My CB antenna location and home made bracket.

http://www.rkrenn.com/xterra/mods/antenna.jpg
http://www.rkrenn.com/xterra/mods/bracket1.jpg
http://www.rkrenn.com/xterra/mods/bracket2.jpg
http://www.rkrenn.com/xterra/mods/bracket3.jpg
http://www.rkrenn.com/xterra/mods/plastic.jpg
http://www.rkrenn.com/xterra/mods/plastic2.jpg

Richard

Nice post. Thanks Richard.

I am glad you posted this because I am thinking about doing the same thing. I took the wipers and all the plastic off last weekend to try and devise a plan.

Did you take a flat piece of metal and bend it like that to make your bracket? I see you ran a ground wire, I was wondering about that also.

I may have to buy another antenna because the one I have has a nut on the bottom that you can't get to under the plastic.

Just a few questions.

1. How strong is it?
It looks pretty strong, but if you were going fast and something hit it would the whole thing rip off of the chassis of would the antenna just break?

2. How well is it grounded?
I don't know much about CB and Ham radio but I've hear that everything has to do with the ground and I wanted to know how well the reception is.
Where's Carlton when you need him?;)

I like it.....

Sturdy and strong. The bracket looks like 3/16" or 1/4" aluminum.

It also keeps the antenna in eye's view. I broke a fiberglass antenna on my last outing. I had it mounted on my rear bumper (frontier). I don't even know what broke the antenna, but when I stopped, I was dragging it down the trail :o .

It extends above the roofline, so you should get good reception, probably better behind you.

Cliff

It is fairly strong. I bent it from a flat piece of aluminum. The hardest part was getting the correct angles so that the top of the plate was horizontal.

It is hard to tell in the first photo, but I have a spring base, so I don't have to worry about hitting things.

The bracket is grounded, it is screwed to the chassis. The wire you see is the shield wire for the antenna cable which needs to be grounded at the antenna base. Don’t forget the center piece is not to touch the ground anywhere. There is a piece of plastic between the bracket and the part the antenna screws into.

To get the cable inside, there is a rubber plug right in the top left corner above the hood release.

http://www.rkrenn.com/xterra/mods/hole.jpg

Richard

How difficult was it to remove the cowling?

This mod was posted on XOC many months ago... I installed my CB antenna in the same way. I used thinner metal than him, and it wiggles a little when you poke at it, but the antenna itself does not budge, even on the highway at 85, or taking abuse driving through the forest. I get awesome range, and have had no problems with interference (which somewhat amazes me). The only hard part is getting the cable through the firewall, its a PITA.

Originally posted by cmxterra
How difficult was it to remove the cowling?

Its easy. Its all plastic "pop rivets" (or whatever they're called). Open the hood and there is a rubber seal at the inside closest to the windshield. Remove that. The cowling then can be pulled off (more plastic fasteners hidden underneath it).

Groovy!! Thanks

I want to try and fix the plastic cowling to see if I can get the vent to vent, instead of letting in hot engine air!

Is that ground wire from the CB cable? Is that a special cable. My cable doesn't have a ground wire. I didn't ground my antenna either. I've got a 1.1:1.0 SWR. Oh yeah. I've got a 4' fiberglass Wilson on the ARB.

All coax cable have two conductors, the center core which is usuallt solid and an outer braided cable. The outer cable should be grounded at both ends. One end is connected to the outside of the CB plug, which is grounded through the CB case. The other end should be connected the chassis near the antenna.

Go here (http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs.htm) for more info on CB antenna's.

Richard

I don't know if that holds true for the Firestick II I have? It is a non-ground plane model! :confused:

Thanks for the link Aussie, there is some good information there.:D

With the SWR I got, I'm not going to change anything if I don't have to. The old saying holds true: "If it's not broke, don't fix it"

Aussie, I sent you a private message also, but I figured I'd ask it here, too so that if someone else is wondering the same thing they won't have to ask you, too. I was wondering what you used to shape the bracket? I love the idea and am gonna try the same thing this Friday, but I was just wondering what's the best way to tackle it... Thanks...

Sean
'01 Super Black XE 4WD

A hammer, a vise and a hacksaw.

Richard

Hey, sweet, I have all three of those tools! :) And is it safe to assume the guess in the earlier post was right, that you used 3/16" or 1/4" aluminum?

Sean

1/8 thick. The antenna base doesn't move at all If you went thicker, it may be harder to bend.

Richard

Hey, Aussie, just wanted to let you know that I did the same install this weekend and it works like a champ. Thanks for the ideas!!!

Your welcome. Do you have a photo?

Originally posted by rrdstarr
I don't know if that holds true for the Firestick II I have? It is a non-ground plane model! :confused:

Different ground. the ground on the wire is an RF ground. the non-ground plane the firestick is talking about is the ground plane for the radio wave to bounce off of (a surface like the trunk of a car)

check out http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/tech.html for information about the wire ground.

Aussie, I'll get a pic up here as soon as I can. It turns out I fried my alternator on my trip out this weekend, so I have to futz around with that, but I'll snap some shots of the bracket and location. But, yeah, it works great, just some 2"x7"x0.125 304 stainless steel, trimmed to 1.25x7x0.125, then smacked around with a hammer and vise... fits great and looks good, too. The antenna leans a bit forward, mostly because the bracket isn't completely flat, but it doesn't bother me too terribly much...

I did the install this weekend and I'm very satisfied. I used a 7"x1.5" piece of aluminum to make the bracket (I drove my wife crazy having her judge over and over how far I had to bend the bracket to have the antenna stand to my liking) and mounted a 4' Firestick. I'm getting very little movement even up to 80 mph. I have the Cobra 75 mounted inside my new Steel Horse console, which all in all, made for a super-clean install. I had no film, otherwise I would have taken photos. All I need to do now is tune the thing and I'll be set. This is a great board for getting info! Thanks again!