Antenna men for mobile?

Discussion in 'CB Radio Forum' started by QuietStorm, May 24, 2019.

  1. QuietStorm

    QuietStorm Heavy Load Member

    899
    1,416
    Dec 11, 2016
    0
    There are plenty of threads on this forum about who is a good cb tech and who is a bad cb tech, so this is not one of those.

    I'm interested in seeing who out there knows how to set up good antenna systems on rigs, four wheelers, etc. Mostly because I'm certainly no expert at it, I think as far as I've ever gotten was 10 miles off one of my own rig setups, not including skip instances.

    Also I tend to break ####, so it usually costs me more time and money to get it done with a worse result than someone else. I think other drivers/mobile radio users would benefit from the information as well.

    Let's see what you got.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. QuietStorm

    QuietStorm Heavy Load Member

    899
    1,416
    Dec 11, 2016
    0
    Let me elaborate by saying that I'm not asking about who can screw an antenna on to a trucks factory coax and use a meter to make the swr under 1.5:1, anyone can do that

    I'm talking about guys who actually know how to set up s good antenna system from the ground up.
     
    rabbiporkchop Thanks this.
  4. rabbiporkchop

    rabbiporkchop Road Train Member

    9,634
    6,478
    Feb 9, 2012
    Wapwallopen, Pa
    0
    I do it often. Depends on the vehicle. No such thing as a "universal" antenna.
    Whenever I build something for a commercial tractor it's always custom built to the vehicle itself for that vehicle only.
     
    Dave_in_AZ and QuietStorm Thank this.
  5. QuietStorm

    QuietStorm Heavy Load Member

    899
    1,416
    Dec 11, 2016
    0
    That's what I'm looking for, a list of people who can do that because unless you're willing to work on it during my 34 in some random place I probably won't be able to get you to do it. The same goes for pretty much every company driver.
     
  6. rabbiporkchop

    rabbiporkchop Road Train Member

    9,634
    6,478
    Feb 9, 2012
    Wapwallopen, Pa
    0
    What kind of vehicle?
     
    QuietStorm Thanks this.
  7. QuietStorm

    QuietStorm Heavy Load Member

    899
    1,416
    Dec 11, 2016
    0
    This one is a t680 studio sleeper. I've seen the videos on this forum, but I'm not confident in my ability to put the truck back together after I take the panels off. I know that I probably won't break anything but I do break stuff alot, and I'm not as good at interior work as I am at turning wrench.
     
    Slowmover1 and rabbiporkchop Thank this.
  8. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

    20,734
    101,029
    Dec 18, 2011
    Michigan
    0
    99% of the shops and “techs” lack sufficient knowledge about antenna systems and feedline, most are still learning how to spell analyzer.
     
  9. rabbiporkchop

    rabbiporkchop Road Train Member

    9,634
    6,478
    Feb 9, 2012
    Wapwallopen, Pa
    0
    I have a quick and easy suggestion for you. The easiest solution for that truck would probably be a 102" whip with a 90-degree Bend at 13:6 to stay under your height restriction.
    You could probably fabricate a mounting solution similar to this one. It's just a flat piece of stainless steel bolted to the factory mirror arm and extends out from the arm a little bit far enough to where you could bolt a stud on to the mounting plate since the factory mounting location doesn't give you enough clearance to put a stud on similar to this one, and the factory stud wouldn't be strong enough to support the weight of an antenna long enough to be the physical Dimension it needs to be to reach your height restriction.
     
    Dave_in_AZ and QuietStorm Thank this.
  10. QuietStorm

    QuietStorm Heavy Load Member

    899
    1,416
    Dec 11, 2016
    0
    Bending the whip like that, doesn't it cause issues?

    Edit: and then what about grounding, coax, etc.

    Edit2: I lack the emoji-## to find a wet noodle flopping around everywhere which is what I suspect will happen to the whip while driving, probably resulting in a serious loss of performance.
     
    Last edited: May 25, 2019
  11. rabbiporkchop

    rabbiporkchop Road Train Member

    9,634
    6,478
    Feb 9, 2012
    Wapwallopen, Pa
    0
    Bending the whip shouldn't cause any issues and I know a guy with a Freightliner Cascadia and I heard him 74 miles down the road on his Barefoot Stryker 955 with his 9ft whip flopping around in the wind at 70 miles an hour so it was working just fine.
    This guy has the same truck as you and you could check out how he did his bracket. I would do it differently. I would unscrew the four bolts that hold that mounting plate on and then I would take that metal piece off and use it as a template and trace the outline onto a piece of stainless steel.
    Doing it my way would prevent you from having to drill through the mirror bracket the way this guy did.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.