tman12345

I'm going to be buying a CB radio soon and I'm looking for ideas on where to mount the antenna. Could you guys post some pics or describe where it's mounted and how/where you got the bracket or whatever it's attached with.

Windsor

There are a couple of CB Antenna threads floating around here, fwiw.

abecedarian

To help you visualize things:
Imagine the antenna is a light bulb and the radio waves from the antenna are the same as the light from the bulb. You get the most light when you can see the bulb.

If vertical clearance isn't an issue, the center of the roof is the best place. If vertical clearance is an issue, the next best choice is a co-phased configuration with one antenna on each side of the vehicle as close to the center (front to back) as possible, and as high as practicable.
Otherwise, the most common place to mount an antenna is on one rear corner or the other. But when you consider the "light bulb" analogy i mentioned, you'll get better reception when the side of the vehicle with the antenna is facing the other person you're talking to.

10-8/10-10

Tubbyfatty

I was thinking the same thing a few weeks back. I ended up getting a 5ft firestick and mounting it inbetween the fender and the hood on the driverside. I forget what mount i used. it has a spring on it.

I have a cobra 19 cb in my ashtray. works just want i want it for, talkin to my buddys while wheelin or just convoying through the town.

abecedarian

Kind of what I was getting at but didn't actually say.
There's no substitute for line-of-sight: if you can see it, you can talk to it. Sometimes hills or ridges get in the way, and if the antenna is on the left side of the truck and the person you want to talk to is on the right... and behind a hill... well you may not get to talk to them. Radio waves will bounce off of surrounding hills and may get to who you're talking to.
As the distance between you and the other party increases, antenna position can become more of a factor, along with terrain and even the time of day (don't ask).

T-1000

What if you put it in the bed and it extends above the roof? Wouldn't that be just as good?

Tubbyfatty

Also, i believe if you get dual sticks, it only increases your range front to back, not left and right.

tman12345

what about dual sticks on the side mirrors

tman12345

also what antennas do you guys run?

abecedarian

You'd have part of the antenna below the roof thus blocking some of the signal and the metallic portion of the cab in front of the antenna, causing the signal to be stronger to/from the rear than the front, and you also would have the sides of the bed directing the signal more to the rear as well. Not that it wouldn't work, but the "best" solution is as high as possible, and as close to the center of the mounting surface as possible as well.
Using the "light" analogy again... assume it's an 8' fluorescent tube. Can you see the whole tube from the front of the truck if the tube is mounted in the bed (sticking straight up)? Imagine walking around the truck and how much of the tube you can see and where you can see the most light from.

going back to my 'light' analogy... on light on each side of the vehicle makes the vehicle visible to both sides... much like one light on top of the vehicle would, no?

scuba

Listen to abe, hes a very smart man, espicially on the subject of waves and electricity. Get a magnetic antennae and put it on the middle of the roof.

abecedarian

magnet mounts are the least effective way to mount an antenna- no electrical connection between the antenna ground and the vehicle, other than through the ground for the CB radio itself (under the dash, within a cage of metal called the "cab").

94Runner4x4

yota_dude

i have a wilson 5000 mounted dead center of my roof. the only part i did bot like doing was drilling a hole in my roof.

Junkers88

I did the same thing with my 1000.

Windsor

eh? nearly all antenna wiring is ground-shielded coax.

Jay351

The FSM says to keep any cb radio equipment as far away from the ECM as possible... so rear of the vehicle...

wyorunner

iTrader: (1)

FWIW, when i get home i plan on putting a mount in the gap between the rear hatch and the cab of my 3rd gen, closer to the drivers side. that way i wont have to drill a hole in the center of my roof. as for antennas, top loaded are the best and base loaded are the worst, but still work. if the antenna is going to be below the cab at all you want a top loaded not a base or middle loaded antenna. im getting a 4' Firestik II with a tuneable, the antenna will be mounted on a spring as well. any antenna that is put on your vehicle has to be tuned in its final mounting place for maximum transmit and recieve efficiency.

1989toy4wd

I got a 8.5 foot whip mounted on the pass side of the bed on the chevy and I get about a 2 mile range in every direction, which is the same I got with my 4ft fiberglass. I have the same thing done to the yota, just havent put the cb in yet, but with 7 in of lift and 1 more foot of lift when on the trailer, it hits overpasses!!

904_runner

maybe i should move mine then, the coax runs right throught that passenger side kick pannel.


But then again they also tell you to shut phones off on airplanes.