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05-26-2009, 10:18 PM | #51 |
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But you probably don't want to strip your car to that level
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05-26-2009, 11:11 PM | #52 |
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Glad to see a thread like this finally! I'll post my set up tomorrow...
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05-26-2009, 11:18 PM | #53 |
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i like some of the ideas.
is the uniden pro 520 xl, paired up with a lil wil good for a starter set up? is there anything else that i need beside those two. i think i know someonw who has an SWR meter that might be willing to help me out when i get it. |
05-26-2009, 11:19 PM | #54 |
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I had a Little Will as my CB antenna for a while. For what it was, it was ok. However, the difference between it and the NMO27B was staggering.
You will absolutely need a SWR meter to set up the system, but it's something you can borrow and give back. |
05-26-2009, 11:22 PM | #55 |
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Here's my setup
Uniden PRO520XL w/ K30 mag mount antenna. I would like to get a through metal mount, but I'm hesitant to put a hole through anything right now. For road trips and caravans it does great. A whole lot better than trying to use those GMRS/FRS radios while driving. At least I can hear what people are saying. I've definitely hit people up to 3 miles away from me as well and got them coming back clear. |
05-26-2009, 11:23 PM | #56 | |
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you sir just sold me a CB. i just need the most low key, small antenna'd, easiest to use for the 'tard'd CB available. Oh, and make it cheap and easy to install. |
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05-26-2009, 11:29 PM | #57 |
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what would have a better range, the lil wil or the k30 mag antenna?
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05-26-2009, 11:31 PM | #58 |
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It will depend on how well you have it setup, ie. using an SWR meter to get your Tx signal balanced so you don't have any reflected power going back at your radio.
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05-26-2009, 11:32 PM | #59 | |
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In CB antennas, size matters. The longer it is, the better it works. Stubby won't impress anyone. Remember those ungodly long steel whips that were all the rage on 4x4s in the 80s? That's, literally, the only correct length of antenna for CB. Anything shorter than that is a hack. The shorter you get, the more hacktastic it gets and the shorter the range. The shorter the range, the more likely you're not going to hear about something in time. So, to be most effective, you want the longest antenna you can. So, you need long but you want stealthy. Go with a very thin whip painted black. One example is the Larsen NMO27B that I have, but there are other options. Keep in mind that most of these will be ham radio antennas designed to cover 10 and 12 meters (CB is 11m) so you'll need a SWR meter to guide you to cutting the antenna to the right length. If you're going to be a sissy and use a mag-mount, I recommend the Wilson Little Will. It's got a silver whip, so you'll have to paint it black once you cut it to length based on the SWR readings (EVERY antenna will have to be tuned to your specific setup). Like I told the other poster, a SWR meter is something you can "borrow" from RadioShack, so long as your setup never changes. If you're a real man, you'll drill a hole and put an actual NMO mount into the sheet metal of the roof or trunk (roof is better, but only somewhat). If you're a sissy boy, you'll want a mag-mount in the same place. CB-wise, the Midland 1001Z is cheap, easy to find, and easy to operate for a n00b. It performs pretty well and has all the necessary features without any costly bells and whistles. |
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05-26-2009, 11:33 PM | #60 |
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05-27-2009, 09:24 AM | #61 |
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And it's important to say that the SWR may change based on where you place the mag-mount antenna. If you put it on the roof one day and on the trunk another, it'll be different.
I just borrowed my pal's SWR meter to tune my through-roof NMO mounted antenna in the rally car. I had to trim 1.5" (!!!) off of the antenna to get a 1.1 SWR reading. This was because the antenna USED to be on a mag-mount and is now effectively 1" lower. |
05-27-2009, 11:20 AM | #62 |
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05-27-2009, 02:50 PM | #63 |
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The guy who said no ground will fry the radio wasn't talking about a CB - the quote was one I pasted from another conversation about HAM. I know nothing about HAM and I doubt the radio will fry immediately, but I have heard that not grounding properly in some cases can cause damage.
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05-27-2009, 05:18 PM | #64 | |
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05-27-2009, 05:30 PM | #65 |
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.....
Last edited by White out; 05-12-2022 at 02:38 PM. |
05-27-2009, 06:37 PM | #66 | |
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The absolute smallest radio I know of that actually works well is the smaller of the two RadioShack brand ones. It'll actually fit down between the side of the seat and the tranny tunnel. However, you pay quite a premium to get that slightly smaller case. The Midland 1001Z, Cobra 19DXIV, and Uniden 510/520 are all barely bigger than the RS model and all work about equally well. However, the Midland costs considerably less than the Cobra or Uniden. Any of them will work. As far as your antenna, yeah, putting an NMO mount in the lid of the trunk or in the roof would be your best bet for "stealth" and performance together. When you're not running the radio, take off the antenna and put the little rain cap on and no one is going to notice it. |
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05-27-2009, 06:47 PM | #67 | ||
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The connection between this and ground is that an ungrounded antenna will have a very high SWR. Period. Again, we run into the problem of using the same word for electrical ground and RF ground. Having no electrical ground will always result in a high SWR. The antennas "used in industry" alluded to by DeathStar are more properly called "No Ground-Plane Antennas". All this means is that they have been creatively designed to have a low SWR even when they're not attached to a large metal sheet to act as the RF ground plane. For instance, you have to use a No Ground Plane Antenna to put an antenna on top of your fiberglass motor coach. What these antennas do is to use the outer braid of the coax for a specific length to act as the "other half" of the antenna. In this usage, the bit of feedline that's radiating as the "other half" of the antenna is usually called a counterpoise. The presence of the designed-in counterpoise gives the antenna enough of a RF ground to reduce the SWR to the point that the radio can operate at full power without hurting itself. The drawback is that these No Ground Plane antennas are hugely inefficient and will always perform worse than an antenna above a proper ground plane. |
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05-27-2009, 06:52 PM | #68 | |
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Ty, the Cobra WX75ST I'm using has performed flawlessly and RF-wise works quite well for being a handheld unit. The RF portion is deatched from the control head and has never given me any problems. I'm able to talk to anything withing range (when using my NMO27B), so I wouldn't paint all the handheld units with the same hatebrush.
Quote:
Ty is right, the no-ground plane 1/2 wave antennas frankly suck compared to a properly-installed antenna with a ground plane, but sometimes there is no choice as the antenna is mounted on a vehicle that has no metal. CB antennas are a 1/4 wave design, meaning the physical antenna length is 1/4 the total electrical wavelength...in this case, the proper 1/4 wave antenna would be 108 inches tall. I doubt most of you would use a ball mount with a 108" whip on the side of your Subaru The antenna that Ty and I use for CB, the Larsen NMO27B, is a base-loaded 1/4 wave, meaning there is a coil of wire in the tall back base electrically makes up for the missing ~60 inches of antenna. The radio still sees the correct antenna electrically, but it's only 49" long. The FireStik antenna does that as well, which is readily visible by the looking at the thin wire that wraps up around the inner fiberglass whip. Same concept. Bottom line is without a proper antenna on a good groundplane, your comms gear (CB or otherwise) will work for crap. Last edited by DeathSStar; 05-27-2009 at 07:08 PM. |
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05-27-2009, 06:55 PM | #69 | |
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05-27-2009, 07:09 PM | #70 | |
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RF is a fickle beast. |
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05-27-2009, 07:14 PM | #71 |
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05-27-2009, 09:59 PM | #72 |
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05-27-2009, 10:56 PM | #73 |
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What in the world is this? Is it tunable like a firestick? If it is I would much rather have something like this on my wagon, I don't really need ALL 40 channels.
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05-27-2009, 11:00 PM | #74 |
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All antennas are tuneable. Firestick just tries to trick you into thinking theirs are special. Actually Firestick tries to trick you about a lot of this.
How many channels you receive has nothing to do with the size of the antenna. That little stub, if it can be tuned to the 11m band at all, would have crappy performance compared to a longer antenna. My guess is that's actually a UHF (70cm) antenna. It's about hte right length for that. Or perhaps a scanner antenna, if the person wasn't too concerned about performance. |
05-27-2009, 11:04 PM | #75 |
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omgz! so many CB noobs lol
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