cb radio help??

[brapp]

ok i am wantign to put a cb in my personal truck its a crew cab f250 long bed i know antena placement has alot to do with signal strength and i wanan run dual whips somewhere around the front of the bed. and i am set ona tried and true cobra 29 ltd , classic or night watch. hopw woudl be the best set up for this set up with the dual whips and the cobra 29?? i know there has to be soem sort of cb radio guru out there.

[fire1]

The only problem with mounting the whips close to the cab is it will create high SWR .Which in short will eventually cause the finale in the radio to get hot and burn up.I know it looks good that way but you will also have poor transmit.The best locations on a pickup are either the roof or using a mount that goes between the hood and fender.Or you could get someone with a swr meter or use the swr meter built into the cobra 29 and start about 18 inches from the back up the cab and slowly move toward the cab trying to acheive a SWR reading of 1.5 or less.What happens when the ant is mounted close the cab is the signal leaves the ant and hits the cab and bounces back to the ant so you are sending and receiving yourself creating high SWR.You can do a search for CB Radio SWR on google and it will give some idea of how to use the meter.

[dcreel]

What kind of mirrors do you have? Could you mount them on the mirrors?

[brapp]

thier the plastic towing mirors. but i do have a headache rack would that work?? if i raied up up a lil higher on the headache rack so it doesnt bounce off the cab as much.

[fire1]

that might work okay if you can get them up high enough

[dcreel]

When I was trucking I was told that your antennae throw off waves straight off the pole part of the antenna. Like:


(---|-----)

Which always made me wonder why the super truckers ran their antennas like / that but at a 45 degree angle which would put the radio waves straight into the ground in front of the truck or straight into the air behind the truck. I used a Cobra 29 for a few years with no problems.

[brapp]

in my work truck i had a cobra 29 ltd clasic with a 4 foot magnetic antena and centered directly in the middle of the cab i was pickign up radio trafic off rt 81 witch was almost 30 miles away!!!! BUT I HATE THE WAY THE MAGENETIC ONES LOOK AND JUST LOVE TH ELOOK OF THE DUAL WHIPS. BEHIND THE CAB. AND I FOUND 4 FOOT FIBERGLASS WHIPS I WANT.

[fire1]

yea when mounted in the middle the roof surface creates a ground plane i think you whips will workon the rack just get that SWR LOW

[Kintore]

I know some of my buddies brapp, they run duals but only one is hooked up. Not sure how this works but we talk fine ( I run a single cab roof mount magnetic on my dirty dodge)

[shortline10]

Running duel antennas caused the RF transmission to transmit out the front and back of the vehicle only and very little on the sides so if your talking local to buddies all over town I don't recommend running duels . By running an antenna in the center of the roof it will radiate much better and by adding a few watts will really make it talk . I have been a ham radio operator for a long time and started off with CB's . I still have a pile of radios and linears . My favorite CB radio set up is a Galaxy 88 and a sweet sixteen linear .
Your best bet is probably a Wilson 1000 or 5000 hard mounted in the center of the roof and with a stock 5 watt radio and good conditions it should transmit 10-15 miles . If you really want to go crazy I have a few home made large alum coil antennas that will really make it talk .

[undeadanger]

i run a 102" stainless steal whip , it is mounted to the rear bumper on the side of it , it has a spring on it to let it move with out breaken and i put about 2 foot of garden hose on it to keep it from messing up the rust and mud on the bed of my truck . and if u tie a string to it and pull it forward to the cab of the truck u can get the tail gaters off your tail by letting the string loose when they get to close ..

[1984ATC200S]

I'm running 4 foot dual box whips mounted close to the cab, but there just for looks, got a 3 foot magnetic on top of the cab that's hooked up, love the looks of the duals. need to get my set up dialed in better.

[250rAL]

If the truck is garaged, beware of the height of the door vs the height of your antennas.

[bigred44]

Reading this makes me want to put my CB in the F150 but i dont have anyone to talk to on it. lol Maybe next time i come down Josh i can let you know when I'm getting close. lol

[Dirtcrasher]

Don't put them on your mirrors, your already smashing into trees with your side mirrors

I use to love my CB, got me help when I was buried in the sandpits MANY TIMES!

Of course now those "sand pits" are filled with homes......... So no need for a big truck/big tires or the other goodies