Alum body trucks and CB antennas

harmanrk wrote:

ACZL wrote:
To a degree, are alum body trucks killing off the use of CB's?

No, they were already dead. An invention called the 'Cell Phone' killed off the CB, long before Aluminum because common in vehicle bodies.

I disagree.
Cell phones, IMO, had little to do with the increasing lack of interest in 2-way radio, be it CB or Ham (Amateur) radio.
In spite of what many people think, there are vast areas of the Western United States that have spotty (at best) or no cell coverage at all.
I believe a major player in the demise of CB radio has been the way the cockpits of recent vehicles have been built. There simply is no place to mount a radio within reach of the driver. It has been that way for many years. Mounting the Yaesu radio in my 1999 truck rendered the ashtray unusable! By the time I added the brake controller and the screwdriver antenna controller, the dash on the driver's side is totally covered!

as for antenna.. and metal.. aluminum and sheet steel is same for antenna..

boats use it forever.. fiberglass and or wood is a different matter...

aluminum is bad to use for Wiring... cannot keep connections tight... aka 1970's.
but as a "Ground" plane.. its fine.

most base station antennas are MADE of aluminum... with aluminum ground planes..
since forever...

ACZL wrote:
To a degree, are alum body trucks killing off the use of CB's?

No, they were already dead. An invention called the 'Cell Phone' killed off the CB, long before Aluminum because common in vehicle bodies.

LINK

The best place for your antenna is in the middle of the truck not off to either side.