CB Radio antenna mounting

Kidoo wrote:
Hi, I am looking for information about mounting a CB antenna on a class A. I do not plan to use this set up for very long, just for a trip with a bunch of others with CBs.

I read it needs a good ground to perform well. The problem is to ground the antenna on the fiberglass frame. I have an aluminum roof so a magnet is out of the question.

I saw a Firefly fiberglass antenna but it also need a ground.

Can I run a wire grounded to the frame from below the RV instead of screwing in the fiber? Really do not want holes in the fiber.

I also read it needs to stick out on top of the MH by half it's lenght otherwise it will not perform well, an that a 4 feet antenna is the minimum lenght.

I do have an old two part antenna with a magnet but I don't think I can fit it without the magnet.

Thanks, please share your experince.

Well, you could write a book on the topic of antennas (actually, there are books written on antennas), but in short it's going to be hard to do what you want. An antenna needs a good radio frequency (RF) ground to work well and the RF ground is essentially the other half of the antenna. An aluminum roof would make a great RF ground, but you'd need to bond the antenna to the roof, which is sounds like you're not willing to do. The metal chassis of the motor home is too far away from the antenna to work well. A no-ground-plane antenna such as the Firestik brand mentioned above) is OK, but NGP antennas operate at only a fraction of the efficiency of grounded antennas. Add to this that short antennas don't work as well as longer ones, base-loaded isn't as good as center-loaded, CB radios are limited to 4 watts (unless everyone in the group goes to SSB), etc. etc. etc., and getting a consistent range of a couple miles is a challenge.

I only use the CB radio for keeping in touch with truckers (such as in a traffic tie-up) so range has never been much of an issue for me. I use a 3' Firestik NGP antenna, with their 3-way mount and a spring-loaded base, as high up on the side of the roof pillar as I thought I could get without the antenna turning into a tree trimmer. As posted above, that's probably your best option given the realities of radio communications. I've never tested the range but I'd guess it's only about a mile consistently, depending on terrain. Over flat terrain, line-of-sight it might get to your 2-mile objective, but my guess is that's about as much as I'd hope for. I know that manufacturers claim that a 3' NGP antenna will have a range of "up to" 5 miles over flat terrain, but that seems too cheery to me. (By contrast, my ham radio 2-meter transceiver in the motor home, with an output of 50 watts run into a 1/2-wave antenna (which doesn't require a ground plane) mounted on the other roof pillar has a consistent range of 10-20 miles. Which is why I'd be surprised if a CB with a NGP antenna can get "up to" 5 miles consistently, i.e. 25-50% of the 2-meter range.)

Sorry this isn't better news, but I've been doing radio stuff for decades and reality has started to sink in. :)

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