CB's and RV's

[writerwithwheel]

I am considering having a 102" whip mounted to my Class C rear bumper so I can have a cb in my cab. I missed having one when I was roaming the west this summer in all those remote locations. I plan to be back out west next summer so thus the purchase.

Anyone doing this and had any issues?

[hotpepperkid]

wa8yxm wrote:
Well, as someone said they have much shorter antennas now, with much shorter range to go with them.

A 102 inch whip is 1/2 of an antenna, needs a good ground plane, the frame of the RV is such a ground plane.

If its on the back of the RV you might consider flange mounting a bout a 1/2 inch "T" fitting near the roof line for the whip to pass through,, Save it banging the back of the bus as it were.

102 inch whip is 1/4 wave not 1/2 on CB frequencys which is in the 11 meters

[John_Wayne]

so put your mag mount on the front fender if worried about getting stolen move it inside when you leave the RV

[rockhillmanor]

Bumpyroad wrote:

rockhillmanor wrote:


Comes with additional mag mount antenna. Although I never had to use it.

I bought at a truck stop a small piece of cable with a fitting that worked on that unit with the rubber ducky removed and had a standard CB cord fitting on the other so I could use my standard CB antennas.
bumpy

Slick tip. Isn't great all what you can find at the gas stations if you go back into the truck section?!

[Bumpyroad]

rockhillmanor wrote:


Comes with additional mag mount antenna. Although I never had to use it.

I bought at a truck stop a small piece of cable with a fitting that worked on that unit with the rubber ducky removed and had a standard CB cord fitting on the other so I could use my standard CB antennas.
bumpy

[rockhillmanor]

Comes with additional mag mount antenna. Although I never had to use it.

Even when driving the Class C where I thought for sure laying it on the dash it would never work with the cab over blocking it. But it worked great with excellent reception with just the antenna on the CB itself.

No drilling holes and mounting antenna's in the MH was my reasoning. Turned out it was real easy to use and the same strength as the old installed ones. IMHO even better. And the volume as loud as you wanted!

[Bumpyroad]

FrankShore wrote:
Midland makes a nice combo unit that is a handheld as well as a mobile unit. Very handy being able to plug it into the car and optional antenna, as well as use it as a portable. A nice FireStick or a "Little Wil" (Wilson antenna) is all the antenna you'll need!

that handheld is the one that I did not like. tinny/tiny speaker, hard to hold
bumpy

[Gonzo42]

Read this through several times!!!

Firestik Technical Library

99% of what you need to know will be there.

[writerwithwheel]

They were talking about hooking the whip to the unit. They mentioned a bungy of some type. I would never buy Magnetic anything. I saw too many of them stolen or lost in the wind. Not that almost any antenna could not be stolen. Though it's a little obvious to steal a 102 whip. I caught some fool trying one time.

[FrankShore]

Midland makes a nice combo unit that is a handheld as well as a mobile unit. Very handy being able to plug it into the car and optional antenna, as well as use it as a portable. A nice FireStick or a "Little Wil" (Wilson antenna) is all the antenna you'll need!

[wa8yxm]

Well, as someone said they have much shorter antennas now, with much shorter range to go with them.

A 102 inch whip is 1/2 of an antenna, needs a good ground plane, the frame of the RV is such a ground plane.

If its on the back of the RV you might consider flange mounting a bout a 1/2 inch "T" fitting near the roof line for the whip to pass through,, Save it banging the back of the bus as it were.

[1492]

edbehnke wrote:
why get a long whip? just get one you can just that is a mag mount.
https://www.google.com/search?q=cb+antennas&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb

Certain character combos will be interpreted as smileys by the forum software. You can alternatively use a shortcut to avoid displaying them: http://bit.ly/VW9rlU.

[writerwithwheel]

I questioned the directionality issues with the CB shop. I used to install CB's years ago and we always used mirror mounts on trucks. I got into a heavy discussion with the shop's installer because this RV has Powder Coat on the mirror arms. He thinks we could scrape through that but the swivel of the mirror bracket would cause grounding issues. I don't know why he thinks that,
the swivel core is a large bolt.

So he suggested the 102 on the rear bumper. I think the RV body would kill most of the forward reliability of the antenna. They claim as long as three inches is above the box, I should be fine. Not from what I remember unless antenna technology has improved light years.

I would not even consider a metal plate on the roof. I already shudder when I go under some bridges. I don't want to lose the antenna before I get a chance to use it.

I used to run a 102 bumper mount on my Pickup, but it had full clearance above the tailgate. No box in the way. I personally would prefer a mirror mount setup.
i think the 102 may be more hassle than it is worth.

[thestoloffs]

A 102" whip is close to the full quarter-wavelength for CB frequencies, so you probably should achieve a decent SWR.

Try to keep the base mount as high as possible on the body, so most of the whip is above the roof, even if the front tip is held down by a clip while traveling. Any portion of the whip below the roofline will have more of a directional signal pattern, and an omni-directional pattern is the ideal.

The issue with antenna mounting on many RV's is that they never develop a good ground plane.

If you're mounting a loading coil-type antenna (the short kind) on a fiberglass side or roof, you won't have much of a ground plane -- which is what creates the additional antenna length. On those vehicles, an NGP (No Ground Plane) antenna uses a specially designed coax cable to serve as the ground plane, instead of wire radials or connection to a wide metal frame.

For those advocating a metal plate on the roof for the magnet mount, make it as large a square plate as feasible around other roof openings. That plate will serve as the ground plane; for SWR, the bigger plate, the better.

Cheers,
Gerry Stoloff (WA3HDI)

[edbehnke]

why get a long whip? just get one you can just that is a mag mount.
https://www.google.com/search?q=cb+antennas&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&channel=sb