My first CB

bmerr98 · Nov 19, 2013

Just got my first CB radio. Won it on a local online auction with my $15 bid. It's a Cobra 29 LTD WX Classic. Came with a mic and wires for power but no antenna. Seems to power up ok and switch between channels. Looks like it has a few miles on it, but for $15 with a battery jump box (that needs a new battery...) I figure it's a decent deal.

adsm08 · Nov 19, 2013

Cool. I have had a couple CBs in my truck over the years. One thing I learned along the way, if you have a metal body and aren't mounting to fiberglass, don't buy an NGP (no ground plane) antenna. Too much trouble setting them up.

bmerr98 · Nov 20, 2013

Yeah, I've been doing a little reading on antennae and I'll probably go with a 4' Firestick antenna kit in a month or two. The wife changed jobs and we have to get adjusted to the new pay schedule. Then there's Christmas and four birthdays in February, etc.

Good thing I'm not in a hurry

dr328 · Nov 20, 2013

Can't go wrong with a firestik. I've changed antennas a couple times but I always come back to the firestiks. I've got duals mounted to the toolbox.

Word of advice- with anything over 3 feet install them on a spring mount just incase you clip your whips they won't shatter.

bmerr98 · Nov 20, 2013

Yupyup! I believe the Firestick kit comes with a spring.

adsm08 · Nov 20, 2013

dr328 said:
Can't go wrong with a firestik.

I disagree.

You can buy an NGP firestick. While trying to tune mine in the end started spinning and the SWR will swing wildly when I try to make adjustments now.

kryptonitecb · Nov 20, 2013

A good cheap and strong antenna is a plain metal whip. The closer you get in length to a full wavelength the better reception it gets you. The downside is they start getting long at that point. However if you break a metal whip then you're doing something you probably shouldn't be.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I547 using Tapatalk

4x4junkie · Nov 20, 2013

5.5' Francis whip here... Works probably 95% of what a full-length 102" whip does, and being shorter, allows ideal placement up on the vehicle roof without it being ridiculously tall lol.

Performance drops rather quickly with antennas less than 5' in length.

dr328 · Nov 22, 2013

4x4junkie said:
5.5' Francis whip here... Works probably 95% of what a full-length 102" whip does, and being shorter, allows ideal placement up on the vehicle roof without it being ridiculously tall lol.

Performance drops rather quickly with antennas less than 5' in length.

My thoughts are under 5' run duals... At least that's what I did when I downgraded from the 6' I had on

4x4junkie · Nov 23, 2013

Duals don't address the the issue of the antenna(s) being too small percentage of the frequency wavelength it's operating on (they may actually make things worse as it's impractical to space them the 8.5 feet apart they need for proper operation on a Ranger anyway).

102" (¼λ) is the ideal length for a 27MHz CB antenna... As you go shorter than this with any of the various types of coil or helical-loaded antennas, radiation efficiency drops off. Right about 60% of 102" is where I see such antennas start to perform noticeably worse (on the order of a 20-50% loss in range). They can be more difficult to get a good SWR match on too.

n9emz · Nov 30, 2013

My picks: 102" steel whip; where impractical, Wilson 1000 on the roof.

73

lil_Blue_Ford · Feb 3, 2014

n9emz said:
My picks: 102" steel whip; where impractical, Wilson 1000 on the roof.

73

Holy smokes! where you been hiding?? I haven't seen you in a long time!

I run a 102" whip on my choptop, it does get a bit long because it hits nearly everything, but...

I also stuck a center load 4' on the ladder rack of my F-150 which worked fine until after some really cold days here I discovered that the antenna lost everything above the center load, lol. The set screw is still there and I haven't climbed up to see if it simply came out or if it broke off. Probably should have gone with my first impulse and put a solid whip on.

Scrambler82 · Feb 3, 2014

Not only is the 102" whip impractical it is really not a good antenna.

The 4' fiberglass antennas are good performers no matter which manufacturer you buy,
Most are top loaded and radiate from the top first so you will get a higher signal.
Most are relatively easy to tune and yes you need to tune your antennas for lowest SWR no matter what people tell you or what the packaging tells you.

My choice is Wilson! they make one of the highest quality CB antennas out there. They have fiberglass and the base loaded with long metal whip and also the original Trucker Antenna with different lower rod lengths to accommodate most mounting locations.

Remember all mobile antennas are a compromise, a full wave length for a CB is 36' so that would be very impractical on any vehicle.
Most mobile antennas have coils either in the base or along the length to make up for the short length.
Base loaded antennas need to have the loaded base above the roof line to effectively radiate a signal.

Remember one thing the higher the better for a CB antenna so the roof is the best place, centered on the vehicle metal mass.

4x4junkie · Feb 3, 2014

Scrambler82 said:
Not only is the 102" whip impractical it is really not a good antenna.

Ok, impracticalities aside... what exactly is the basis of that statement?

Scrambler82 · Feb 3, 2014

4x4junkie said:
Ok, impracticalities aside... what exactly is the basis of that statement?

1) it is only a 1/4 wave antenna
2) it radiate from the bottom, most time it is mounted low, the radiating pattern is partly blocked by the body of the vehicle.
3) to be 1/4 wave it has to have a spring on it.
4) too hard to tune for low SWR, with or without a spring.

It's only good quality is try an kill one, almost impossible.

My first CB

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