CB Radio & Antenna Installation Suggestions

Rolin wrote:
I went to a Ham Radio shop, found a hood mount...really a fender mount as it bolts to the fender using a metal bracket so it has a good ground plane. It actually bolts to the fender such that part of it is covered by the hood when the hood is closed and sticks out so that the antenna can bolt to the exposed part of the bracket. Then we used a 4ft fire stick antenna with some a small diameter antenna cable....forgot the size rating. Nice easy set up and easy to route the antenna cable into the cab to connect with the cb.

This is what I did and what I would recommend. It gives very adequate performance with a relatively easy installation and it doesn't cause any clearance issues. I used just a 2' antenna that was bottom loaded as opposed to the 4' fire stick mentioned above. My guess is that a ladder mounted antenna wouldn't give you better performance, it would have clearance issues, it would be a lot more work to install, and you would have more loss in the coax.

I bought a "no ground plane" antenna and mounted it to the ladder of my C. I got that type antenna because my roof is fiberglass. I don't use my CB often, but when I do it works good for me.

dangerruss wrote:
I am thinking of mounting to the ladder. I don't pick up the RV until a week from tomorrow. :(

Trying to do a little planning ahead as I will only have two weeks to make any improvements or upgrades before we head out to explore the USA...:)

as a temporary measure you can set a small magnetic mount antenna on the RV dash and it will probably be semi adequate for local chatting. I have a walkie talkie type of CB also and it will work in the vehicle, to a degree.
before I got my Chieftain that was pre wired for a CB I thought about getting a round plate that is used to cover an electrical box and use silicone seal, etc. to stick it down to the roof to put a magnetic antenna on.
bumpy

On my Class C, I have 2 antennas mounted on the window on front of the upper bunk and on the side glass window on the over the cab bunk. My antennas are both Amateur Radio Antenna's 220MHz, 144-148MHz, 70cm. Through the glass.

I went to a Ham Radio shop, found a hood mount...really a fender mount as it bolts to the fender using a metal bracket so it has a good ground plane. It actually bolts to the fender such that part of it is covered by the hood when the hood is closed and sticks out so that the antenna can bolt to the exposed part of the bracket. Then we used a 4ft fire stick antenna with some a small diameter antenna cable....forgot the size rating. Nice easy set up and easy to route the antenna cable into the cab to connect with the cb.

I mounted mine to the hood...bearing in mind, my Ford hood is fiberglass so is a terrible ground plane.




Gary Haupt

Do people still use CB's? On my old class A, I has a set of what were called "Twin Trucker" antennae that mounted on my mirror brackets. They seemed to work pretty good. If in doubt, roll on down to your local truck stop and ask them. An 18 wheeler will have very similar characteristics to a motorhome for mounting a CB antennae.

Best option performance-wise is using a pair of antennas where the top 2/3rd of each antenna can "see" the other above the roof line. This requires specific antennas and coax intended for this purpose. Disadvantage is it is more difficult to set up, and you are going through the house portion of your rig to get above the roof line (antennas won't "see" each other with mirror mounts, and will be too close together to work well with hood-lip/fender mounts.) When correctly installed this setup works very well.

Second best choice performance-wise is using a "NGP" (no ground plane) whip antenna. These use a specific matched coax to "work" without a large ground plane. This would work OK high on your ladder using a mirror mount. This is the type of antenna that is factory installed on many newer RVs. Disadvantage is they give up quite a bit of efficiency to the properly-installed pair, or to a properly-installed conventional antenna on a steel vehicle.

Third best choice performance-wise would be a conventional antenna and coax installed on your ladder, fender, or mirror mount. Because of the lack of ground plane (if ladder mount) or the large reflective adjacent surface (if mirror mount) performance may be poor, but should work well enough for caravan communication without ruining the radio.

The 1000th best choice performance-wise would be a through-the-glass antenna which basically does nothing well other than non-obtrusive install. May work OK a caravan situation if the other radio is close enough. Receive will be especially poor.

There are many different brands of each type of antenna on the market to choose from. Firestick is one brand that makes whips in either co-phase pair, NGP, and conventional. But there are many others. With your smaller-than-average cabover I would probably go with the fender mount as J-D suggested.

I'm no expert either. On my last class A I used a dual antenna set up. I tried some different locations with an SWR meter before finalizing the set up.

Miles

I am thinking of mounting to the ladder. I don't pick up the RV until a week from tomorrow. :(

Trying to do a little planning ahead as I will only have two weeks to make any improvements or upgrades before we head out to explore the USA...:)