Dual Firesticks on Pickup

Dual antennas need to be placed 102" apart to work. So on a pick up you would do alot better just running a single antenna. And all antennas need a good ground plane. So I would grind off some to make a good ground.

 

I don't think I'd do any grinding. I've a Super Duty with the elephant ears for mirrors. What I, and you could do basically the same, was to run a ground wire from your mount to a place where you could get a good ground. My firestick is mounted to my left hand mirror arm using a clampon mount. Everything is plastic. I used a length of 10 gauge wire, 12 might work as well, but 10 is what I had. I ran one end to a fender bolt under the hood, and the the other to the mount. Don't use a piece of Romex house wire, it's not flexible enough, find some stranded instead at an automotive type store. I've been using this setup for close to 8 years, and guys tell me I'm loud and proud when asked for a check.

 

first off where is the noise coming from? the antenna? power cable?

remove the coax from the back of the radio. with the radio on making sure not to key up. if their is no noise then it is from antenna

 

NO!,cost verses performance never has panned out with those gizmo's

 

After determining if the noise is coming from the wiring OR radiating back thru the antenna, start with a good set of resistor spark plug wires (if you haven't done so), then begin by routing the power wires as FAR from the engine computer (if any) straight to the battery being sure to FUSE the hot (red) wire. (Even better, fuse BOTH of them AT the battery so that the radio is not "hot" even is it is back at the chassis itself) Ground BOTH sides of the hood. That way if there is a short in the system, it won't cause a fire because the radio will be "dead" all the way back to the set!

Then go to the engine and ground IT. I know, I know, it probably already will show "ground" with VOM, but dont worry about that right now. Tell ya later about RF ground and DC ground, OK? then ground the radio to the chassis with a SHORT ground wire making sure it isn't 3', 6' 9', 18'-----multiples that divide into 27 MHZ. This can cause these grounds to become what is called "resonant" grounds and act like antennas that will radiate signal out into the air and right back into your REAL antenna. No fun there. Then ground the muffler and tail pipe(s) on BOTH sides of the truck frame (if dual exhaust). Ground the tail gate, too, on both sides. Then do the antenna mount itself. (If not already.) Another thing is to get the antenna UP as high as possible. out of the radiating field of the noise that is trying to get in. Best way is to put the antenna right up on TOP of the cab. Yep, by drilling the dreaded hole! But that DOES solve a lot of issues. And CB radios, BTW, (except for the big tractors where an RF field is affected by the trailer) do NOT need TWO antennas! THAT is CRAP, mostly promoted by dealers so they can sell twice as many antennas!

Each vehicle is "different", almost like it has its own personality. While there are common denominators in all installations, with you having so much trouble, I can't help suspect you have done something wrong cuz it shouldn't be that hard to get it to work. However you may have to put up with a certain amount of noise; it just depends on your level of tolerance!

One final thing. IF you DO all the above things and STILL have noise beyond an acceptable level, then remove the taillight lenses AND the center stop lamp. Remove the bulbs one by one. it is possible to have the noise traveling along the electric harness and onto the taillight filaments. (little pesky "antenna"s that can radiate noise!) It happened to me one time, daggummit! I likened to NEVER have found where that racket was coming from!!! But once I grounded the light fixtures and COVERED them with screen door wire (grounded to the fixture thru the screws), the noise went totally away! QUIET as a mausoleum!

Gud luck

GF

 

or you can go buy a noise kit from radio shack

 

Good luck with that.l While such kits may help with minor noise issues, 90% of the time, they are mostly designed to move money from THEIR pockets to YOURS!~ I've done hundreds of commercial, CB and amateur installs, and I've not had a whole lot of luck with 'em.

Sure, it's a LOT of work, but it is the only real way to remove noise: GROUND, GROUND, GROUND, GROUND! You can't have TOO many grounds!

GF