CB Antenna - opposite radio antenna

[Aussie]

My CB antenna location and home made bracket.








Richard

[Schludwiller]

Nice post. Thanks Richard.

[ScottG]

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.

[Kerensky97]

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?

[wilburburns]

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

[Aussie]

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.



Richard

[cmxterra]

How difficult was it to remove the cowling?

[Chris_McCracken]

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.

[Chris_McCracken]

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).

[cmxterra]

Groovy!! Thanks

[rrdstarr]

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!

[Goliath the X]

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.

[Aussie]

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 for more info on CB antenna's.

Richard

[rrdstarr]

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

[Goliath the X]

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

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"