punisher1130
Adventurer
Impressive, so that is why whips are popular, never could get a straight answer on that. Would my fire stick be able to do the same? I was thinking of getting a booster at some point for the reason of reaching further out.
cb antenna mounting
- Thread starter punisher1130
- Start date
4x4junkie
Explorer
Yeah something like that should work fine. Just make sure the bar is attached well to the truck bed so the bed & bar together can act as your ground plane.
And ×2(,000,000) on a full ¼-wave whip.
A 102" whip provides on average about 1½-1¾ times the transmitting distance of a little 48"-er, which means you'll almost triple the amount of area covered by your signal. Even a mere 1 foot longer antenna will have about 15-20% more range (5 feet is about the cutoff point for decent CB antenna performance, antennas shorter than this begin to function more like resistors than they do antennas... It's simple physics of the signal's wavelength at 27MHz).
punisher1130
Adventurer
Yeah math isn't my strong suit so I don't know anything on all that, that is another language to me lol
, but I do understand the grounding part though, worse comes to worse I could always get a ground strap and use it. 4wheel parts didn't have a 5 foot anything, it was either 4ft or 8ft I think and no whips at all. I may upgrade to a whip later on but till I get some trail time under my belt with some groups I think my little 4 footer will serve my purposes till then.punisher1130
Adventurer
Oh crazy idea, do correct me if I am wrong on this. As stated in another post, the antenna's ''aim'' so to speak is pointed to where the most metal is, i.e. driver side fender mount would make it weak on that side but stronger on the passenger side. Based on that what if I isolated the mount ( driver or passenger side) and used a ground strap or cable and ground it somewhere in the middle of the truck, would that give the same range as if the antenna was mounded in the middle of the truck?
4x4junkie
Explorer
I wasn't aware 4WP even sold radio stuff... I generally go to a radio shop or electronics store, or occasionally even a truck stop when I need something. I imagine the selection is orders of magnitude better. There's also Ebay & Amazon.com as well.
My favorite antenna (short of a 102" whip) is the Francis CB26 Hot Rod. Those worried about trees or overhangs damaging it only need to put an antenna spring on it so the antenna can deflect out of the way. A quick-disconnect removes the issue of garages or underground parking (takes 3-5 seconds to undo the mount and drop the antenna into the truck bed).
Since you already have your 4'-er, go ahead and use it, just know there's room for improvement if you find the range seems too limited (I see too many people that buy short little antennas and then complain about the dismal range of their CB as if it's a general rule of CB, don't be one of them ).
On the bed bar, I was more referring to that it is bolted well to the bed in at least 4 places. Ground straps are not always effective at radio frequencies, solidly-bolted connections are always better when they are available.
My favorite antenna (short of a 102" whip) is the Francis CB26 Hot Rod. Those worried about trees or overhangs damaging it only need to put an antenna spring on it so the antenna can deflect out of the way. A quick-disconnect removes the issue of garages or underground parking (takes 3-5 seconds to undo the mount and drop the antenna into the truck bed).
Since you already have your 4'-er, go ahead and use it, just know there's room for improvement if you find the range seems too limited (I see too many people that buy short little antennas and then complain about the dismal range of their CB as if it's a general rule of CB, don't be one of them
).On the bed bar, I was more referring to that it is bolted well to the bed in at least 4 places. Ground straps are not always effective at radio frequencies, solidly-bolted connections are always better when they are available.
4x4junkie
Explorer
No, that won't work.
Difficult to explain, but the antenna mount has to be directly connected to a ground point (ground plane) if the SWR match and radiation pattern is to be decent. Any type of a ground wire, cable, post, bracket, etc. that doesn't have a large "plane" immediately under the antenna will try to become part of the antenna itself as it radiates (causing your coaxial cable itself to become part of it as well). All this does is screw up the radiating pattern even further (in addition to the power lost to bad SWR).
Sorry.
punisher1130
Adventurer
I wasn't aware 4WP even sold radio stuff... I generally go to a radio shop or electronics store, or occasionally even a truck stop when I need something. I imagine the selection is orders of magnitude better. There's also Ebay & Amazon.com as well.
My favorite antenna (short of a 102" whip) is the Francis CB26 Hot Rod. Those worried about trees or overhangs damaging it only need to put an antenna spring on it so the antenna can deflect out of the way. A quick-disconnect removes the issue of garages or underground parking (takes 3-5 seconds to undo the mount and drop the antenna into the truck bed).
Since you already have your 4'-er, go ahead and use it, just know there's room for improvement if you find the range seems too limited (I see too many people that buy short little antennas and then complain about the dismal range of their CB as if it's a general rule of CB, don't be one of them
On the bed bar, I was more referring to that it is bolted well to the bed in at least 4 places. Ground straps are not always effective at radio frequencies, solidly-bolted connections are always better when they are available.
Oh yeah 4wp still has a few things for CB's though there could be more selection on the website since I just bought what they had on hand. I already thought ahead for the spring since I did know that was a common issue. I am sure I will upgrade later on but since this is a first for me I figured I would start small and when I am ready to trail solo I will upgrade to a 102' whip so yes that is drilled in
lol. As for the bars I would have 6 points of contact since one of my ideas for those bed rails is to 1 use them as tie down spots and 2 might get one of those roof top tents, either way I want to make sure it has plenty of contact points so it doesn't bend and wrap on me.punisher1130
Adventurer
Damn and I thought I had a smart idea, all well no biggie as I said it was a idea.
Radiation pattern is like the reflection of a pole sticking out of a pond. If it's near the edge, you only get a reflection on the side with water. If it's in the middle you get a nice symmetrical reflection all around. If your pole is in a puddle (using something like a tool box as a ground plane), your pond isn't big enough for a good reflection.
punisher1130
Adventurer
That a pretty effective way to say it.