lets see them CB Antenna Mounts

[chillfancy]

My vehicle is getting geared up for community emergency response missions. I'm in a group that does a lot of disaster relief, so being able to handle comms is very important. The 50W transceiver + antenna setup I use routinely hits repeaters 100+ miles away.

My goal was the best possible mounting position and lowest SWR, so that meant placement would be high and in the middle of the roof with a solid ground plane. Because I didn't want to drill the roof, my only option was a cross bar mount with a bottom hat. The vertical and radials were tuned to VHF using a handheld analyzer.

I tapped into the stock AUX input and am building a source selector. My radio is a TM-V71a, and it features 2 line level outputs. My plan is to have 2 selectors so I can output channel A, B, or A+B to either the car stereo, a monitor speaker under the seat, passenger headphone, or driver headphone jack.

 

[cutty01]

I went with the CBI ditch brackets. I used the right side one for my firestick on a spring mount. I have an extra left mount if you want to go that route...

Hi. Is there any difference between the CBI antenna mount and the ditch light brackets? They look like the same thing. If not, I will take the driver's side bracket if you still have it available. Please send me a PM with your price shipped to Redwood City, CA 94065.

 

[e60ral]

Hi. Is there any difference between the CBI antenna mount and the ditch light brackets? They look like the same thing. If not, I will take the driver's side bracket if you still have it available. Please send me a PM with your price shipped to Redwood City, CA 94065.

Same thing

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[brian0128]

Not sure why a simple trunk-lip NMO mount doesn't get more love on here.



Easy to install - slips over the edge of the hood with no drilling. Two allen bolts snug it up to the underside of the hood and provide the ground. Add a ground strap to get the best SWR, though you can run it without. Coax slides right through existing firewall grommets.



Cheap - around $20 including the coax and PL259.



Various antenna options - I use a Browning 1/4 wave base loaded model that is also fairly cheap at around $30, offers good tx / rx, and is nice and flexible for hitting brush and so forth. SWR is not superb because this is a very length specific antenna, so tuning it to get 1.1 on channel 1 gets me about 2.0 on channel 40.



Tram trunk lip black NMO mount (shown with a VHF antenna)


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Do you just swap antennas depending on if you are using CB or UHF/VHF?

 

[MeefZah]

Do you just swap antennas depending on if you are using CB or UHF/VHF?

I suppose you could, although then you would also have to unplug the connector at the radio and switch it between the radios as you swap antennas. In my case I actually have two of those antennas, one on each side of the hood, one runs the CB and one runs the VHF. Some of my pictures have them in different places because I've used that set up on several different trucks, and sometimes the CB antenna winds up on the left and sometimes it winds up on the right during my install.

 

[cutty01]

I suppose you could, although then you would also have to unplug the connector at the radio and switch it between the radios as you swap antennas. In my case I actually have two of those antennas, one on each side of the hood, one runs the CB and one runs the VHF. Some of my pictures have them in different places because I've used that set up on several different trucks, and sometimes the CB antenna winds up on the left and sometimes it winds up on the right during my install.

Hi. Came across your post. How does the mount you are using stay on and get ground, set screw? Any rust issue like some have posted with the K400? How did you run the cable to the interior? Thanks in advance.

 

[MeefZah]

Hi. Came across your post. How does the mount you are using stay on and get ground, set screw? Any rust issue like some have posted with the K400? How did you run the cable to the interior? Thanks in advance.

They mount via two set screws that come up from the bottom. That should be a "good enough" ground but you can remove a set screw and replace it with a regular bolt and two nuts, and then attach a grounding strap to that and run that down into the engine compartment to a solid ground if you want a better ground.

No rust issues. The black finish is stainless, it dulls a little but doesn't corrode.

The cable runs to the interior via the factory grommet that is in the firewall, there is one on each side. If you sit in the driver's seat and kind of visualize a straight line protruding in line with your left femur and through your kneecap, that line will pass through the firewall about where the grommet is. The passenger side is basically a mirror image of the driver's side. That should give you some sense of orientation. The grommet is large enough to cut a slit in and pass a PL259 through.

 

[cutty01]

Man I am having the hardest time choosing a CB antenna mount. I only want a CB to use when doing a trail run with others or for some entertainment on the occasional road trip.

Seeing how I would use it only a couple times a year, I finally settled on just getting a Wilson Little Wil magnetic antenna to mount to the roof and then "close the passenger door" on the coax (I heard it won't hurt much). I was all set to make the purchase than I remembered that I have a Gobi rack.

Question: If I mount the Little Wil to the mesh floor of the Gobi, will it be adequate for a RF ground plane (not talking about the electrical ground)? The Gobi rack sits about 2"-3" above the roof.

Also curious how hatch mounts and ladder mounts are getting a good RF ground plane? From what I read, the antenna is most effective when the radio waves can "bounce" from a perpendicular metal surface. Looks like hatch and ladder mounts are mounted parallel to a ground plane.

Thanks in advance!

 

[jayhat]

Man I am having the hardest time choosing a CB antenna mount. I only want a CB to use when doing a trail run with others or for some entertainment on the occasional road trip.

Seeing how I would use it only a couple times a year, I finally settled on just getting a Wilson Little Wil magnetic antenna to mount to the roof and then "close the passenger door" on the coax (I heard it won't hurt much). I was all set to make the purchase than I remembered that I have a Gobi rack.

Question: If I mount the Little Wil to the mesh floor of the Gobi, will it be adequate for a RF ground plane (not talking about the electrical ground)? The Gobi rack sits about 2"-3" above the roof.

Thanks in advance!

Interested in this too. What about sticking the base on the roof, under the rack, and then screwing the antenna in, through the mesh floor of the rack?

 

[MossJenks]

I use the same NMO lip mount that Meefzah runs for my ham radio. It works a treat. Rock solid and lots of antennas to choose from. The set screws are pointed so they dig through the paint to provide ground. Then I ran a ground strap from the hood side of the hinge (with a star washer to dig through the paint) to the body.

 

[MeefZah]

Since I got a PM from Cutty about my setup, I wanted to update the thread.

I still think the NMO trunk lip on the hood is a great option. I continue to use it with my HAM radio, with a 1/4 wave Opek antenna.

However, my Browning NMO antenna recently shit the bed. I assume it was due to my merciless abuse of the entire truck; vibrations likely broke a solder joint in the base load. Because of that, I can't really continue to recommend the Browning antenna. However - there are a lot of other good NMO CB antennas that you could use.

That said, I kind of reassessed my CB use - unlike my HAM which I turn on every time I get into the truck and which doubles as my FD radio / scanner, the CB gets little actual use. I happen to have a Wilson 1000 and a Wilson Little Wil just sitting around, so I threw the 1000 on the roof and did some SWR and range tests, and it blows the NMO antenna away. Way easier to tune across the entire frequency range and easily 2x the range. The Little Wil tunes as easily but has about the same range as the NMO.

What I ended up doing, then, was to delete the NMO CB antenna mount. My day to day setup will be the CB permanently installed, with no antenna. When I want to use the CB - road trip, trail work, etc - I will put the 1000 up on the roof in a marked spot (so SWR stays consistent). I will keep the shorter and easier to store Little Wil in the rear hatch area and if I am on the road and decide to throw up a CB antenna, I will always have that one with me to get me by. Note that my CB has a jumper coax from the back of the unit to under my passenger seat, so I can install an antenna to that without removing the unit from my dash.
[MENTION=128325]cutty01[/MENTION] , I would not use the mesh floor to mount the magnet. It won't have adequate pulling power at highway speeds, for one, and it's questionable if you will get a decent ground. Since you want to use it on a temporary basis, I'd either stick the magnet on an exposed corner of the roof (does the Gobi cover the entire roof?), or if there is no exposed corner, you can stick it on a back corner of the hood and just feed the coax through the leading edge of the door. Not ideal, and off center so it will radiate weird, but "good enough" if that's what you got to work with,

 

[cutty01]

Thanks [MENTION=132734]MeefZah[/MENTION], you have been a huge help in giving help and advice. I posted here since I thought I was bugging you too much in PMs. Thanks for the additional 411 just posted.

 

[MeefZah]

Thanks [MENTION=132734]MeefZah[/MENTION], you have been a huge help in giving help and advice. I posted here since I thought I was bugging you too much in PMs. Thanks for the additional 411 just posted.

Nah man, no bother at all.

 

[e60ral]

any decent mag antenna mounted centrally on the roof will be better than pretty much any lip mount, its a large well oriented ground plane. My Browning NMO is still going strong but it will never perform as well as my old K40 mag antenna mounted on the roof. Even the roof of my much smaller BMW performed better, it's hard to beat that ground plane if a mag mount on the roof isn't a problem.
[MENTION=132734]MeefZah[/MENTION] add a square of vinyl to where you use the antenna to prevent scratches

 

[MeefZah]

any decent mag antenna mounted centrally on the roof will be better than pretty much any lip mount, its a large well oriented ground plane. My Browning NMO is still going strong but it will never perform as well as my old K40 mag antenna mounted on the roof. Even the roof of my much smaller BMW performed better, it's hard to beat that ground plane if a mag mount on the roof isn't a problem.

[MENTION=132734]MeefZah[/MENTION] add a square of vinyl to where you use the antenna to prevent scratches

Prevent scratches, ha! I'm scratched through the paint on the sides from brush. Last thing i care about is minor scratches on the roof! Probably good advice for others, though!

 

[KCT4R]

I had a diamond mount on the rear hatch. Always kind of worried about paint and rust issues. So a few weekend ago I disassembled the mount and with a couple items from the hardware store, mounted it to my CBI bumper in the bracket where I believe the camp light goes. It's was nice to have the diamond mount parts to swap over. For now I just have wiring zip tied to swing arm.

Old mount setup

New mount setup

Rear bumper fascia is now painted to match. This was shortly after bumper install.


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[Salvo Jimmy]

Wilson 5000 Magnetic.

Location gives a SWR of 1.1 to 1 and a pattern toward the front and slightly left toward oncoming traffic.

Using a Midland 75-822 hand held that has been tweaked by my local truck stop CB shop for peak legal power.

 

[PeoplecallmeIan]

Just wondering if anyone has mounted their antenna on their roof rack. It would be a semi-permanent solution for me until I get a bumper in the future. I was wondering if the rack would be able to ground the antenna. I'm not really that knowledgeable on anything electrical, so sorry if I don't know what I'm talking about.

 

[WabdaQ]

Just wondering if anyone has mounted their antenna on their roof rack. It would be a semi-permanent solution for me until I get a bumper in the future. I was wondering if the rack would be able to ground the antenna. I'm not really that knowledgeable on anything electrical, so sorry if I don't know what I'm talking about.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/showthread.php?p=740063


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[PeoplecallmeIan]

Using CB through AUX jack - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum


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Cool and thanks! I think mine will look funny with a 4 ft antenna but whatever. I'll post pics when I get it hooked up.