CB Questions

[MrMarquis]

Just got myself a CB radio from 87mefull, a Realistic TRC-474 40 channel radio.

Questions:

Do CB antennas need to be perfectly vertical, or can they be angled slightly?

Can I put two short antennas flanking the trunk? I want to avoid a whip if possible.

What's the shortest CB antenna I can get? Will motorcycle CB antennas work on a car?

I know nothing about CB radios, have always wanted one. I ain't gotta clue how to use it. Tips and info please!

[Heretic]

Pretty much any antenna will work, trunk or roof mounted. You're going to want a single antenna setup, as dual antennas are a pain in the ass to tune properly. I would recommend something like a Wilson 1000 on a car, it's not horribly long or ugly and performs very well. The antenna can be at an angle. Just remember: ground, ground, ground. Make sure there's good chassis ground for that sucker or you will get antenna noise from hell. Run the CB power and ground straight to battery if possible to help eliminate noise from the electrical system as well[read: alternator]. And careful not to hook it up backwords, or you will blow the protection diode and possibly more internally.

[gadget73]

Duals need special cable harnesses and are touchy to tune. They're also very directional. Longer antennas are generally better. The shorter it is, the more loading is required, and loading is lossy. I'd second the Wilson suggestion, just use a trunk lip mount or a magnet mount on the trunk. They work well without being tacky or requiring holes in the car.

[Archangel]

dual whips require certain distance between them, something that you can't really pull off in a car - hell even I can't get it right with the diesel, I need the wideass tow mirrors for that and to attach the antennas there. Keep a single, the longer the better, I got a 3ft on top of my cab and it works okay, 5.5ft one that's actually tuned for the SWR should make for some night and day differences tho.

Also, read here:

http://www.firestik.com/

[The Famous Lee]

"Candycane... Cannnnndddddyyyyyyy Caaaaaannnnneeee..."

[Brandon]

:lol:

[Lincolnmania]

+3 on the wilson.........and make sure you set the swr's or you will cook the radio

[MrMarquis]

dual whips require certain distance between them, something that you can't really pull off in a car - hell even I can't get it right with the diesel, I need the wideass tow mirrors for that and to attach the antennas there. Keep a single, the longer the better, I got a 3ft on top of my cab and it works okay, 5.5ft one that's actually tuned for the SWR should make for some night and day differences tho.

Also, read here:
http://www.firestik.com/

I read that Firestik thing, someone posted it on another CB thread. They said a minimum of 4 feet for duals, but the whole tuning thing still is a bitch...


Maybe I'll just do the one antenna set up and just add a dummy on the other side...I want it to look symmetrical.

[LumpyCheeseman]

actually there is a rule of thumb i learned about dual antennas, and when i had a pair of 4ft fibreglass whips on the cobra i just sold tom, it worked great. first i used a split cable, obviously. the rule of thumb i was taught is that the distance between the two antennas must be equal or greater to the length of said antennas. so if you got a pair of 4footers, at least 4 feet between them.

i ran that setup on a couple of my old cars, and on a barefoot radio (non-modified) i was sending as far as 12miles, and hearing people from as far as 7 miles. people next to me had no problem listening, my swr's were properly tuned, everything was copecetic.

[MrMarquis]

Lumpy, when you were tuning the dual antennas, did you do everything equally between them, or did you tune each antenna individually?

[Pesty351]

I mounted my antenna dead center behind the rear window.

[midwestLTD]

I have a cobra-19 40 channel with a s/s whip and 150 watt kicker. Can talk all around the states when skip is rolling. The higher the better if you really want to talk. If you just want to talk around town with your buddies get a firestick they work great. If you look hard enough you can see it on my sig...Don