cb antenna help (1 Viewer)

[waller24]

i just ordered a cobra 75 cb and the gamiviti antenna mount that goes inside the hood with a comet cable that is nom. I'm guessing i need an nmo antenna? I prefer the the laird look with the spring in black but my question is what length do i need or what is typical for this setup. Im not educated on all the frequencies etc. I saw a laird like this with a 21 in antenna in chrome on amazon. but have no idea what metallic ground plane required or the ones that isn't needed means either? do i need longer? This is really just for vehicle to vehicle trail use but I want it to look good cosmetically as well as it can. I'm not opposed to the comet looking ones in black either

any advice appreciated and suggestions for specific antennas

thanks

 

[1911]

i just ordered a cobra 75 cb and the gamiviti antenna mount that goes inside the hood with a comet cable that is nom. I'm guessing i need an nmo antenna? I prefer the the laird look with the spring in black but my question is what length do i need or what is typical for this setup. Im not educated on all the frequencies etc. I saw a laird like this with a 21 in antenna in chrome on amazon. but have no idea what metallic ground plane required or the ones that isn't needed means either? do i need longer? This is really just for vehicle to vehicle trail use but I want it to look good cosmetically as well as it can. I'm not opposed to the comet looking ones in black either

any advice appreciated and suggestions for specific antennas

thanks

How much ground plane you need depends on the wavelength (or fraction thereof) of the antenna. 1/2-wave antennas are more forgiving and don't need as much ground plane. 5/8-wave and 1/4-wave antennas will need a good ground plane to function well. The problem is, most cb antennas are cheap crap and the manufacturers don't publish or advertise what their wavelengths are. The good news is, you will have a decent ground plane from your hood, but the radiating pattern will be skewed in one direction by mounting the antenna at the edge of the hood.

I don't personally know of very many cb antennas that are NMO mount, but there may be some out there. Most of them are just 3/8"x24 threaded studs.

 

[JLH]

Search for a Larsen NMO27B. Its a black coil and black whip for cb frequencies.