Anyone running a no-ground plane antenna on their rig?

[WagoneerSX4]

Do they perform well? I just ordered a 3ft firestik NGP antenna and wondering if they perform well. A regular grounded antenna is simply out of the question on my car. I've had troubles with proper grounds and I didn't want to deal with the hassles of a really long ground all the way back to the battery. Also waiting on my SWR meter, hoping to get it tuned under 1.5.

If I get a few miles of range I'll be happy!

Also, does anyone know where to get a mount for a tail light seam or even for the rear hatch (bolt on - not the wrap-around hatch style), that's two-way adjustable? Being as I don't have a truck there isn't a straight seam anywhere on the rear of my car so it the single adjustables won't cut it. Something like this but two-way adjustable:

 

[DaveInDenver]

It's the power return that needs to run the whole length to the battery, the antenna return (ground) needs to be right at the mount. You want the whole of the body of the vehicle to be the path. So a good connection to the body at the antenna, connect individual body panels together and then a solid connection of the radio ground (ideally there should be a screw on the radio to ground it) to the body/frame.

No ground plane antennas are just /less/ ground plane dependent. You really should still take the time to bond body panels and make sure the antenna and radio share the same RF reference. Keep in mind that low SWR does not indicate high performance. Low SWR just tells you that no energy is being reflected back to the radio. A 50 ohm resistor has nearly perfect 1:1 SWR but it radiates next to zero RF, all the power become heat.

 

[alia176]

I learn something new from Dave every time I read his posts. Thanks for the education.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

Interesting. I'll make sure it's still well grounded then.

It's the power return that needs to run the whole length to the battery, the antenna return (ground) needs to be right at the mount. You want the whole of the body of the vehicle to be the path. So a good connection to the body at the antenna, connect individual body panels together and then a solid connection of the radio ground (ideally there should be a screw on the radio to ground it) to the body/frame.

No ground plane antennas are just /less/ ground plane dependent. You really should still take the time to bond body panels and make sure the antenna and radio share the same RF reference. Keep in mind that low SWR does not indicate high performance. Low SWR just tells you that no energy is being reflected back to the radio. A 50 ohm resistor has nearly perfect 1:1 SWR but it radiates next to zero RF, all the power become heat.

How exactly do I do this?

 

[DaveInDenver]

How exactly do I do this?

Connect the radio ground (if it has one, otherwise a mounting screw) to the truck body & frame with tinned braided strap. Connect body panels together with the strap, make sure everything terminates to the frame eventually with straps. You can crimp & solder on terminals or just solder the ends so they are rigid and drill a hole for a screw.

What you are looking to do is make sure the antenna ground and the radio ground are solidly at the same potential. The radio will pick it up from the DC negative and the coax shield, but neither are necessarily low impedance. All currents want to return to the source that forced them, you're just trying to make sure you provide an easy way for it to happen.

 

[rambrush]

Dave is so correct, I used Georgia Copper to source my braided and tinned strapping. I have everything from exhaust to the hood strapped and grounded. Some got a muffler clamp to ground the exhaust, to a bolt through the strap with a star washer. Also the Manufacture has a ground for the engine you will also need to ground it to the frame.

 

[WagoneerSX4]

This sounds like a good idea. I was actually thinking of going around and adding/replacing the crappy stock ground cables due to other grounding issues with this vehicle. I might go ahead and do that just to help out the CB as well. Thanks for the tip!