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Everyone with CB's.....

SilveradoWV

By SilveradoWV
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SilveradoWV Senior Enthusiast

SilveradoWV

Posted
Posted
Where does everyone mount their cb antennas? I am somewhat against drilling alot of holes and dont think I want a mag mount. Would like something behind the cab but with a fiberglass bed cover, useing the inside of the bed is not an option. Just thought I would see how everyone else was doing it. Thanks!
chevy4x4trucks Senior Enthusiast

chevy4x4trucks

Posted
Posted
I used a glass mount one, no holes to drill and hidden install.  Plus the reception was just as good as the two 5' wilson whips that I had on there before (not to mention, looked a lot nicer too).
MountaineerTom Senior Enthusiast

MountaineerTom

Posted
Posted

Get in touch with TxDoc, and check out his site; TxDoc's pics.

 

He has a FireStik Fire Fly antenna mounted like the stock radio antenna, but on the drivers side.  I seen another guys site that had a set up like that too, but can't remember who's.  It's a nice looking setup.  :thumb:

SilveradoWV Senior Enthusiast

SilveradoWV

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I used a glass mount one, no holes to drill and hidden install.  Plus the reception was just as good as the two 5' wilson whips that I had on there before (not to mention, looked a lot nicer too).

Dont you have to cut a piece out of the window tint for that type?

 

Will do Tom! :thumb:

Torque Junkie Enthusiast

Torque Junkie

Posted
Posted

Since my truck is older than most of yours my reply really won't help much, but mine are bolted to the mirrors.  Dual 4' whips.

 

Jon - I'm curious as to where you got your Glass Mount CB antenna???  I want a CB in my car and am NOT putting 4' whips on a Camaro... I'm not THAT redneck :wtf:

 

Thanks!!!!

 

-Mike

TxDoc Senior Enthusiast

TxDoc

Posted
Posted

I could never talk further than I could see with the cell phone look-a-like's. I did run across this info that may get you optimum results if you chose to go that way.

 

 

Thru-glass antennas have been around for years and get mixed reviews: ("great" to "high SWR dummy load"). After several hours, looking for a way to make a decent installation in the roof of our Honda minivan, I gave up and decided to try one of these.

They work by capacitive coupling at a high impedance point through the glass; (no, you don't drill a hole through the glass) with small plates stuck on opposite sides of the glass with some really tenacious tape. The inside piece is a small box approximately 2" square by 1" deep and connects to the coax. The outside piece is simply a metal plate with an adjustable mount for a small whip.

Most versions use a half-wave whip but this model (IronHorse/ATOC ATA144) is 27" long - neither 1/4 nor 1/2 wave - so I don't know exactly how it works. There are also dual band versions.

You should position the antenna near the top of the glass, so most of it clears the roofline. You also have to avoid the windshield wipers, any heat tape, embedded AM/FM antenna wires, and tinted glass. That doesn't leave many places. All the rear windows on our van are slightly tinted (including the rear hatch where I planned to put the antenna). But a review I'd read on the Internet (www.eham.net/reviews/) said this antenna had worked well on the same model. So I decided to take a chance.

Installation was easy, but tedious, as you only get one shot, when the tape touches the glass - it's stuck! So you want to figure out the exact position and orientation so the whip is vertical. I marked the position first with masking tape. You can order a "remount" kit if you goof. After mounting the base, I draped the coax temporarily along the floor to the rig and tested the SWR. It was about 3:1 and varied all over the place when I touched or moved the cables or meter. No Good.

It appears that this particular antenna relies on the coax for a counterpoise and capacitive coupling to the car body (and that causes the instability). One of the 1/2 wavelength models shouldn't have this problem. First, I tried grounding the coax at the antenna. This eliminated the wild variations; but, the SWR was 3:1. Adjusting the little tuning screw had no effect. I would have tried grounding at the radio, but ground is hard to come by in newer cars! Next I tried adding a ferrite clip-on choke to the cable. (This is similar to exactly what the manufacturer says not to do - coil or loop the cable). The choke also eliminated the variation but the SWR was still 2:1.

Sliding the choke along the cable, I found a spot that read 1.5:1 and stuffing the cable temporarily under the door trim got it down to about 1.2. All these tests were inside the garage; so, things will probably have to be tweaked outside, on a nice day. Initial tests look promising, as I was able to hit the Ridge Repeater with 5 watts from Lexington Hospital! These antennas should perform about as well as a 1/4 or 1/2 wave whip, but not as good as a 5/8 wave antenna.

The other brand I saw reviewed/recommended was Radiall/Larsen, which are 1/2 wavelength long. They were about twice the price of the ATOC ($22 at Charlotte); but, otherwise, seemed very similar. The ATOC does have a much more flexible whip that seems like an advantage, if you hit something. Reading the fine print in the documentation says the ATOC "gain" is 0dBi (which is worse than a dipole). The Larsen claims 2.4dBi (which is equivalent to a dipole). We'll see. I should have some more comments after a few months of testing.

The manufacturer warns not to use high power (50W) unless the SWR is 1.7:1 or less; so, I haven't tried 50W (until I recheck the SWR). From what I know so far, these antennas are certainly trickier than plopping a mag-mount in the center of the roof; but, do appear to offer an alternative for difficult installation situations. If only new car manufacturers would run a conduit form under the dash to a cover plate in the center of the roof! One to the battery would be nice, too.

 

Here are two good sites with technical info and answers to basic questions:

 

 

http://www.firestik.com/

 

http://www.alfenterprises.com/MobileCBAntennas.html

chevy4x4trucks Senior Enthusiast

chevy4x4trucks

Posted
Posted

Dont you have to cut a piece out of the window tint for that type?

 

Nope, I have the factory deep tint and didn't have to mess w/ anything.

 

Jon - I'm curious as to where you got your Glass Mount CB antenna???  I want a CB in my car and am NOT putting 4' whips on a Camaro... I'm not THAT redneck

 

I ordered mine online somewhere, but radio shack also sells them.  The beauty is they screw off so all you have on there is a 1x2 black piece when you don't want your cb on.

 

Here's a pic of it from the outside (top of ack window on the driver's side)

antenna.jpg

 

More pics and info on the install:

http://www.chevy4x4trucks.com/install/cbradioinstall.html

SilveradoWV Senior Enthusiast

SilveradoWV

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Also where is everyone mounting the cb inside?? I need it somewhere out of the way because I have 3 passengers up front occasionally. I am looking for the smallest radio I can find that I like, but mounting it is still going to be tricky.
SxViper Enthusiast

SxViper

Posted
Posted
I am going to be mounting mine where the third person would have their knees.. On my 2500HD crew cab there is a fake panel that I have removed. I am going to mount the radio inside there. I still have to mount the antenna on the outside of the truck. I have 4' Firestick All American special edition.. They are really nice and would like to get one on my new truck.  I had a thru glass one on my S10 and it really didn't work to good. Like TxDoc said your not going to beable to talk much farther than you can see.. That was my problem and why I went to the bigger antennas..
chevy4x4trucks Senior Enthusiast

chevy4x4trucks

Posted
Posted

cobracb.jpg

 

How's that???

 

Flip the CD lid down and the CB is completely hidden from site.  Not to mention all of the wires were completely hidden as well and it was wired to the MBEC so that it would only work w/ the ignition on, so no fear of letting it drain the battery of it's juice.

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