lovin1stgens

i really wanna get my cb gpin but am having a hard time deciding where to put the stinkin antennas.

What have you guys sone and how does it work? Ps i am havin duals no matter what lol

MrExtreme

You picked a favorite subject of mine. First, do want dual anrtennae to look cool, or do you want your CB to really work well. Dual whips require a minimum of 108" between them for then to work properly. Put a tape measure on your truck. 108".

All that you need for any mobile CB (unless you have a 1000 watt linear amp) is a Wilson Little Wil, it is a small magnetic mount CB antenna, tune it so that your SWR is lowest on channel 20 and your all set.

If you really must have dual whips, mount them on your mirrors and only hook up the wire to only one antenna, it will work better.

One of my favorite laughs is when I see trucks with the duals mounted to the bedsides, behind the cab, worst placement ever for a mobile CB antenna.

If you are not a perfectionist pr1ck like me, who expects everything to work to it's full potential, then just put your dual whips wherever you want, just not behind the cab as it destroys the signal pattern.

BearKiller

I have always had the best success in mounting them on the mirrors.

It gets them about as far apart as possible and also gets the loaded thingie above the roof-line.

MrExtreme

actualy having any part of the antenna below the roof line is less than ideal, just to pick nits!!

Onemoparnut

Well mine are mounted in the bed rails on either side behind the cab. You learn something new everyday as I didn't know that was a bad location well it looks cool anyway lol.

Onemoparnut

I have a cobra radio with tunable wilson sticks. I thought that as long as you could get the radio to calibrate you were good. I am new to cb's so someone educate me.

MrExtreme

if you take the time to tune the SWR you will be set as good as you can get. SWR is standing wave ratio, it is essentially resistance to the radios output, the lower you can get SWR the better. The amount of loss you will see from having the antennae below the roof line, is measurable, but not more than 5-10%. The more efficient your set up is the more bang you will get from the power your radio has.

Those Wilson whips are very good antennae. To get the best tune, use a single cable and tune each one by itself, then connect both antennae. Find an open area, no trees, no power lines, doors closed when you test.

The optimal position for the antenna is dead center, or offset about a foot towards the rear of the cab roof, single mast, as far apart as you can get them for dual whips.

MrExtreme

the problem comes from what is called the ground plane, when the antenna is on the roof, the roof is the ground plane and flat and equal around the mast, this is where the signal essentially starts from, similar to a light reflector.

When you put them behind the cab, it creates a 3 level ground plane, 2 horizontal and one vertical, which causes all kinds of havok with your signal output. Some one receiving your transmission will hear more distorsion and your range is cut down quite a bit and will be stronger in the forward direction, like a long oval instead of a nice, equal circular pattern.

PapeCAT

My '72 came with a whip right in the middle of the hood.

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Onemoparnut

I am not sure what the swr reading is exactly but the needle barely moves at all that is the reading that I am going for right? The tip of the antenna is not below the roofline they are 4 foot antennas ant they are mounted to the bed rails.

MrExtreme

Yes the lowest reading is the best, you can either tune for the lowest reading on channel 19/20 or make sure 1 and 40 show equal.

Those Wilsons tune real easy. The signal radiates from the whole antenna shaft, not just the tip, that is why behind the cab makes it screwy. It sounds like you have it tuned as well as can be expected, besides the built in SWR function/meters are not known for stellar accuracy, just functionality. But they are good enough to keep you from burning the finals out of the transmitter due to a badly mis matched antenna.

If you just bought a radio from a retail place, have it peaked and tuned by a local CB shop, that will help improve your signal range with the cab blocking some of the signal. A CB is like a VE pump, there is some power to be gained just by making some adjustments.

GIT-R-DONE

I had a piece of steel that I bent into a 90* angle, apinted it and then bolted it to the bed. Its in the middle and top of the bed. I then have a Wilson magnetic, that has about a 4' whip on it, mounted on it.

I think the Wilson has one of the better antena out there, JMO. It is currently not installed as I had the radio "turned" up not long ago and ahvent reinstalled it yet. Too many other irons in the fire. Tune in the radio / antena with a swr meter and your set.

Onemoparnut

The set was peaked and tuned at the shop I bought it from. I talked about 6 miles the other day is that a pretty good range. I also have a 225 watt linear if I need it I will install it.

lovin1stgens

I want looks and performance lol i like how they look on the mirrors, just not how sloppy the wires look runnin into the windows. Any ideas for that one??? Lol. And thanks mr extreme!

Onemoparnut

Lovin1stgens I am sorry for hijacking your thread.