CB radio newbie

Clean install, low swr, antennas not obstructed. Distance power certainly helps with. Personally I dont consider CB radio as reliable, I have been on the radio since the early 70's also a licensed amateur radio operator. clean install is the best for straters.

 

Is there anything you would have done or bought differently?

 

The coax would not make that much difference, well grounded antenna mounts and radio, ohm out the cable make sure the center conductor is not shorted, and has end to end continuity, same with the shield. For the radio run the power + and ground to the battery directly,(fused within 6" on the battery).

 

Inthe truck I run a cobra 29, off a single 5' firestick on the left mirror, I also used RG142u antenna cable, only because I already had it. SWR is 1.3 to 1. Works for everything I need it to. But I also have HAM radios in the truck as well.

 

OK I'll definitely do that. I made sure I bought mounts to keep the antennas more that 5 feet apart. They are 6ft 2 in apart and are 58 inches of the ground the cab of the truck is only 28 inches tall infant of the antennas and they stick 2 inches wider than the cab and are about 3 feet taller than the cab after the sping mounts. I used the coax I used because I didn't want a tee junction as I reckoned the two individual coaxs going into the back of the radio would be better. I have not installed or tuned the antennas yet as they were just ordered today but I got all my info off of an online sight and then found out it was a cash pusher sight and freaked out and wanted someone thats knows better than I do to tell me if I screwed up with my purchases

 

Dual antennas LOOK nice, but they really do nothing for reception or broadcast reach. Maybe once in a while you'll be able to pick up a very weak signal that would be missed with only a single, but that's really about it. A lot of CB techs will tell you otherwise, but then they make more money off you buying more antennas...

THEORETICALLY, if properly tuned and spaced, they will create greater directional broadcast reach. AM radio transmit towers are accurately spaced and oriented for this reason. But radio towers are static; a truck antenna moves around a LOT. Also, putting 2 antennas with one on each mirror would only increase your range side-to-side, not forward-backwards like you would want in a truck. And often, poor distance placement means that 1 antenna counter-acts the other, leaving you with LESS range. Unless you are an RF tech with a lot of equipment, you are really better off only hooking up the driver's side antenna, and leaving the passenger side there just for show.

I ran across a guy YEARS ago who had been an RF tech, and also was a ham radio operator. He kept his radios separate (no 1 antenna would work well with both), and his CB antennas were a unique setup; he had 2 Rusty Roosters mounted without springs on his hood (old KW, high hood); one just behind the grill, and the other near the windscreen. They were accurately spaced, and his range forward was a claimed 10 miles.

 

I

I ended up taking the two I had and trading them to a friend of mine for a mag mount Stryker a10. I'm mounting it right above my back glass on the truck.

 

Good location. Just be careful about the height, or else your next trip through the Squirrel Hill Tunnel will cost you that nice antenna.......

 

My trucks roof sits at 6ft 6in and the antennas a 6ft whip antenna. I should be at about 13ft or close to it. Do you think thats too tall for a whip or should I be ok

 

2 ant have a more front to back vs side to side.....Single antenna has a more circular rx/tx..
Even if he doesnt bond the truck his trailer will help as a groundplain to give him better tx/rx from the rear as well..