I’m no antenna expert, but from my experience antenna length is what makes CB difficult (or annoying) from a portable or even mag mount operation… I’m sure everyone has seen those off-road trucks that look like RC cars with gigantic length whips… due to the frequency, the antenna length needs to be long for any reasonable performance.

Just an example…

¼ wave CB (27 Mhz) antenna is about 102 inches long
¼ wave 2 meter (148 Mhz) ham antenna is about 19 inches long
¼ wave 70cm (433 Mhz) ham antenna is 6.5 inches long

From what I read and understand, the ideal 2meter HAM antenna for long range use, like in the open desert is a 5/8 wave because the radio waves propagate more towards the horizon, vs ¼ which has a steeper takeoff angle which might be better for something used in the city…

5/8 wave length 2meter ham antenna is 49 inches
5/8 wave CB antenna is 22+ feet long

I have two antenna setups in the truck… right is a ¼ wave 144/440, and the left is a ½ wave 144/440 ham antenna. One thing I learned in the radio game, it’s ALL about the antenna… you can have the best equipment in the world, but without a proper antenna setup, it all goes out the window. In my early days, I had a really hard time with CB because I didn’t understand the antenna part of the equation.



95% of the time all I use is a 1/4 wave antenna... performance is great, gets me into repeaters 50+ miles away, and no problem with car to car coms over miles and miles...