Quick Antenna Question

[LumpyCanuck]

Will be going with CB(Yes I understand ham is more better, and all the cool kids are doing it), and can mount antenna above roof of tacoma(haven't decided on mag-mount or firestick yet). My questions are

1) will having the roof basket full of stuff negatively effect receiving or sending signals?

2) How long is too long for a ground wire for antenna?Am I ok to run one down the back of the cab, and attach to frame rail?

 

[verdesardog]

The answer to both of those questions depends on what antenna you are using. The best would be a 102" whip but do you really need that? Short range communication can be done effectively with shorter antennas. A magnetic mount would not need a ground wire and a long whip would be grounded at the mount. Try to keep the antenna in the clear as much as possible.

 

[LumpyCanuck]

I was/am planning on a 4' firestick on the roof. I'd love to run an old school 102" with a racoon tail topper, but wifey says no lol Had a buddy in high school with one on his YJ....used to scream up to stop signs, stab the brakes, and tap the sign with the whip hahahaha

 

[PhulesAU]

The long whips can be dangerous. I'd go with a Lil'willy mag mount Wilson brand if available , they are durable and hold very well. the good thing about mag mounts is when you hit that tree limb or drive thru cover they'll flop over with no vehicle damage.

 

[prerunner1982]

1) Sure, depending on how high you have stuff stacked on the rack and how much of the antenna is blocked by the stuff on the rack it could cause issues with transmit/receive in that direction.

2) Shorter is best and I would say from roof to frame is too long. If you ground to the frame you may want to run ground straps from the body to the frame and from the exhaust to the frame so the entire vehicle is RF bonded.

 

[LumpyCanuck]

Did a lot of research and what not this weekend, and decided a 4' firestick on a fender mount will be my best possible solution. It won't get crazy range, but enough to keep in contact with other trucks in our crew, which was really my main goal. NOW, where does a guy find a fender/hood gap antenna mount for a 2007 tacoma?

 

[LumpyCanuck]

http://www.wearecb.com/am-fm-cb-antenna-splitter.html and anyone ever run one of these?? if it works, I'd like just 1 antenna

 

[PhulesAU]

Just Say No. Those sound like a great idea, but reality just doesn't agree.

 

[LumpyCanuck]

hahah I thought the 2 wouldn't agree in that little magic box haha thanks

 

[prerunner1982]

Did a lot of research and what not this weekend, and decided a 4' firestick on a fender mount will be my best possible solution. It won't get crazy range, but enough to keep in contact with other trucks in our crew, which was really my main goal. NOW, where does a guy find a fender/hood gap antenna mount for a 2007 tacoma?

Are you dead set on the Firestik? I prefer a flexible metal whip over a stiff fiberglass antenna that requires a spring to save it from getting busted. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/BROWNING-26-...=1483459161&sr=8-1&keywords=browning+br-140-b

This antenna does require a bit of tuning as it's made to be able to work on a range of frequencies but other than that it works well.

As far as mounts go would a Tundra mount work? http://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/toyota-tundra-2007-2013-3664.html (it comes with coax)...
Or maybe a generic L bracket mount: http://www.theantennafarm.com/catal...ounts-296/nmo-bracket-mounts-with-pl-259-500/

If you prefer the firestik, here are some generic L brackets that will work with the normal CB antenna stud: http://www.theantennafarm.com/catal...t-mounts-268/3-8-hole-brackets-no-cable-1039/

 

[prerunner1982]

http://www.wearecb.com/am-fm-cb-antenna-splitter.html and anyone ever run one of these?? if it works, I'd like just 1 antenna

Hand signals might work just as well. The FM stereo antenna isn't tuned for the CB frequencies making it awfully inefficient.

 

[DaveInDenver]

Hand signals might work just as well. The FM stereo antenna isn't tuned for the CB frequencies making it awfully inefficient.

http://www.wearecb.com/am-fm-cb-antenna-splitter.htm

That would be true of those boxes that convert your AM/FM antenna for CB, but the one being considered works the other way by making a CB antenna work for AM/FM reception. For that it probably would work fine since the stock radio antenna usually isn't anything super special, particularly on AM they are usually next to useless.

I've been thinking of going just this very thing since I have my CB antenna very close to my dash radio antenna so they tend to clank together unless I run a rubber duckie in place of the factory radio antenna. In this case the CB antenna would surely be an improvement over that dummy load.

Whether this particularly duplexer is worth a darn, I dunno, but I'd think conceptually it might be OK. Your CB still sees a decent CB antenna with just the losses of the duplexer inserted.

 

[4x4junkie]

Top-loaded antennas (Francis, Firestik, etc.) will be less affected by stuff in the vicinity of the antenna base than base-loaded antennas (Wilson 1000/5000, K40, etc.) will. Something to keep in mind if it will be near a roof rack piled with gear.
The taller the antenna, the less affected it will be too.

Antenna ground wires (if used) should be as short as absolutely possible to be effective (less than 8" or so). Best is to have the antenna's mount secured directly to the vehicle body or the (metal) roof rack so that the body or rack becomes the antenna's ground plane.

 

[87Warrior]

NOW, where does a guy find a fender/hood gap antenna mount for a 2007 tacoma?

Check out the Gamiviti antenna bracket and see if it will work for you.

 

[DaveInDenver]

NOW, where does a guy find a fender/hood gap antenna mount for a 2007 tacoma?

Not a fender lip mount, but I used the CBI ditch light brackets to mount antennas on my '08.



They fit over the hood hinge bolts and snake up behind the hood. I had to do a bit of custom fitting, nothing too bad, but I'm very happy with their rigidity and performance. They are out of my line of sight, too, which I like. Drilled the hole out to 3/8" to fit a small hole NMO on each and the platform is just barely big enough for the o-ring on a Larsen antenna to seal.

http://www.cbioffroadfab.com/products/2nd-gen-toyota-tacoma-products/t2-ditch-light-brackets/