Quick question about setting up a home base station

The bigger the better in most cases. A mobile antenna would work ok if you want to talk around town. It will get you a couple of miles at best in the CB band. The higher you can put it the better it will get out.

If you have the room I would go with a Solarcon 99 or some similar fiberglass antenna for a base antenna. That is a true base antenna and not a mobile antenna. it is somewhere around 18 feet tall and works fairly well. Google Solarcon 99 and see what comes up.

If you want to use a mobile antenna, I would use a Wilson antenna and once again, get it up as high as possible. It's performance will be nowhere as good as a true base antenna though

 

If you want to really have fun and MAKE your own antenna, it is possible. If you live on your own property or have permission from a landlord, you can custom create a wire dipole antenna that will definitely outperform a mobile antenna and in some cases, It will outperform a manufactured base antenna. If you have lot of the parts already, you can make it cheaper then purchasing a base antenna.

Parts you will need are:

2 10 foot sections of mast or pipe - $40 if you don't already have some
3 guy lines and collar for mast or one roof mast standoff - $20 if you dont already have some.
1 25 foot spool 14 gauge wire - $15
1 small pulley - $3
1 Budwig - $10.95
2 end insulators which you can make yourself from small pvc or wood blocks - 2x2x1inch.
1 50 foot laundry line or rope - $5
1 25 foot line or rope
1 CB SWR meter - $15
1 length of RG58 coax long enough to reach from the antenna to your radio - $25
2 "Quick Disconnect Male" wiring attachments
2 "Quick Disconnect Female" They are usually sold together with the male "QD's" - $2 pk of 10


Simple instructions are,

Unspool 19 feet of #14 gauge wire. Cut it in half, making two 9.5 foot stretches.

Taking the 2 stretches of wire, attach the female QD's to one end of each piece of wire

Take the "budwig", attach the male QD's to the ends.

Mate the male/female ends.

Take the small blocks or small pvc tube. They are now known as an insulators. Drill 1 hole through each end of the insulator. Tie each insulator to the end of each wire

Take the 25 foot of rope and cut it in half. Tie the ends to the other end of the insulators. Make sure ties are tight to both the block and the antenna.

Attach the coax to the "budwig"

Assemble the mast.

Drill a hole in the top of the mast and attach the pulley to the mast and tighten it down.

Run the laundry line THROUGH the pulley making sure there is enough to reach from the ground to the top and back to the ground again.

Attach the rope to the "budwig"

Put up the mast making sure it is secured either using Guy lines or a roof flashing standoff.

Pull the rope up and raise your antenna. Tie off the end of the rope to something nearby.

Take the ropes attached to the antenna and walk them out til they are 45 degrees. If you do it right, then the antenna should look an inverted or upside down V. Tie the ropes off to something so the V keeps its shape.

This is known as an "Inverted V Dipole Antenna"

If you choose, you can also stretch them out horizontal and make a Horizontal Dipole Antenna

Go inside and hook your CB up and check the SWR. It should be good at 1.5 or less across the band. If it is high, check the SWR on ch1 and ch40
If the swr is high on ch1 and low on ch40 then the antenna is a bit too short. Drop the antenna down and lengthen each end by an inch or 2. Check the SWR again. Keep doing this until you get the SWR down to 1.5 or less.

If the SWR is low on ch1 and high on ch40, then the antenna is a bit too long. Use the above directions in reverse, shortening each end, until the SWR comes down.

This may seem a bit complicated but it is really pretty simple if you want to put the work into it. It's most satisfying knowing that YOU CREATED something that you made and can actually USE..and it works RIGHT.

Enjoy!

 

We have used an antenna called a big stick,looks like a two pc pool cue,easy to install and works great. We used to use linears but you know,might be illegal but fun to use at times. big sticks are about 75 to 100.00.

 

I would recommend an I - Max 2000, Antron 99 or a Big Stick w/ rg 213 coax.

This is a good, reliable, and inexpensive way to set up a base unit on a budget.

DO NOT USE RG %* or MINI * COAX ON YOUR BASE!!!!!!! The loss is staggering over a 100' run.

Whats good fro mobile is not always good for base.

 

An Imax 2000 is the best antenna out there for the money, i use one myself and love it. Measure from the ground to the base of the antenna where you screw the coax into it to get it up 36 feet. The reason you do this is to get the antenna in the first wavelength. This will not only help you talk well around town but will greatly improve you ability to talk hundreds if not thousands of miles when conditions are right. The antenna itself is 21 feet tall so all together it will be 57 feet tall so make sure you don't have any power lines or tree limbs that will interfere.

You want to get the very best coax you can afford with the lowest loss. This will make or break your radios performance. Go to this site and it will tell you how much power you will lose for any given coax, this will save you a lot of money so that you don't have to try 5 different coax cables to find the one that works best. http://www.ocarc.ca/coax.htm You will also want to have a radio That is well tuned. You don't want something that has been clipped....mod kitted and over modulated or screwed with by a radio tech that has no clue. Something like that may work well in the truck but at home with neighbors close by you will bleed all over there tv and phone and you wont be able to talk on until they have gone to bead and then whats the point of have a base radio?

I will just throw this in as well. If you want a very good base radio then go with a RCI 2995. They do over 200 watts have every channel you could ever want and or the closest to a full blown ham radio that you can buy for the money. This way for around $550.00 for the radio.. $250.00 for the antenna, coax and a few poles to mount the antenna on you will about talk alot of people with way more money invested.

By the way, this is a RCI 2995.

 

Very well written informative post . I'm sure that will help alot of folks. I myself have been trying to set up a base for awhile without much luck. I have been running mobiles for 30+ years just never had a base before. THANKS

 

You could get away with a mobile antenna if...you supply it with the necessary other half.

The other half is what makes a true base antenna so long / tall.

If you elect to go with a mobile antenna, add 3 or 4 nine foot (9')radial wires from the grounded base of the antenna mount. This replaces the missing car / truck body necessary to create the "ground plane".

The radials need extended outward from the base & should extend from the base either horizontally or at a small angle below horizontal. Somewhere around 90-45 degrees to the main antenna is ok.

Then just tune the main whip as normal. If it wont tune within the normal adjustment range of the whip, change the lenght of the wires slightly. You'll probably need to add a few inches to each one.

A better choice is a pretuned base antenna even though it's much bigger. Don't get nuts with the height above ground. Whatever is safe & convenient for you. The higher above average terrain the better.

Invest in some regular RG8 style cable if the overall length is more than about 30 feet between radio & antenna bottom.

 

The reason a base antennae is long and tall is it is a 5/8 to sometimes a 3/4 of a wavelength.. sure some mobiles are 5/8 wavelength, but mechanically shortened.
I think our poster here is referring to the other half, is of a dipole antennae which is basically 1/2 conductor 1/2 ground .
Height above ground does play a factor, check your ARRL manual, I would refer to the purchase of RG8 as investing......