Home » Public Forums » GMCnet » cb antenna
| cb antenna [message #131061] |
Mon, 20 June 2011 09:31  |
LYNN L
Messages: 140
Registered: March 2005
Location: Pearland TX.
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Can anyone recomend a cb antenna for the Gmc that works and doesn"t cost a fortune?
Thanks
Lynn L
76 Eleganza Cad.500
Pearland TX.
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| Re: cb antenna [message #131068 is a reply to message #131061] |
Mon, 20 June 2011 10:07  |
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WD0AFQ
Messages: 7111
Registered: November 2004
Location: Dexter, Mo.
Karma: 207
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| LYNN LAYCOCK wrote on Mon, 20 June 2011 09:31 |
Can anyone recomend a cb antenna for the Gmc that works and doesn"t cost a fortune?
Thanks
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Lynn, one easy option is to use a magnet mount on the refer vent. Get a strong magnet. I used to sell K-40 antennas and they had a good magnet on them. Anyway, you can run the coax down the refer vent, keeping it clear of the tubing on back of the refer. Then the coax can be run over the door, covered by moulding, and behind the cabinet to get it into the cab area.
I have my tracking antenna mounted this way and plan to put a small cb antenna there also. Right now I use my ham radio antenna on the rear bumper, tuned to 11 meters via an automatic tuner, when I feel the need for a cb. We had a window mount cb antenna until it became unmounted somewhere along the way. Window mounted antennas for 11 meters are very poor.
Dan
3 In Stainless Exhaust Headers
One Ton All Discs/Reaction Arm
355 FD/Quad Bag/Alum Radiator Manny Tran/New eng.
Holley EFI/10 Tire Air Monitoring System
Solarized Coach/Upgraded Windows
Satelite TV/On Demand Hot Water/3Way Refer
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| Re: cb antenna [message #131070 is a reply to message #131061] |
Mon, 20 June 2011 10:31 |
LYNN L
Messages: 140
Registered: March 2005
Location: Pearland TX.
Karma: 0
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Great idea Dan. I have a good magnet mount but did not think there was enough metal for a good ground plane. Off we go to radio shack for some more coax.
Lynn L
76 Eleganza Cad.500
Pearland TX.
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| Re: cb antenna [message #131072 is a reply to message #131061] |
Mon, 20 June 2011 10:42 |
Dennis S
Messages: 3046
Registered: November 2005
Karma: 2
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| LYNN LAYCOCK wrote on Mon, 20 June 2011 09:31 |
Can anyone recomend a cb antenna for the Gmc that works and doesn"t cost a fortune?
Thanks
|
What about the antennae that mount to the mirrors? My coach came with two -- since removed and put into the storage unit -- fixed to a clamp on the mirror arm.
Do folks still find an advantage with cb radios or just use them when traveling in a group?
Dennis
Dennis S
73 Painted Desert 230
Memphis TN Metro
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| Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna [message #131074 is a reply to message #131072] |
Mon, 20 June 2011 10:49 |
k2gkk
Messages: 4452
Registered: November 2009
Karma: -8
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If you can put up with occasional foul language
by a few of the long-haul drivers, CB is quite
useful for keeping yourself apprised of traffic
conditions such as accidents ahead, detours,
lane closures, etc. Probably only on the main
roads (interstate highways), though.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~~ ~ D C "Mac" Macdonald ~ ~~
~ ~ Amateur Radio - K2GKK ~ ~
~ ~ USAF and FAA, Retired ~ ~
~ ~ ~ Oklahoma City, OK ~ ~ ~
~~ ~ ~ "The Money Pit" ~ ~ ~~
~~ ~ ~ (TZE166V101966) ~ ~ ~~
~ ~ ~ ex-Palm Beach, 76 ~ ~ ~
~ www.gmcmhphotos.com/okclb ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
> To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
> From: dennisfsexton@aol.com
> Date: Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:42:47 -0500
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna
>
>
>
> LYNN LAYCOCK wrote on Mon, 20 June 2011 09:31
> > Can anyone recomend a cb antenna for the Gmc that works and doesn"t cost a fortune?
> > Thanks
>
>
> What about the antennae that mount to the mirrors? My coach came with two -- since removed and put into the storage unit -- fixed to a clamp on the mirror arm.
>
> Do folks still find an advantage with cb radios or just use them when traveling in a group?
>
> Dennis
> --
> Dennis S
> 73 Painted Desert 230
> Germantown, TN
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| Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna [message #131132 is a reply to message #131126] |
Mon, 20 June 2011 18:38 |
tphipps
Messages: 3005
Registered: August 2004
Location: Spanish Fort, AL
Karma: 9
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The longer the whip, the better the antenna. P.S. Installing 2 may look cool, but without proper spacing, and phasing, they tend to degrade each other. Go to library, and check out The ARRL Antenna Book for good discussions on the subject.
For other HF usage, try screwdriver. I use the ats-120, as the antenna for my ft-857d. Works for me without much effort.
Tom Phipps, KA4CSG
2012 Phoenix Cruiser model 2552
KA4CSG
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| Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna [message #131148 is a reply to message #131126] |
Mon, 20 June 2011 19:31 |
jhbridges
Messages: 8412
Registered: May 2011
Location: Braselton ga
Karma: -74
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Try one of the tuneable coil based whips on the bumper. If you know the j and resistance, you can cook up a network which will match it. And it will couple energy to free space, although the angle and directionality may be strange.
--johnny
--- On Mon, 6/20/11, Desmond <980@opg.org> wrote:
From: Desmond <980@opg.org>
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna
To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
Date: Monday, June 20, 2011, 11:14 PM
I also vote for the stainless steel whip on the bumper. It works great and my antenna analyzer agrees. I'm also a ham and so far that's the only spot that's given me any luck below 50 MHz. Still working on a plan for the rest of the HF band.
DC
gggmc.org
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Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
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| Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna [message #131204 is a reply to message #131148] |
Tue, 21 June 2011 03:04 |
980
Messages: 192
Registered: July 2010
Location: United States
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I have an ATAS that I like. I was trying to get it to tune up hooked to the ladder thinking that the ladder would be well grounded to the aluminum roof. Couldn't get a good enough ground. I also tried to mount it on the bumper but it wasn't happy there. I want to get it away from the body if I can. Right now I'm looking at way s to easily get it on the spare tire carrier. I'm pretty sure that's grounded well and I've heard that other guys have fashioned mounts there.
DC
On Jun 20, 2011, at 5:31 PM, Johnny Bridges wrote:
> Try one of the tuneable coil based whips on the bumper. If you know the j and resistance, you can cook up a network which will match it. And it will couple energy to free space, although the angle and directionality may be strange.
>
> --johnny
>
>
> --- On Mon, 6/20/11, Desmond <980@opg.org> wrote:
>
>
> From: Desmond <980@opg.org>
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna
> To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
> Date: Monday, June 20, 2011, 11:14 PM
>
>
> I also vote for the stainless steel whip on the bumper. It works great and my antenna analyzer agrees. I'm also a ham and so far that's the only spot that's given me any luck below 50 MHz. Still working on a plan for the rest of the HF band.
>
> DC
> gggmc.org
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| Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna [message #131226 is a reply to message #131204] |
Tue, 21 June 2011 08:19 |
Ken Burton
Messages: 10030
Registered: January 2004
Location: Hebron, Indiana
Karma: 10
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John Richardson has an ATAS-100 and has is mounted in two places. One on the rear bumper for use when moving and second on the ladder up high for use when he is stopped. He has no problem with it tuning in either location. I had mine for a short while mounted on the ladder and I also had no problems. If you are having problems I suggest that you add 8 or 9 feet of coax and wrap in an 8" or so circle. Then see if it will tune.
I had a similar tuning problem with an ATAS-100 and an FT-100 in my Blazer. Adding the coax as stated above fixed that problem.
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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| Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna [message #131268 is a reply to message #131226] |
Tue, 21 June 2011 10:55 |
jhbridges
Messages: 8412
Registered: May 2011
Location: Braselton ga
Karma: -74
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Another trick to try for best tuning - get a pair of tees and run two parallel _ IDENTICAL - cables between the radio and the antenna. In some circumstances, this will improve the match.
--johnny
--- On Tue, 6/21/11, Ken Burton <n9cv@comcast.net> wrote:
From: Ken Burton <n9cv@comcast.net>
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna
To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 1:19 PM
John Richardson has an ATAS-100 and has is mounted in two places. One on the rear bumper for use when moving and second on the ladder up high for use when he is stopped. He has no problem with it tuning in either location. I had mine for a short while mounted on the ladder and I also had no problems. If you are having problems I suggest that you add 8 or 9 feet of coax and wrap in an 8" or so circle. Then see if it will tune.
I had a similar tuning problem with an ATAS-100 and an FT-100 in my Blazer. Adding the coax as stated above fixed that problem.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana
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Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
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| Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna [message #131273 is a reply to message #131268] |
Tue, 21 June 2011 11:20 |
k2gkk
Messages: 4452
Registered: November 2009
Karma: -8
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That will NOT do the job. The two feedlines between
the junction of the two antennas and the feedline
from the transmitter MUST be of a different impedance
from 50 Ohms (generally 72-75 Ohms) and MUST be of a
very specific length. A homebrew "twin trucker" setup
will be junk unless properly designed.
Additionally, to work properly, the separation between
the two antennas should ideally be 8 feet, 10.3 inches.
This is wider than the width 8.5 feet specified for
"non-permt" use of our highways, but it's unlikely that
law enforcement can determine that unless some sort
of incident occurs and a measurement is made.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~~ ~ D C "Mac" Macdonald ~ ~~
~ ~ Amateur Radio - K2GKK ~ ~
~ ~ USAF and FAA, Retired ~ ~
~ ~ ~ Oklahoma City, OK ~ ~ ~
~~ ~ ~ "The Money Pit" ~ ~ ~~
~~ ~ ~ (TZE166V101966) ~ ~ ~~
~ ~ ~ ex-Palm Beach, 76 ~ ~ ~
~ www.gmcmhphotos.com/okclb ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
----------------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2011 08:55:20 -0700
> From: jhbridges@ymail.com
> To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna
>
> Another trick to try for best tuning - get a pair of tees and run two parallel _ IDENTICAL - cables between the radio and the antenna. In some circumstances, this will improve the match.
>
> --johnny
>
>
> --- On Tue, 6/21/11, Ken Burton <n9cv@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
> From: Ken Burton <n9cv@comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna
> To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
> Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 1:19 PM
>
>
>
>
> John Richardson has an ATAS-100 and has is mounted in two places. One on the rear bumper for use when moving and second on the ladder up high for use when he is stopped. He has no problem with it tuning in either location. I had mine for a short while mounted on the ladder and I also had no problems. If you are having problems I suggest that you add 8 or 9 feet of coax and wrap in an 8" or so circle. Then see if it will tune.
>
> I had a similar tuning problem with an ATAS-100 and an FT-100 in my Blazer. Adding the coax as stated above fixed that problem.
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana
> _______________________________________________
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| Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna [message #131289 is a reply to message #131273] |
Tue, 21 June 2011 12:17 |
C Boyd
Messages: 2629
Registered: April 2006
Karma: 18
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Senior Member |
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[quote title=k2gkk wrote on Tue, 21 June 2011 12:20]
That will NOT do the job. The two feedlines between
the junction of the two antennas and the feedline
from the transmitter MUST be of a different impedance
from 50 Ohms (generally 72-75 Ohms) and MUST be of a
very specific length. A homebrew "twin trucker" setup
will be junk unless properly designed.
Additionally, to work properly, the separation between
the two antennas should ideally be 8 feet, 10.3 inches.
This is wider than the width 8.5 feet specified for
"non-permt" use of our highways, but it's unlikely that
law enforcement can determine that unless some sort
of incident occurs and a measurement is made.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~~ ~ D C "Mac" Macdonald ~ ~~
~ ~ Amateur Radio - K2GKK ~ ~
~ ~ USAF and FAA, Retired ~ ~
~ ~ ~ Oklahoma City, OK ~ ~ ~
~~ ~ ~ "The Money Pit" ~ ~ ~~
~~ ~ ~ (TZE166V101966) ~ ~ ~~
~ ~ ~ ex-Palm Beach, 76 ~ ~ ~
~ www.gmcmhphotos.com/okclb ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Mac: I sure am learing a bunch of stuff I didn`t know on this thread. Thanks.. Just a note about the 8' and 8'6" stuff. DOT states 8` except on designated STAA routes which allow the 8'6" (102") wide trailers. The STAA routes are usually bigger roads and not the secondary roads that go around scales, hence a reason to pull you over to measure and take you to the scale if you are not the right size for the road designation. I personally chose to pull 96" wide trailers and keep the length in the "bridge law" as not to be illegal on any road. Dot does not count the mirrors on the truck so actually with 8'6" + 2' for 2 mirrors You can get antennas 10'3" apart.
I am running 2 matched mirror mount center load stainless antenna with a Galaxy SB radio and is good enough for who it is for.
C. Boyd
76 Crestmont
East Tennessee
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| Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna [message #131337 is a reply to message #131273] |
Tue, 21 June 2011 18:56 |
jhbridges
Messages: 8412
Registered: May 2011
Location: Braselton ga
Karma: -74
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Senior Member |
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Empirically, in some cases it will help. Usually when there's a 108" whip on a rear bumper mount. At the time we were doing that, I didn't have an admittance brodge, so I've no idea why... except that I suspect the rearmount is far fom a 50 ohm characteristic on the car.
The twin mount is essentially a directional array. You can play with line lengths and a field meter and get a front - rear pattern, or a round pattern, or things in between. Few are ever measured however, they're put on cos they 'look cool'.
Most mobile and a frightening number of fixed HF antennae show very poor matches. Perople look at a VSWR og 1.5:1 and go "Great match!" It isn't.
--johnny
--- On Tue, 6/21/11, D C *Mac* Macdonald <k2gkk@hotmail.com> wrote:
From: D C *Mac* Macdonald <k2gkk@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna
To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 4:20 PM
That will NOT do the job. The two feedlines between
the junction of the two antennas and the feedline
from the transmitter MUST be of a different impedance
from 50 Ohms (generally 72-75 Ohms) and MUST be of a
very specific length. A homebrew "twin trucker" setup
will be junk unless properly designed.
Additionally, to work properly, the separation between
the two antennas should ideally be 8 feet, 10.3 inches.
This is wider than the width 8.5 feet specified for
"non-permt" use of our highways, but it's unlikely that
law enforcement can determine that unless some sort
of incident occurs and a measurement is made.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~~ ~ D C "Mac" Macdonald ~ ~~
~ ~ Amateur Radio - K2GKK ~ ~
~ ~ USAF and FAA, Retired ~ ~
~ ~ ~ Oklahoma City, OK ~ ~ ~
~~ ~ ~ "The Money Pit" ~ ~ ~~
~~ ~ ~ (TZE166V101966) ~ ~ ~~
~ ~ ~ ex-Palm Beach, 76 ~ ~ ~
~ www.gmcmhphotos.com/okclb ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
----------------------------------------
> Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2011 08:55:20 -0700
> From: jhbridges@ymail.com
> To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna
>
> Another trick to try for best tuning - get a pair of tees and run two parallel _ IDENTICAL - cables between the radio and the antenna. In some circumstances, this will improve the match.
>
> --johnny
>
>
> --- On Tue, 6/21/11, Ken Burton <n9cv@comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
> From: Ken Burton <n9cv@comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: [GMCnet] cb antenna
> To: gmclist@temp.gmcnet.org
> Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 1:19 PM
>
>
>
>
> John Richardson has an ATAS-100 and has is mounted in two places. One on the rear bumper for use when moving and second on the ladder up high for use when he is stopped. He has no problem with it tuning in either location. I had mine for a short while mounted on the ladder and I also had no problems. If you are having problems I suggest that you add 8 or 9 feet of coax and wrap in an 8" or so circle. Then see if it will tune.
>
> I had a similar tuning problem with an ATAS-100 and an FT-100 in my Blazer. Adding the coax as stated above fixed that problem.
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
_______________________________________________
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Foolish Carriage, 76 26' Eleganza(?) with beaucoup mods and add - ons.
Braselton, Ga.
I forgive them all, save those who hurt the dogs. They must answer to me in hell
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back there. It seems to work OK, but then again, there isn't much out there worth hearing. 