CB Antenna & Mount

Dep. Ranger · Mar 29, 2009

I am looking to buy a 102'' whip for my CB Radio. I am wondering what other type of mounts or equipment that I will need for the install. Where can I buy these items for the best price? I am on a budget of about $40 and less. I am not knowledgeable by any means when it comes to CB Radios.
Also I go to a university and I park in a parking garage. So, how would I keep it from hitting the concrete ceilings and damaging the antenna? :icon_confused:

If any one else has a better style of antenna, please feel free to share your specs on yours.

Any pics of the placement of your antennas would be much appreciated. :icon_thumby:

Speedwagon · Mar 30, 2009

Dep. Ranger said:
I am looking to buy a 102'' whip for my CB Radio. I am wondering what other type of mounts or equipment that I will need for the install. Where can I buy these items for the best price? I am on a budget of about $40 and less. I am not knowledgeable by any means when it comes to CB Radios.
Also I go to a university and I park in a parking garage. So, how would I keep it from hitting the concrete ceilings and damaging the antenna?

If any one else has a better style of antenna, please feel free to share your specs on yours.

Any pics of the placement of your antennas would be much appreciated.

I'd recommend the spring to go with the whip, as it makes it far more flexible. And if you go under a cover at slow speeds, the whip should be fine. But you can always tie it down at the end to make it lower for low clearance.

Why do you want a long whip anyways? I have one on my truck, because the truck only goes to the trails. Most that DD a vehicle, have one of the shorter fiberglass antennas.

Jason · Mar 30, 2009

Speedwagon said:
I'd recommend the spring to go with the whip, as it makes it far more flexible. And if you go under a cover at slow speeds, the whip should be fine. But you can always tie it down at the end to make it lower for low clearance.

Why do you want a long whip anyways? I have one on my truck, because the truck only goes to the trails. Most that DD a vehicle, have one of the shorter fiberglass antennas.

The whips are very good antennas. I have one that I haven't mounted but I would. The vanity aspect of them is not good though.

oldjohnny · Mar 30, 2009

Here at A&M (Big agricultural school, so expect Diesel trucks left and right) I've seen trucks go into the Garages and they barely fit. Some of them go in there with antennas. They hit the ceiling alright, but the drivers don't seem to care. I doubt it would damage your antenna.

You should be fine.

Redneckryder · Mar 30, 2009

i hit my 102 on everything--bank drive thru, mcdonalds, everything. if you are using it only on the trail, you can just unscrew the antenna with a wrench and put it in the cab. or leave it at home. you can get a ball mount like the cops use, mine already had a 4" spring on it. whole set-up..ball, spring, whip, 18 ft of co-ax=$42 out the door. but that was 4 yrs ago. this is the best pic i got of my antenna mount, i mounted it to the bed floor

Dep. Ranger · Mar 30, 2009

Speedwagon, I am trying to decide between the Shorter Fiberglass and the whip. What brand of the shorter fiberglass would you recommend that I use on my truck?

Thanks for all the replies. What would you all put on your truck that is a DD a 102 Whip or a shorter fiberglass antenna? And where would you all mount both of these antennas?

RedComet6342 · Mar 30, 2009

i have me a 102" whip on my DD i wont have anything else, i first had it on my back bumper but i was hitting trees while i was doing some side jobs in rich neighborhoods but eventually i got it on my toolbox and about the only thing i hit is low overhead stuff

shadetree · Mar 30, 2009

Dep. Ranger said:
I am looking to buy a 102'' whip for my CB Radio. I am wondering what other type of mounts or equipment that I will need for the install. Where can I buy these items for the best price? I am on a budget of about $40 and less. I am not knowledgeable by any means when it comes to CB Radios.
Also I go to a university and I park in a parking garage. So, how would I keep it from hitting the concrete ceilings and damaging the antenna?

If any one else has a better style of antenna, please feel free to share your specs on yours.

Any pics of the placement of your antennas would be much appreciated.

I used whips for a while, but discontinued their use. They hit everything, bushes, trees, building ceilings. If you go into a gas station that has a canopy and flourscent lights, you can clean out the lights. Seen it happen. Kinda costly. You have to tie the damn things down to prevent this.

When going down the road at speed, most of the transmitted energy is going up due to the bending of the antenna, so the extra length is of no purpose. When using the spring mount on these antennas, the bending is much worse.

Mounting of the antenna should be where the antenna sees the most metal for the reflected ground. The transmitting antenna must not be mounted solid with the vehicle, it must be insulated. The mounting would be in the center of the vehicle to be the most efficient. This is not always feasable. Just remember the radiation pattern of the antenna will always be where there is most metal for the ground plane.

Antennas deal with wavelength. The 102" whip is a 1/4 wave in length. A full wave length at channel 40 is over 30 feet. So, you have to shorten the antenna, and it is done in multiples of the total wavelength.

At 4 watts output, you aren't going to be talking to China anyway (unless you get lucky with skip) so I would consider a shorter antenna. Mount it out of the way, set the SWR, and forget it. Most antennas are about the same. Firestik is one brand. I don't know if Radio Shack is in the antenna business anymore as I haven't played this game for quite a while, but I know there are plenty of options online.

shady

PickupMan04 FX4 L2 · Mar 30, 2009

i RUN A 102, you can pick em up from radishack for like fourteen bucks..

i mounted it to the center of the bed on the inside using half of a mirror mount for a big truck.. if i can get my camera phone to work illpost pics.

Scrambler82 · Mar 31, 2009

You will find that some and now maybe most off road facilities and trail runs will not allow the 102" whip for safety reasons; someone watching on the sidelines can get hit and even take out an eye.

The old technology, the 102", is just that old, looks OK but it is still only a 1/4 wave antenna vs the new technology, the fiberglass whip, which can be anything from a 1/2 to 3/4 wave antenna depending on what length you like.

My favorite antenna for trail use is the 2 foot Wilson Flex-i-whip, (which comes in lengths from 2 to 5 feet) it has a thin fiberglass whip, can be mounting just about anywhere there has a good grounding point and work reasonably well on longer distances.
I leave the 2-footer on sometime after a run because I forget about it being shorter.
It is mounted using a Quick Disconnect (DQ) and it is interchanged with longer antennas depending on what I am doing.
I use a 4-foot fiberglass Flex-i-Whip for everyday use and an older seven footer for long distance once I am in a campsite. All of the antennas are set up with a QD and a spring.
Now the QD and the spring can cause you trouble when tuning the antenna to the system but it can be done, if you have no need for the QD and spring then don't do it, just run the antenna.

What brand - the main thing here is "do not use Rat Shaq ". I suggest Wilson as my first choice but most people use FireStik and there are other brands out there. The antenna is the most important part of the complete system and you should spend a couple of extra bucks on it, don't skimp here.
The next thing to spend a little extra on is the coax, buy Belden or Time Micro Wave Coax only... Belden being the most common, any truck stop or Ham Radio Shop will have both.

Make sure to get a good ground for the antenna mount.
If using a mag-mount attached to the body then it should be good but if you are attaching a mount to the bed or to a bumper or rack, make sure to attach an additional ground wire from the body part or mount to the frame getting to bare metal at all connections, use external tooth star lock washers and use a conductive anti-corrosion paste on the connection.

An get the antenna tuned for lowest SWR (Standing Wave Ratio).
You will need an SWR Meter and someone that knows what they are doing but it isn’t hard to do.

luck,

4x4junkie · Mar 31, 2009

shadetree said:
When going down the road at speed, most of the transmitted energy is going up due to the bending of the antenna, so the extra length is of no purpose. When using the spring mount on these antennas, the bending is much worse.

Which is why I have a fiberglass full-length whip, they maintain their stance much better at speed (and don't whip around on the trail either)
Unfortunately these seem to be getting much tougher to find lately, most of the full-length whips you'll find are all steel now. :sad:

As for "technology", nothing beats a full-length whip for efficiency, no two-ways around that. The longer the antenna, the more surface area it has to send & receive the RF waves with. Anything shorter will compromise the range somewhat. Many don't notice it, but it generally amounts to about 20% or so of your signal strength for a typical 5ft long antenna vs. an 8 - 8½' one in tests I've done with many different antennas on the same vehicle using the same radio.

garyl · Jun 17, 2009

A bud of mine uses a 102" whip w/ a 6" spring on a ball mount, he uses the ball mount as a swivel to bend the whip down to go in garages

Rinny650 · Jun 19, 2009

On a 102" whip any good ones will have a metal ball on the top. When the signal hits this ball it causes it to spread out away from the whip. Now if you happen to hit something with the whip and knock this ball of then the range will suffer dramatically.

The old full length fiberglass antennas are awesome. I have an 8' that I run on my boat and it does great going under limbs and as far as range its top knotch. Only thing is after they get a few days old you dont want to touch them due to them splintering.

Back to the subject of the 102 incher. Go to your local radio shack and get a mount for your toolbox if you have one, if not they make a mount to go in the corner of your truck bed. Get the mount and a ball and base combo. It comes in one big pack. Then get a big spring. Not the little 1" diameter springs. The big ones that are medium size at the top and the bottom and fat in the middle. Then get the 102" whip.

Now when you mount it make sure the center/hot pin on the base doesnt touch the mount in the middle of the mount. Then bolt your base down using the instructions. Now the only thing most people wont tell you but I find very important is do this: take a piece of wire about 12ga and two terminal ends. The yellow ones with a large hole. Make a piece of wire about 6"s long and crimp the terminal on both ends. now when you put the spring on, before you screw it into the ball, place the wire between base and spring on the stud. The put the other end between the spring and antenna when you screw it on. This way when the spring is bending a lot if the wire inside the spring breaks, you still have signal.

5speedin2.3 · Jun 20, 2009

Just get a Wilson magnet mount and stick it to the roof. Problem solved.

I love my Wilson 5000. It has a 1.2:1 match and can handle 5000 watts. I only run about 1k.
I talk on amateur radio (HAM) so I'm aloud to run 1000watts.
A stock CB radio only puts out 3-6 watts, 4 watts is the legal limit set by the FCC.

My guess is that you would be fine with a Wilson Little Will or a Wilson 500/1000. All of the antenna's I listed come with coax and all you have to do is stick it to the roof, run the coax and tune it. Very simple.

4LO 4.O · Jun 20, 2009

I've ran a lot of different antenna's, 4' firestik, 5' firestik, Wilson 1000, and now 102" whip.

All in all, they all worked about the same.

The Wilson mag mount hits everything and scratches the roof.
The 102" hits everything and flexs a lot at highway speed.
The Firestik's still hit a lot, but don't flex as much.

102"

Firestik 5'

Firestik 4'

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