanks in advance, I will report my results!

[TardisDeli]

Hi Coax, We've been looking into this too.

Anyone got a big old CB from their old truck they don't want? Maybe old Uncle Whosis has one in the garage ? We will give it a new home. Old and ugly is good.

We have some used VHF antennii from boats, need an expert answer to let us know if a CB antenna is better ?

Coax, yesterday Jay got me a sturdy mounting bracket for the mirror arm, free from a boat, so phone him asap to look for one for you. 604-961-1390 . Trying to keep the height high, and not obstructing vision so didnt go with bushbar mount (our original idea). you are Welcome to borrow our boat vhf antenna to try out.

Jay loves drilling holes in delicii so he will happily wire the CB in for you (price Pepsi with ice). He does these installs daily in boats, so he knows the tricks and has the tools. Would love to help with yours so we can try out your CB before buying one.

Just one warning -- on vhf radio's you must never never never press the transmit / talk button if the antenna is not connected as instantly fry computer board. Don't know if same on CB ??

Cheers, Christine. Jay cell 604-961-1390

[ghmorris]

Christine, there is a huge difference in the frequency that a marine band VHF (157MHz +/-) is tuned for and the frequency that a CB radio (27MHz) is tuned for.

Please be very careful, because speaking of frying things, the antennas are not interchangeable! I suspect you can buy antennas that have dual inputs for both VHF and CB, but they are specialist items.

George

[TardisDeli]

Hi George, Thanks for info, we will obey you !

So, is there a "good" brand for CB antenna vs a cheap brand, and the best actual length etc (on some vhf they do a funky swirly winding of wire around the first few inches to increase the overall effectiveness on shorter models).

Can we just use an older style cheap CB one? We were thinking of a long CB whip that we just clip down to the rain gutter when not in use, instead of a short stubby one, cuz we plan to use off roading on Delica trips when we are a couple miles apart (we use the FRS family radios now, but limited to half mile effectiveness due to trees rocks hills).

Any good websites?
Thanks, Christine.

[coaxial]

awesome thanks for the tips, I'm going by cantire and north shore offroad tonight to look at antennas and mounts. For a ratty old CB check any pawn shop - I might try that as well for antenna stuff.

I hope to mount mine on the bars as my diagram shows, as I already have parkade issues and this should keep it low. Would your mirror bar mount work on something the diameter of a bumper bar?

For cabling I will just run the ant. cable through the grommet behind the fuse box, same path as my aux headlight wires.

Anyone happen to have or know where I can get a SWR meter to tune my antenna?

[TardisDeli]

I think Jay's buddy BEN has the tuner, multifrequency, they used it for the Search & Rescue radios. Christine.

[ghmorris]

Hi George, Thanks for info, we will obey you !

So, is there a "good" brand for CB antenna vs a cheap brand, and the best actual length etc (on some vhf they do a funky swirly winding of wire around the first few inches to increase the overall effectiveness on shorter models).

Can we just use an older style cheap CB one? We were thinking of a long CB whip that we just clip down to the rain gutter when not in use, instead of a short stubby one, cuz we plan to use off roading on Delica trips when we are a couple miles apart (we use the FRS family radios now, but limited to half mile effectiveness due to trees rocks hills).

Any good websites?
Thanks, Christine.

Ouch. I haven't used CB in years, just happen to have ancient formal training in both radio and microwave and make my living from microwave today.

That said, Wilson is pretty much the gold standard in CB antennas. Shakespeare is worth looking up for Marine applications.

And yes, having shaken off some cobwebs, ISTR that 102" plus a 6" spring is around the magic length for CB (1/2 wave whip), and would be the length of the ancient bumper-mount whips we used to use. Anything less than that is either working due to the magic of loading coils, or is some kind of more modern design as you describe.

Wikipedia has a pretty good article on the basics.

George

[coaxial]

re: best antenna

I have done a lot of reading and spoken to a few people about antennas and the compact high tech antennas might work okay, but apparently they don't come close to the range you get from a "big whip" ones, the bigger the better. Apparently the king of all CB antennas is the 102" whip. The majority of these are made by wilson and wilson is definitely the most popular brand. With the length of the delica I think I can run the 102"

My only concern is they all seem to come with a magnet base, I'm not sure if I can just optionally use something like a bar mount.

[TardisDeli]

Hi Coax,

My antenna mounting device is too small for the crosswise bambi bar, but Jay is the King Of Making Antennii fit on boats, so get your choice of antenna and a 2 litre bottle of Pepsi to bribe Jay, and come by the house. I notice the upright bars on the bambi bars are only about 1/2 inch round, so even just a metal radiator hose clamp would work, paint it to match the bars, sahweeet.. My theory is get yours hooked up so we can find each other on the Kathy's Island Adventure next weekend (an exciting weekend of PawnShopping is in store). Jay might need more than 1 fitting with your antenna if he has to measure stuff then make it next day at work, so don't leave to last minute. Maybe attach with butterfly bolts for quick removal for parkades ?? Mine will attach to driver's mirror for those OOOOPS moments when I am halfway under the low entrance way into a parkade, so I can hurriedly lower it without exiting the vehicle.

Phone Jay now to book a time (tomorrow Friday evening is good, Or this weekend ... not sure what we're doing with my mum for mother's day -- we took her off-roading in the Delica to Stave Lake Mud Truck Hillbilly Fest for her 85th birthday, so things can only get better in her opinion).

Christine.

[TardisDeli]

Is it true that Loran C antenna are same as marine CB? If so would they work on Delica ?

George ? Green1 ? Ruminante ? Anyone know for sure ?

Jay has 2 Shakespeare LoranC antennas in the basement, which came off boats that used them for marine CB (channel 13 CB). (wow, things I never knew we had, and Jay says I am the hoarder, hah).

Josh, You are welcome to one. It's 8.6 feet long, white fibreglass. Jay doesnt have a mount for the Bambi Bars, But he can check the Western Marine catalogue to get a different part if u want. This thread at the base is the standard Shakespeare CB, a 3/8 inch fine thread, apparently you can also get a spring thing fitting, so if you find one of those springs that u can attach to bambi bar, then you're all set. Phone him after 9am, he doesnt do email. Christine.

[ghmorris]

Is it true that Loran C antenna are same as marine CB? If so would they work on Delica ?

George ? Green1 ? Ruminante ? Anyone know for sure ?

Jay has 2 Shakespeare LoranC antennas in the basement, which came off boats that used them for marine CB (channel 13 CB). (wow, things I never knew we had, and Jay says I am the hoarder, hah).

Josh, You are welcome to one. It's 8.6 feet long, white fibreglass. Jay doesnt have a mount for the Bambi Bars, But he can check the Western Marine catalogue to get a different part if u want. This thread at the base is the standard Shakespeare CB, a 3/8 inch fine thread, apparently you can also get a spring thing fitting, so if you find one of those springs that u can attach to bambi bar, then you're all set. Phone him after 9am, he doesnt do email. Christine.

Loran C is 100KHz, (low frequency) and would normally be used with an active long-wave whip. CB is 27MHz (high frequency) and is normally used with a multiple of 108" for marine applications.

I wouldn't expect a CB to perform particularly well using a Loran C antenna, but if its sitting around it may be worth a try. Use an SWR meter and make sure you have less than 1.5:1, preferably down around 1.15:1.

Typically a 102" whip and a 6" spring is pretty inexpensive, so going after one new may not be too much of a drain. Apart from that, there are tons of choices on ebay.

If I was putting a CB in a Deli and was looking for performance rathe than cool , I'd probably start by looking at a couple of Firesticks, (probably the 4' ones, but maybe just 2') on a pair of mirror mounts with a co-phased harness. It might be safer to go stainless rather than fibreglass for bush use as the fibreglass is going to be more brittle and break easier, not to mention transfer more load to the mounts...

George

[coaxial]

wow thanks for the info! any idea where I could buy any of this locally though? I'm not sure how much luck I'd have with e-bay and shipping and customs with a 102" antenna :)

Canadian tire has some cobra antennas, and north shore offroad has a $135 K40, or a build it yourself kit which is longer. Don't know of anywhere else to check. Pawn shops?

[marsgal42]

wow thanks for the info! any idea where I could buy any of this locally though? I'm not sure how much luck I'd have with e-bay and shipping and customs with a 102" antenna :)

Canadian tire has some cobra antennas, and north shore offroad has a $135 K40, or a build it yourself kit which is longer. Don't know of anywhere else to check. Pawn shops?

Ask at Burnaby Radio or ComWest. If they don't have them, they'll know who does.

...laura

[TardisDeli]

So my CB hunt continues. Had a fun day checking out ALL the 2nd hand shops, pawn shops, and funky little electronic shops in New West and Burnaby for a CB radio. NOPE, nada, zilch.

But if you're looking for power tools, compressors, and CD's check the pawnshops -- like brand new for cheap.

Nice pawn shop on Edmonds, says in the 10 years he has owned pawnshopS has only seen CB radio maybe 3 times and they were very high end expensive systems not suitable for vehicle. Every shop I asked maybe they know of some guy who doesnt use it anymore and the wife would appreciate it gone from the garage, and could I leave my name and number just in case ... nope, not interested.

Craigslist had 1, Cobra, but just sold. Checked 3 local websites of 4x4 clubs, sold.

So, it's off the proper radio stores per Laura Marsgal suggestions.

Cheers, Christine.

[coaxial]

burnaby radio has a nice looking unit for $99
http://www.burnabyradio.com/specials.htm

I got mine specifically as they convert to portable, and have channel scan. There are some drawbacks but they seem pretty good.

I emailed burnaby radio and comwest about antenna advice but no word back yet. Let me know what sort of antennas they have for CB!

Thanks
Josh