Grounding on Rago CB Mounts

[stephan07]

Spent a good couple of hours last eve trying to get this resolved. The mount looks great, but it is 100% blackcoated. I filed off the bottom of the bracket to try and get better contact with the mount. The mount makes no contact whatsoever with any component of the body chasis. In order to get ground I have temporarily wired directly to the frame. And I do get good ground when tested on a multimeter.

I still get awful SWR. Above 3 on all channels. I have checked the cable as well as ground of the unit. My guess is that there is very poor "grounding plane" from the mount. My only other thought is I trashed the unit checking so many times with high SWR. I'm gonna give it another hour or so before I just head over to a CB shop later in the week and let someone with a lot more knowledge than me trouble shoot it.

 

[sinks88]

Im currently working on this exact setup (rago mount)

So far the only thing is left is to mount the mount and antenna.

but Im scared to even turn the damn thing on due to all the SWR and Grounding over information.

I bought:
Uniden PRO520XL 40-Channel CB Radio
4ft Black Firefly (B000QB917Q)
18' RG-58A/U Coaxial Cable With Pl-259 Connectors
CB RADIO ANTENNA HEAVY DUTY SO-239 STUD MOUNT (BULK) - FIRESTIK K-4A
Firestik SS-3H Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Antenna Spring

So I have the CB all hooked up and an ready to mount the rago and antenna...I was planning to run a ground to the stud mount and then through the bumper to the frame...and Im wondering what people with this set up did for antenna cable routing?

Last concern is the Antenna tuning. All I have read is "Dont fry your unit" but how in the hell can you tune it knowing it isn't tuned to start with and start adjusting from there? Wouldn't you fry it out of the gate just by trying to tune it? I have some friends lined up to help me tune it with the SWR meter and such, its just I dont get where and how the "frying" gets activated.

 

[stephan07]

I've your exact same set-up except I went with the Uniden 510XL. I have one other mount here that I am going to try and use this afternoon if I can break away from the kids. Its a holiday here in MA and wifey is out of town on business. I'll PM you if I have any luck. Love the look of the Rago mount and the location, but have my doubts on it. I've also considered a no ground setup.
I got the 510 for 35 bucks so not the end of the world if I fried it.

 

[snif6969]

Hello guys,

I successfully installed the Rago mount + CB antenna and got it work just right, key is grounding.

I used the Firering cable from Firestik, but the principle is the same with any other cable.

I had to sand down the beautiful Rago powder coat where the firering makes contact with the bracket.

Also on the bracket backing plate, I drilled a hole and installed a flush bolt from which I ran a bonding strap to the trucks body. I will try to provide pictures but the area is pretty hard to access afterwards.

Hope this helps.

 

[stephan07]

Thanks for the info. The Rago piece is beautiful, and I still may try and make it work. However I just tried for kicks another mount that screws into the hatch with Allens. First shot saw an SWR of 1 on channel 1 and 1.6 on Ch 40.

I ordered up a grounding Strap from Amazon yesterday. I'll try your set up and see what I just get just because I love the Rago look so much. .

 

[bancorat]

Grounding

The y key to make it work and lower your SWR is getting good ground. I drilled a hole on the bumper beneath the mount to bring the cables inside the car. Used 1/2" copper braided flat strap to ground the mount at two point, chasis and body. With that and some antenna trimming I was able to get the entire band with a Firestik KW6-R and also a 102" whip. Longest Bandwidth was with the whip. I also run a ham stick for the 20m ham band. All works great!

 

[wrjones05]

The y key to make it work and lower your SWR is getting good ground. I drilled a hole on the bumper beneath the mount to bring the cables inside the car. Used 1/2" copper braided flat strap to ground the mount at two point, chasis and body. With that and some antenna trimming I was able to get the entire band with a Firestik KW6-R and also a 102" whip. Longest Bandwidth was with the whip. I also run a ham stick for the 20m ham band. All works great!

Oh thank God someone who actually was able to complete it and posted pics! Been looking for this for awhile now.

Would love to complete my project here as I've done so much work already. Currently the coax is run instead the cab, but I can just as easily reroute it and drill a hole. I have 3 drilled already for the mount, another is not going to hurt.

Did you make a new cable end for yours? I've got the tools, just not the experience with it yet.

Thanks again! Can't wait to see if this fixes my high SWR issue.

 

[bancorat]

Oh thank God someone who actually was able to complete it and posted pics! Been looking for this for awhile now.

Would love to complete my project here as I've done so much work already. Currently the coax is run instead the cab, but I can just as easily reroute it and drill a hole. I have 3 drilled already for the mount, another is not going to hurt.

Did you make a new cable end for yours? I've got the tools, just not the experience with it yet.

Thanks again! Can't wait to see if this fixes my high SWR issue.

You don't have to reroute the coax the ground is what will make the difference. The Rago Mount lacks ground as it is mounted on a plastic bumper. In my case a drilled the hole because I didn't want to deal with the cables every time I opened a door. Ran the cables inside the cabin by taking out the rear driver side break lights housing (drilled a hole in body as well). The coax for both antennas is run inside the panels and ends up beneath the drivers seat were both connect to a Yaesu 857D. I used RG-8X coax and soldered the ends after running the cable. I'll try to take more pics today and post them. The issue is the ground, I was having the same issues as you did. Installed the ground cable and started to see the SWR dips. That's what I used for ground, found it on ebay with terminals an all. See the ground cable circled in blue. I used heat shrink tube on both cables for weather protection.

 

[BCZECH]

The product page says this is their recommendation. A grounding strip.

"We recommend a 5ft Firestick, stainless steel spring with ground, and a braided ground strap."

I'll be installing mine this week, so this was a good thread to stumble upon.

 

[wrjones05]

Thank you for the response and the pics, really helped seal it alot.

You don't have to reroute the coax the ground is what will make the difference. The Rago Mount lacks ground as it is mounted on a plastic bumper. In my case a drilled the hole because I didn't want to deal with the cables every time I opened a door. Ran the cables inside the cabin by taking out the rear driver side break lights housing (drilled a hole in body as well). The coax for both antennas is run inside the panels and ends up beneath the drivers seat were both connect to a Yaesu 857D. I used RG-8X coax and soldered the ends after running the cable. I'll try to take more pics today and post them. The issue is the ground, I was having the same issues as you did. Installed the ground cable and started to see the SWR dips. That's what I used for ground, found it on ebay with terminals an all. See the ground cable circled in blue. I used heat shrink tube on both cables for weather protection.

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[jahdai42]

where is everyone attaching the grounding strap to? My SWR is all the way up in 6 and I checked the ground with a multimeter.

 

[bancorat]

where is everyone attaching the grounding strap to? My SWR is all the way up in 6 and I checked the ground with a multimeter.

Mine is grounded to both the chassis and body. SWR below 1.5 on the entire band.

 

[jhguth]

No reason to ground to chassis

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[DannyLlama]

I know this is off topic a bit but I wanted to check to see if there is anyway to "tune" the CB antenna without taking apart my center counsel to get to the unit , since mine is mounted there.

I am getting a lot of noise and want to address it without a SWR meter.

Second part to my question, are there any folks in OC equipped to check out my unit?

 

[jhguth]

I know this is off topic a bit but I wanted to check to see if there is anyway to "tune" the CB antenna without taking apart my center counsel to get to the unit , since mine is mounted there.

I am getting a lot of noise and want to address it without a SWR meter.

Second part to my question, are there any folks in OC equipped to check out my unit?

Why do you not want to use an SWR meter? For all you know your SWR is sky high and you've already killed your radio. A basic SWR meter is cheap, you can get one on Amazon with 1 or 2 day shipping for probably less than $20

You'll need to get to the end of the antenna cable at the radio to tune the antenna since the cable is part of what you're tuning.

Other than ruling out electronic noise by making sure you have power and ground run direct to the battery, there isnt much else for you to do without tuning the antenna


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[Hawaiano]

Hello guys,

I successfully installed the Rago mount + CB antenna and got it work just right, key is grounding.

I used the Firering cable from Firestik, but the principle is the same with any other cable.

I had to sand down the beautiful Rago powder coat where the firering makes contact with the bracket.

Also on the bracket backing plate, I drilled a hole and installed a flush bolt from which I ran a bonding strap to the trucks body. I will try to provide pictures but the area is pretty hard to access afterwards.

Hope this helps.

I’m running the same set and have constant high swr and have a few questions. Which part of the body did you run the ground strap to? Also would you be able to post pictures of how you attached it to the backing plate? Even a drawing would be good for me I know it’s a pain to get to that backing plate. Thanks in advanced!

 

[VARunner03]

Revival

Reviving this thread because I'm looking to do the same setup with my truck. Any updates on anyone's progress?
[MENTION=150945]bancorat[/MENTION], how long is your grounding strap, and once through the hole you drilled where it does it route through to make it to the frame. I'll likely do the same grounding strap setup that you have.

Thanks in advance!

 

[blksubykid]

Reviving this thread because I'm looking to do the same setup with my truck. Any updates on anyone's progress?

[MENTION=150945]bancorat[/MENTION], how long is your grounding strap, and once through the hole you drilled where it does it route through to make it to the frame. I'll likely do the same grounding strap setup that you have.

Thanks in advance!

If all the parts come in and the weather cooperates, I will be installing this on the weekend. I have a 30ft grounding strap from work LOL so I will make sure everything works and the antenna's tuned before drilling a hole in my bumper to route it. I will keep you posted.

 

[VARunner03]

Good luck, I hope everything works out for you. I look forward to hearing how it goes!

 

[bancorat]

Reviving this thread because I'm looking to do the same setup with my truck. Any updates on anyone's progress?

[MENTION=150945]bancorat[/MENTION], how long is your grounding strap, and once through the hole you drilled where it does it route through to make it to the frame. I'll likely do the same grounding strap setup that you have.

Thanks in advance!

I have two ground straps connected to the base of the antenna. They are both about 2.5 feet long, one connected to the body and one to the chasis. It is getting the job done for both CB and Ham bands. Good luck with the install, keep us posted!