CB help for a newbie... (1 Viewer)

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Location
Bozeman, MT
Howdy Cruiser heads-

I am new to CB's, I have always used a magnet mounted antena and a entry level Cobra CB in the cig lighter for my trail use.

However, I came across a great deal on Ebay on one of the weather band wtx something with a front mounted speaker (my biggest complaint about the little guy was i couldn't hear out of it).

I am going to mount the CB in the dash where the radio goes, and move my CD player to the tuffy. I am trying not to miss anything on the install and was wondering.

What is the best way to hard mount an antena, I would like to mount it on a swing out tire carrier. Are there grounding issues?

Also, what kind of cable would be good enough? Signal, weather proof, long life... kinda clueless here.

Also, when you guys mount the CB in the dash hole, do you use some sort of trim ring to make it look clean and neat?

Thanks in advance.

Rezarf <><
 
Rezarf - If you use the standard cable and have the antennea on abracket that attaches to metal, you will have no signal or grounding issues. I have a soft top and have the plate across the back cargo area. I mounted the antenna to that. I could not figure out anything on the standard tire carrier.
 
The absolute best location is mounted squary atop your truck. As I see you have a 40 this is difficult. The rear tire carrier is honestly a BAD mounting location, though there are few better places. It's NOT perfect, but I would investigate putting radials underneath it, like the one here:

http://cgi.ebay.com/TRISTAR-3-8-CB-...ryZ40055QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

otherwise, the ground plane for the antenna has to pass through a LOT of metal to get to the frame and other flat areas of the body to produce a good signal.

You may want to put a metal rod about 1' in length upwards from the tire carrier, then radials, then the antenna. Don't put your antenna too low on the rear bumper as it will radiate into the tub and degrade performance considerably.
 
How about mounting it on the front bumper, up on a light hoop or something. I have also considered the ball and spring mount on the side of the 40, are any of those better than another?

thanks again, clueless but learning.

Rezarf <><

Anyone on the trim ring?
 
Front bumper location is not bad, but make sure you have the flatest part of the front metal bumper where you drill. Point being is that an arial antenna needs as flat a conductive metal area directly underneath it as possible, with as little other interference (metal body) around it as possible. In reality, there's only so much you can do, so just find the best metal place matching the above description.

The sideball mount isn't BAD, but you're just as good without it on the front bumper IMO.
 
Trim Plate

Once you have the CB in hand or the model numbers; visit your local trucker supply store. They usually have trim rings and brackets for installation. Some stereo shops also have trim plates for aftermarket or stock decks that might fit your CB. Most of the install guys have a box of misc. stuff they will let you loot if you ask nice!

Check out this link....they have a fairly good selection of antenna mounting options.....
http://www.advancedspecialties.net/ranger.html
 

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