Calling out to those with CB radios.

[Johnsonsrt10]

I do some off roading with my buddies and am looking at CB radios. I'm deciding between the MIDLAND 75-822 and the Cobra 75WXST. My question is mounting the antenna. Just looking for some ideas on what people have done. I want to do about a 4 foot whip antenna on the back but am not sure how or where to mount. Any ideas pic's or thoughts would be appreciated.

[alexf20c]

i also explored the idea of a rear-mounted antenna, but could think of no practical way to mount it. i ended up with a 3ft FireStik-II with HD spring and the FireStik hood channel mount.





i use a Uniden Pro 520XL and it works great. i have it mounted in-dash. i'm not a fan of handheld all-in-one CB radios.

[alexf20c]

a whip style antenna (try 6ft+ or longer) would work great. you could mount it onto a roof rack/basket, or have a metal tab that mounts either into the channel for the hatch or even behind one of the tail lights. the key is to get as much of the antenna above the profile of the vehicle. it's all about line of sight, when it comes to CB radios.

make sure you have the antenna tuned for SWR. you can get a cheap SWR tuner for like $15, or have a CB shop (many truck stops will have one) tune it for like $40.

[Johnsonsrt10]

Thanks for your input. I'm not a huge fan of the all-in-ones either but i can't find a clean place to install a full one in. I would get the Cobra Nightwatch 29WXNWST if I were to go that way. Right now i'm thinking about installing some tail light Guards, as much as a dislike those, and the mounting the antenna to those, but i'll have to check it out more. I'm pretty sure I'll go with the 4' Firestik, installed that on my buddies FJ and it is nice.

[fleurys]

For my part , I did go with the all in one. I like it. I used a firestick 3 feet antenna mounted on a custom SS mount on my bull bar.

[m0nkeyprince]

Thanks alex! i was really wondering what the hood jamb bracket would look like, i was thinkin bout getting the rear hatch jamb though, you think itll work?

[m0nkeyprince]

and nice brush guard fluerys, is it from waag?

[Johnsonsrt10]

Hey fleurys, what is your range with the 3' antenna? i've read that the all-in-one radios tend to not transmit as far, even with a long antenna.

[fleurys]

Hey fleurys, what is your range with the 3' antenna? i've read that the all-in-one radios tend to not transmit as far, even with a long antenna.

What you heard is BS... All domestic CB radio transmit with the same force which is 4watts. Then you need to put an antenna. Almost all antennas will have an adjuster and you will need to adjust them to the best SWR you can by having separate ground, good length of your cable between your antenna and cb, etc...

I have an SWR 1.3 - 1.2 and I can get usually 4-5 km of distance with mine on a level road. Once you start going in the trails, then the terrain will greatly impact this distance. If you're in a pit and your trailing buddies are also in a pit but with a mountain that separate you with them, even at 1km, you might not be able to reach them.

bull bar is oem nissan.

[alexf20c]

^^^ what he said. on overcast days i can pick up transmissions from >50mi away; but i can not transmit to them because my radio is not powerful enough. even with untuned SWR, an off-the-shelf CB radio will have several miles of range, provided you have line of sight. that's why it's important to get your antenna as high up as possible. on the trails, your transmissions can become hit and miss due to the elevation and trees and whatnot, but for all intents and purposes, there's never really an issue communicating with your group... unless you're trying to talk to someone at base camp on the other side of the mountain.

monkeyprince, the rear hatch jamp mount should work, just go outside and look to make sure that as the rear hatch opens, it does not "overlap" over where the antenna would mount.