I'm ordering tomorrow. Just a final decision for the antenna mount is all I have to work out.

 

As mentioned before this one works as good as any fire stick. The reason the roof is the best place to mount is because the flat metal surface which works as a ground plane and for a CB the more the better. Dont let the low price scare you, It is good quality, the mast is made of brass and stainless steel.

 

I've had magnetic mounts on cars before. Thhey were OK on the highway, but for offroading, I'm worried about it getting knocked off. I'm probably going to drill a hole in my roof for a permanent install (with a quickrelease for garages). Not sure yet. If I can mount to my factory roof rack, I guess that would be ideal for me. I plan on having a custom low-profile full length roof rack made from a design I came up with that will integrate yakima load bars among other accessories (including an antenna mount)

 

If you want an antenna mount on the roof, get it done like Jim's.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...4&highlight=cb

They drilled a hold in the roof, and it is watertight.
He can unscrew the antenna from the base to go into his garage.

You can also put a quick release on it like I run on my ARB, and not mess with unscrewing.
Corey

 

I will either go with the quick release like yours or a folding mount. Have you heard anything good/bad about the folding units? The folding unit I'm looking at has an integral spring.

 

I have never seen a folding one before.
Corey

 

They have a bunch of items at the same URL. The one I was looking at is the "Swivel Joint Model"

It's about halfway down the page (black, too )

 

That's pretty neat.
I just saw they have the hood mount one.


That is the same mount I use to run.
http://www.pnw4runners.net/tando/qd.jpg

http://www.pnw4runners.net/tando/antbracket.jpg

That is a good place to mount your antenna also, and as you can see by the pics, I had the quick disco on there too.
I had very good reception there too.

http://www.pnw4runners.net/tando/cb.htm

Corey

 

Needed to resurrect this old thread. What length of antenna should I be looking at for a roof top mount or for a front fender mount. 2' for roof or a 4' for fender? Would a 3' on the fender work OK?

EDIT: was also wondering what the consensus is on the "Fire Fly" antenna vs. the "Firestik II"?

 

You still have not installed that thing? You started this thread in November... Lazy!

 

Lazy?? OK, kinda. Actually, I had to do other stuff with the $$ that I had set aside for it plus I really didn't need the CB until the spring (not many wheelin' trips in the winter for me).

Does anybody have any ideas on the antenna length?

 

Fender mount 3 or 4' will work best.
I ran a 4' on the fender, and now the 4' is on the ARB.

Roof, dunno.

 

Will I lose alot of range with the 3' vs the 4'? I like the 3' for clearance sake.

 

I don't think it will amount to that much, but the longer and higher it is, the better.

But 3' should suffice and work well.
Just as important is tuning the SWR on the antenna.

A link to tune that can be found under Technical Links on the YotaTech on the web page.

 

Hey Cebby,

I don't know anyone using the firefly antenna. I did a quick scan of the firestik web site, and read that the firefly isn't designed for"big power amp users". So if you're getting your CB tweaked for more power, that may be something to consider.

I wouldn't guess that your range would be drastically diminished with a 3 vs 4 ft. antenna. But you may just want to drop a line to firestik for their opinion. I've talked to them through e-mail before and they've been a great help. They helped me troubleshoot my system down to a bad SWR meter. If anyone will know the best choice for your system, its them. If you do e-mail them, be as detailed as you can in regards to your system, mount location, etc.

 

Thanks everybody!!

 

I just got my antenna put on last weekend. It's a 4' firestick II on that fender mount that Corey posted earlier in this thread. I'll try to get some pics soon so you can at least know how it looks. I have yet to get my radio in, so I can't really comment on how well it works. Pic to come.

Have fun.
DH6twinotter

 

Here's a pic of my antenna. (if I can figure out how to post pics )

Here's the antenna. Sorry about the dark background. I wasn't really thinking thing through when I shot this. You can see the red tip though.


Here's a closeup of the mount. I may try to modify it a bit so it is a little more low profile.



Well, hope that helps.
DH6twinotter

 

Ok, what's the deal with the red "X"? Anybody know what I did wrong?

 

Yep.. you can not direct link from webshots..