CB radios and mounting.

[Doozi]

Ugh! Antenna mount is done and cable is routed up to the driver's seat... seat and console are out. Been trying to find a place for the antenna/power box all afternoon. I'm half tempted to just mount it in the main storage cubby in the console. They don't leave much room anywhere! :

 

[zimm]

Ugh! Antenna mount is done and cable is routed up to the driver's seat... seat and console are out. Been trying to find a place for the antenna/power box all afternoon. I'm half tempted to just mount it in the main storage cubby in the console. They don't leave much room anywhere! :

It'll fit to the left of the shifter in the center console- you don't even need to screw it down, it fits snug enough.

 

[crashman]

Doozi
I am mounting my antenna off the back and using the door hinge mount from firestik on the inside plus a 2nd support on top of the bumper
Also with the "fire-ring" cable I was able to route the cable through the door wire harness on my drivers door and mount the cb in the door pocket it fits great and no wires showing I soldered the end on in the door

 

[Doozi]

Well... it's done! I have to figure why my SWR is so high. Channel 1 is at 1.5:1, channel 20 is at 3.0:1, and channel 40 is at about 3.5:1. Magert54 and I tested the range on channel 1 and I'm getting probably around 3 miles, but I can't safely use channels 20-40. I'll have to do a bit more research and play around a bit more.

This is how it all started...

Getting ready to route the antenna cable...

You can see the additional bracket I fabbed to help strengthen the bumper cover (it's a lot stronger than without it) and you can see my ground bracket... continuity is very good...

Ran the cable through existing cable runs and secured it along the way with zip-ties...

Easiest way to the center console...

Fabbed a little bracket to hold one side of the little Cobra box. The other side fits into a slot that I cut through the plastic. This is on the under side on the center console...

Ta da! Fits in there perfectly and allows for easy enough access for SWR connection or to attach an external speaker...

The pigtail that connects to the hand-held unit goes into the storage cubby through where the 115V plug would be.

~Doozi

 

[zimm]

looks great. I might do a stiffening bracket like that too. Did you try removing the tuning screw from the antenna and check swr? That's what got mine lOw enough.

 

[Doozi]

looks great. I might do a stiffening bracket like that too. Did you try removing the tuning screw from the antenna and check swr? That's what got mine lOw enough.

I did... it went really high. I have a spring on my mount so my overall length is different. I tried it without the spring, but couldn't get as low as with it. It seems weird that I have such a large range, but I'll keep digging into it.

 

[Doozi]

Ok... after much fiddling around, I currently have the following SWR readings...

Ch. 1 = 2.5
Ch.20 = 1.7
Ch.40 = 2.3

I got to this point by screwing in the adjuster (shortening the antenna) 1/4-turn at a time and watching Ch.40 fall from 3.5+ and watching Ch.1 rise from 1.5. You think that about as balanced as I can get with this set-up? I know that Zimm did better and we have very similar set-ups, but I have an antenna spring.

At this point, I'm not sure if my antenna is "long" or "short" because both ends are just about even and the center is lower.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

 

[Ross]

Do what Zimm is doing, do it exactly as he is doing. If he is getting SWR reading that he claims, he has done it about perfect.

The only thing I would question in his set up is where he gets his power. Power coming straight from your battery will be the cleanest but if connect to your cig lighter and get no extra noise than it is just fine.

DO NOT ADD the folding piece after you tune your antenna. Adding this too the antenna changes things. I would recommend against the folding mount, when I looked in to them they seemed to be a weak point. Get a quick disconnect or a spring but install it all before you tune your antenna. I would also but a tennis ball or hand ball on the antenna where it could hit the body esp if you get a spring.

The most important part of your set up will be how the antenna is mounted. You need a good ground. Anything that attaches to the body such as a rack, a door, a hood, a tailgate etc my not provide a good ground. There will be a layer of paint between the hinge of whatever attaches to the body that could make the ground less effective. The antenna you see sticking out of the vehicle is only part of the actual the antenna, the rest of your antenna is the actual vehicle.

Antennas: The Wilson you see in one of the previous post is a base mounted antennas, it guts are in the base so it the entire antenna should be on top of the vehicle, . Zimm’s antenna (and most fiberglass antennas) are top loaded and ideally you want a foot or more stick above the vehicle. You will have to make some tradeoffs here. The better your antenna is setup up for transmitting and receiving the more vulnerable it will be to trail damage.

 

[iDRiVaT4R]

Definitely check your ground, take some sand paper to all the bolt/nut connections. I forgot to sand around the bottom side of the roof before installing my Wilson 1000 so at first I was in the red according to the SWR meter. As soon as I fixed the ground I was good to go.

Of course two different antennas, but my dad had a similar problem on his jeep. He drilled a hole in his tire carrier, so he had a good connection there, but apparently the tire carrier wasn't grounded well to the rest of the body. He is using a cheaper version of the Firestick from Fry's, although he has a Firestick on order.

As far as power, I put in an add-a-fuse and just tapped into a 12V + Always on free port at the dash fuse panel. Since I don't leave the radio wired up all the time, I'm very unlikely to leave it on long enough to drain the battery.

 

[Ross]

Definitely check your ground, take some sand paper to all the bolt/nut connections. I forgot to sand around the bottom side of the roof before installing my Wilson 1000 so at first I was in the red according to the SWR meter. As soon as I fixed the ground I was good to go.

Of course two different antennas, but my dad had a similar problem on his jeep. He drilled a hole in his tire carrier, so he had a good connection there, but apparently the tire carrier wasn't grounded well to the rest of the body. He is using a cheaper version of the Firestick from Fry's, although he has a Firestick on order.

As far as power, I put in an add-a-fuse and just tapped into a 12V + Always on free port at the dash fuse panel. Since I don't leave the radio wired up all the time, I'm very unlikely to leave it on long enough to drain the battery.

As long as you don't get unwanted noise you can wire it anywhere. Some vehicles and CBs are worse than others. In my 4Runner I have a Midland CB I plug into the Cigarette light and it has a little extra noise, not much.

I like being able to use my CB or PA without the keys in the ignition and the switched turn on. When we wheel we have people coming for m all direction and usually use the CBs to link up, some time you sit and wait.

I would not worry about running your battery down with a CB. I have left my CB on in my Jeep for a week before. My jeep isn't my daily driver so it can sit for a while. Unless you are broadcasting or receiving is doesn't draw much.

Allot of people but their antennas on tire carriers in Jeeps and have problems.

 

[Doozi]

Do what Zimm is doing, do it exactly as he is doing. If he is getting SWR reading that he claims, he has done it about perfect.

The only thing I would question in his set up is where he gets his power. Power coming straight from your battery will be the cleanest but if connect to your cig lighter and get no extra noise than it is just fine.

DO NOT ADD the folding piece after you tune your antenna. Adding this too the antenna changes things. I would recommend against the folding mount, when I looked in to them they seemed to be a weak point. Get a quick disconnect or a spring but install it all before you tune your antenna. I would also but a tennis ball or hand ball on the antenna where it could hit the body esp if you get a spring.

The most important part of your set up will be how the antenna is mounted. You need a good ground. Anything that attaches to the body such as a rack, a door, a hood, a tailgate etc my not provide a good ground. There will be a layer of paint between the hinge of whatever attaches to the body that could make the ground less effective. The antenna you see sticking out of the vehicle is only part of the actual the antenna, the rest of your antenna is the actual vehicle.

Antennas: The Wilson you see in one of the previous post is a base mounted antennas, it guts are in the base so it the entire antenna should be on top of the vehicle, . Zimm’s antenna (and most fiberglass antennas) are top loaded and ideally you want a foot or more stick above the vehicle. You will have to make some tradeoffs here. The better your antenna is setup up for transmitting and receiving the more vulnerable it will be to trail damage.

I've tried it exactly as Zimm has done... it's hard to be 100% exact as I don't know his cable routing, etc, but I've tried many options and have decided that I want to keep the spring. What I have now (with the spring) is the best overall SWR I've been able to achieve and this is being tested on a crest in an open field about 1/4-mile from the closest house. I did have Ch.1 as low as 1.5:1, but Ch.40 was at 3.5:1. I have my antenna mount grounded via a 10-gauge braided wire to a spot on the frame that I ground all of the paint off of and used dielectric grease between the washer and frame.

Definitely check your ground, take some sand paper to all the bolt/nut connections. I forgot to sand around the bottom side of the roof before installing my Wilson 1000 so at first I was in the red according to the SWR meter. As soon as I fixed the ground I was good to go.

Of course two different antennas, but my dad had a similar problem on his jeep. He drilled a hole in his tire carrier, so he had a good connection there, but apparently the tire carrier wasn't grounded well to the rest of the body. He is using a cheaper version of the Firestick from Fry's, although he has a Firestick on order.

As far as power, I put in an add-a-fuse and just tapped into a 12V + Always on free port at the dash fuse panel. Since I don't leave the radio wired up all the time, I'm very unlikely to leave it on long enough to drain the battery.

I also used an add-a-fuse on a keyed-hot at the dash panel fuse block. My power ground is to the middle, driver-side, center console mounting bolt. I did use sandpaper on the washer even though I had good continuity through the "black" finish. It seemed to be a good ground point, but could this power ground contribute to a higher SWR if it's not the best ground it could be?

Thanks guys!

 

[Ross]

I've tried it exactly as Zimm has done... it's hard to be 100% exact as I don't know his cable routing, etc, but I've tried many options and have decided that I want to keep the spring. What I have now (with the spring) is the best overall SWR I've been able to achieve and this is being tested on a crest in an open field about 1/4-mile from the closest house. I did have Ch.1 as low as 1.5:1, but Ch.40 was at 3.5:1. I have my antenna mount grounded via a 10-gauge braided wire to a spot on the frame that I ground all of the paint off of and used dielectric grease between the washer and frame.




Thanks guys!

How far do you run your ground wire? I use single strand unwrapped wire, not the braided type.

 

[Doozi]

The ground wire might be 3' max. Stranded or braided wire is supposed to be better for this type of grounding because there is more surface area. I'm not sure if the electrical ground has any impact on SWR, but I would think that it might and should probably see if I can get to a "better" ground.

 

[Ross]

The ground wire might be 3' max. Stranded or braided wire is supposed to be better for this type of grounding because there is more surface area. I'm not sure if the electrical ground has any impact on SWR, but I would think that it might and should probably see if I can get to a "better" ground.

I thought you were talking about your antenna ground, how is you antenna grounded? How clean to you transmit and receive?

Do you have all the doors closed when you are tunning yoru CB?

Looks like you are mounted on plastic in the front and bolted to some metal piece and than a braided wire to the frame I guess. With your high SWR on your higher channel I would say you antenna is too long. But you post other readings that are inconstant with that. That would lead to think you have a bad ground, or maybe doors open sometimes and closed other times when you test or tip covered and then uncovered. You coax may also be bad. I have always heard that a solid wire with no insulation was better for grounding you antenna, and the shorter the ground the better.

I can't see under the mount here is a good diagram on how it should all be put together:

 

[iDRiVaT4R]

I have my antenna mount grounded via a 10-gauge braided wire to a spot on the frame that I ground all of the paint off of and used dielectric grease between the washer and frame.

I would wipe all the dielectric grease of that washer and the frame, sand both the washer and frame area a little again, reinstall it all without the dielectric grease and test again. If you have any dielectric grease at the antenna mount or bumper reinforcement mount, I would remove it there too.

 

[crashman]

on the ground can you cover it with plasti dip to protect from rust?
I was going to sand off the paint just behind the bumper and run the ground wire to it. I was thinking of covering the ground with undercoating or plasti dip will this affect anything?
I figure it will just protect it

 

[Ross]

on the ground can you cover it with plasti dip to protect from rust?
I was going to sand off the paint just behind the bumper and run the ground wire to it. I was thinking of covering the ground with undercoating or plasti dip will this affect anything?
I figure it will just protect it

The bumper attaches to the body, it may not provide a good ground. Get a stainless steel screw and locking washer, the kind with the little teeth all the way around it I would use a non insulated copper wire and not worry about protecting it from the elements. Make sure you ground to clean bare metal (not aluminum) always!! Make it as short as possible. If it does deteriorate just replace it. Even in the worst conditions it should last for years and would only be pennies to replace. You will want to be able to check to see it is tight everyone in a while and that would only beat up the plasiti dip.

Mount your antenna directly to the body or ground to the body. If you want ground the body to the frame make each ground as short as possible. If you must run to the bumper, ground your antenna to the bumper, and ground the bumper to the body.

 

[crashman]

thanks Ross,
I meant to say I was mounting the wire to the body behind the bumper
also i was only thinking of protecting the bare metal on the body so it didn't rust

 

[Ross]

thanks Ross,
I meant to say I was mounting the wire to the body behind the bumper
also i was only thinking of protecting the bare metal on the body so it didn't rust

It will oxidize on the surface but that won't affect its performance. You could take light sandpaper and clean it up on occasion if it bothered you.

 

[Doozi]

thanks Ross,
I meant to say I was mounting the wire to the body behind the bumper
also i was only thinking of protecting the bare metal on the body so it didn't rust

It's fine to paint over a good connection. You definitely want to protect bare metal... I always do anyway as I'm not a fan of rust!