CB Issues

Discussion in 'CB Radio Forum' started by evan_nugget, Mar 18, 2020.

  1. jessejamesdallas

    jessejamesdallas Road Train Member

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    I don't care what type of antenna you want to run...But NO ANTENNA is going to perform to it's full potential mounted on the side of a tool box behind the cab period...

    If your serious about wanting to hear and talk to other people on the radio, then 100% of your antenna needs to clear the top of the roof line...There is no "If's-and's-or-But's" about it...Second, the shorter the antenna, the more compromise your going to have hearing and talking...

    Longer the better, and Height is Might...

    A SWR of 1.5 to 2.0 is acceptable, but it would be better to see it closer to 1.1- 1.3 if your using a SWR Meter...There's better ways to set the SWR using a antenna analyzer, but most people find analyzers a bit on the pricey-side and just stick with the SWR Meters, which is fine...Get the antenna up on the roof, and you'll find the SWR will be much lower...right now the cab is affecting the SWR.
     
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  3. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    Oh boy, you guys need to look at the images.
     
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  4. evan_nugget

    evan_nugget Bobtail Member

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    Mar 18, 2020
    Northern VA
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    Sorry guys. Been away for the weekend and couldn't see the replies. Thank you to everyone trying to set me straight.

    RF is set in the middle, I tried turning it but it didn't help anything.

    Others have told me the same thing, being that it's clamped to an aluminum mount screwed to an aluminum toolbox. Should I run a wire to the bottom of the truck bed, screw into the frame, or something else?

    Yes, I've heard that it should be properly grounded. Any suggestions for how to run the wiring and where to ground to would be much appreciated. I can take more pictures if need be.

    Thanks for the tip on the ground straps. So I should just ground the toolbox to the truck bed, which will be grounded to the rest of the vehicle? Or run a separate ground wire from the mount itself.

    So I'm a complete CB novice and want to get this done on my own rather than cave and take it to a CB shop. When I last tested SWR was close to 1.5 tested both on an external in-line meter as well as the meter on the CB. I'll re-test again and fine tune the antenna. I would like to try grounding the mount and/or toolbox first before looking to move the antenna mount. I'm not even sure where I could put it. I have seen others run antennas from the toolbox and I assume they have better luck.

    Really the issue I'm trying to solve is that I don't hear ANY static from my CB, even with the squelch all the way open, and cannot pick up the many people talking when my buddy's CB can.
     
  5. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    I won't go into details about ground straps but it lacks an rf ground.

    Sorry tired .., thanks corona.

    There is a lot written about it on this forum, a simple search will help you.
     
  6. craig_sez

    craig_sez Road Train Member

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    Simple...
    Mount ant on top of the box but better on roof center....

    No wires from ant to anywhere,it will add electrical length and throw off true measurement....
    Bond everything with wide braided straps....Keep the as short as possible...

    Ex....bond tool box to trk box...box to chassie..Do it in a few places..Its called bonding...
    Leave rf gain wide open(all the way to the right)squelch all the way to left,mic gain/dyna mic far right....

    3 basic types of ant..You have a base load..Next is a mid load like those predator 10k,monkey made big coil antenna...Lastly is a top load like a firestick,skip shooter and they will give you the longest ranges...

    If i were you,mag mount a antenna to roof center and keep it as tall as you can except when you drive around cause then it will sway like crazy..4-5 ft will do fine..
    Avoid those ant someone mentioned(blank on the name but wasnt fire stick)..
    Dont like how that coax was so tight under the ant...That bend might be messing with things and in time its possible it will short out(inner core of coax will touch outter part(gnd)of coax
     
  7. jessejamesdallas

    jessejamesdallas Road Train Member

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    I know sometimes drilling holes in the roof just don't feel like a option you would want to take, I really didn't want to go that route either on my truck, so I built a riser for the antenna to get it above the roof line...SWR is in the basement, and on my MFJ analyzer i get X=0 on all channels except the lower 6 channels where I have X=1...I could probably do some more tweaking and get those channels to X=zero too, but figured I was close enough...

    The riser is just a 1x1 square metal pipe I had lying around, (but you can buy them at any Home Depot,) and it's attached to the bed floor with some L brackets I made from a old piece of angle iron...theres also a bracket that attaches it to the top of the bed rail for added support...I also added ground straps underneath the bed that runs from the mounting bolts to the frame just to be sure it had a good ground...nothing is attached to the toolbox...I had to move the toolbox back a few inches to make room for the riser, and to still be able to open the lid.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2020
    stacks Thanks this.
  8. craig_sez

    craig_sez Road Train Member

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    Im not 100% sure but in order to be reading 0 in resonance you would have to tune specificly for that freq....If i understand correctly you cant be resonant all across or most of any band..
     
  9. Night Stalker10

    Night Stalker10 Road Train Member

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    Evan, here's a great site that a lot of guys use for mobile antenna help. It has great info on bonding.

    Bonding
     
  10. Night Stalker10

    Night Stalker10 Road Train Member

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    Craig, I agree with you. I believe in order to have a zero resonance across the whole band, you would need a broad banded antenna, like the Francis brand. A broad banded antenna is less efficient though.
     
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  11. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    You don't get resonance across the entire band, it changes with the frequency once tuned for one frequency.
     
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