ok guys...heres my set up...i want dual whips but not sure where to put them...not really enough room between the bed and the cab...and the tank isn't centered because i have it to the passenger side more so i can fit the fuel hose down on the driver side any of you guys running CB whips with a set up like this?...show them please or offer input thanks -Bryan
you could mount them to the toolbox...
Dirt Digger, the last pickup I had was setup somewhat like yours with tanks and a toolbox. I cut a piece of 4" Aluminum angle and used 1/4 20 bolts the rear bed post. I only had one whip but it would work the same for 2. Mine was a ford. That is a sharp looking truck that you have.
Pullpan i like the look of them up against the cab as close as possible, i thought about putting them on the tool box but think it might look a little funny so far back...i might be able to fab a bracket up and mount them, but am afraid it might get in the way of the fuel hose bill thanks....she is my new baby
The best ground plane is the center of the roof , but is not always feasable . But on a work truck involved with Earthworks , a rotating light bar on the roof with the antenas mounted to it look right at home .
i have two 4 footers mounted on my truck there should be a bump where there's a hole on the bed rail and my whips came with mirror mounts and i just used them to mount it i'll try to post close up pics of them
here's a the best pic i got right now.
I've mounted the mirror mount brackets inside the front stake pockets (that's what I call them anyway...the 6 little rectangle holes in the top lip of the bed) on the older dodge trucks. Don't really know how big the holes are in the newer ones, mine has the protector plates on the top of the bed. Only problem is, you need to drill the holes from inside the bed before you put the fuel tank in.
I would get the ball mounts with springs from Antenna Specialist and mount them to the cab on the rear corners.This way the harness is inside out of the weather and you will have less chance of grounding problems.As Iron Horse said the best radiation pattern will come from the antenna mounted on the top center of your truck.The reason they use dual whips is to create a directional pattern to the front and rear of your truck for better range while on the road to other vehicles.I would use just one antenna with the 50 ohm coax,all the dual whip kits I have seen use 75 ohm coax in parallel and that makes a poor match for the radio which translates into less radiated signal.Ron G
yes but two whips looks better...haha
dirt digger put them inside the bed rails haha
theres not really enough room inside the bed rails, thats the problem...i was thinking of welding them to the tank, but then the fact that the tank is off-centered comes into play hey Pip, you still at Exeter or have they moved you?....two months till my start
i know how it is trying to find a way to make it look and function perfectly. good luck
What if you make a L bracket and bolt it to the bedbetween the bed and cab. Then you would have a nice flat spot to mount the whip and its right behind the cab.
I fabbed up this rack for behind my back window. I simply put a couple tabs on the front of the rack to mount the whips. It's hard to tell from your picture just how much room you have to work with on your truck, but something like this might work in your case. I made my rack mount into the front two stake pockets on the bed rails, and the toolbox sits just behind the mounting plates. If you have any questions just let me know. -Brian
I have an 05 dodge 3/4 ton and i mounted mine on the front of the pickup with underhood brackets. but i also like them behind the cab on my 99 dodge half ton also. just remember if you put them on your tool box or your tank, then run a ground wire from the antena to the frame. This will help with reception, another thing i have found out is on my pickups is i get better reception with one coax cable(single antena hooked up to cb.) the other is just to even things out. hope i could be some help.
i got mine mounted over the weekend....havent uploaded the pics yet from my camera...i'll post them when i do
wells heres the picture...ended up cutting the bed liner and drilling through the rail...they look good though mounted the CB between the seat
I hope you don't find your forward range limited with the cab in front of the short aerial .
yea i am afraid of that....i am going to buy the 3" springs for them but haven't got around to it so it will raise the antenna up over the roof line
Just :my2c...You'll be sick of the antennas slapping around the first day with springs, because although they seem rugged while in hand, they aren't as stiff as you'd think with 3 or 4 feet of antenna leveraging against them once mounted. It will also throw the SWR (standing wave ratio) off, causing less than adequate reception/transmitting. Not to mention the new dings and scratches you'll aquire in the back of that nice Dodge cab...:cool2 Not that you need a top notch, maximum perfomance CB radio in your pickup, but the things mentioned will affect the performance for certain. The truth is, cb antennas don't recieve/transmit off the "tip" like a lazer beam; they utilize about 2/3rd's of the length from tip to base, thus having any obstructions within that area reduces their effectiveness. That's where the Standing WAVE Ratio's come into play. A good clean ground is another important component of the system too. That's why some guys experience poorer performance on various big trucks, like a KW T-600 with mirror mounted antennas. There's not a good ground unless you run an external one, and they are hidden behind the mirrors and cabs/sleepers. The higher they're mounted within reason, and the less stuff in the way is the key to being able to "have you voice be heard"... In addition, a good quality coax (not Walmart stuff) in increments of 3' lengths i.e; 6,9,12 feet, and no small curls or tight balls of it stuffed somewhere, long-neat loops whenever possible will also increase the overall operation. The clear insulation coax with the visible copper or aluminum braided wire inside is the cat's meow for what you're doing. It also allows a visual inspection of it when corrosion or gangarine starts to appear, letting you know when it's time to spend another $18 bucks on coax in a couple years. A good CB technician will always recommend a SINGLE, 4 foot antenna, preferrably mounted on the drivers side for optimum performance. For asthetics...screw another one on the right side as a dummy, with no coax. I have a set of springs I bought probably 15 years ago. Several times since removing them the first time, I tried them again on various applications including machines, but they always proved to be more of a hinderance than an advantage. Again, the 4 FOOTER antenna has a standard operating advantage, as it's designed to get the best SWR for the cb band. Other shorter length antennas are simply designed with height restrictions in mind, but they never perform like a 4 footer. The reasons are far more technical, scientific and complicated than I dare to try and go into, so for a better understanding, don't listen to me, talk to your "friendly neighborhood CB technician" for the proper explaination. Keep in mind however, cb techs are like auto techs in that a lot of them think they know it all...I'll leave the last part off. Hope that helped, rather than hurt. P.S.(Like you REALLY want to hear M O R E...:Banghead) Nice job on those brackets, dude. (A little trip to the grinding wheel on the opposite side wouldn't have hurt nothin...) Just kiddin', I'm an idiot.:drinkup Forgive me.
LowBoy...you just might get a job soon. Some so called Radio Tech's could learn something from you. I have had better than average luck with 4ft whips...but only when they are properly mounted, grounded and then tuned with an SWR meter. In fact, my little 1/4 wave stainless "stick" on a magnetic base will blow most of these so called "auto tuned" antennas off the air waves.
haha wow thats a lot of info...yea the CB guy said i wanted atleast a 3 footer with a single cable but my parking up here at school comes into play...I have to fit that truck in a 6'8" parking garage...when I graduate and park in the open air everynight it might be a different story the main reason the CB is in there is to communicate with my buddy when we are baling and hauling hay so distance isn't all that important to me, but its still nice to be able to reach out there and touch something.... i know right now i am getting atleast a 1 mile radius from the radio checks i did on the highway after i installed it
Sorry for all the techno geek info on such a small issue as how long antennas should be dirt digger...I was having my first cup 'o coffee this morning when I caught your post and strung it out WAAAY too far I guess. For what you're using it for, it's fine. Sounds like you have a height issue anyways. Squizzy 'ol buddy, 'ol pal... 'ow's it going? :drinkup Just to elaborate on your post about "auto tuned" antennas...they're fictional. Some mfg.'ers claim theirs are "pre tuned" from the factory, but if you read into that and research it with a very good radio tech, you'll find they're crazier than Hogan's goat...Every situation is different, every mounting configuration as well, obstructions, good ground planes, etc., all factor in to a 1:1 SWR which is the ultimate number we look for in a match. How can they make such a claim that their antennas are pre-tuned with a perfect 1:1 match, if they don't know what/where/how high/low they are mounted along with all the other variables? There's steel roofs, fiberglass roofs, aluminum roofs...you get the picture. Smoke stacks, mirrors, all kinds of obstacles. 9 times out of 10 when you purchase an antenna, there is an adjustment to the mast itself. On a Wilson 2000 for instance, you'd loosen the set screw, bottom the mast out till is seats, then lift it ever-so-slightly (the unit of measure I prefer to use probably isn't legal here,) and check your SWR. I have had techs take a brand new $59.99 Wilson out of the wrapper and lop 4-6" off the bottom of the stainless mast with a bolt cutters, then set the SWR. First time I saw that gave me the heebie-jeebies after laying out that kind of cash, but sometimes, AGAIN, depending on the unique mounting/obstruction situation, that's what it takes. Fiberglass arials require removing the cap off the tip, and trimming the wire wrapped around the glass whip in 1/4" increments to obtain the proper match. It's like buying a pre-cooked ham and having it say "no cooking required", so some woman (most likely blonde:cool2) just lops off a few slices and serves it up to her family as is. Next thing you know, the hubby and kids are all headed in different directions...more than likely to the outhouse. :tong
That's probably due to the fact that it's not a set standard... :lmao Right, LowBoy?... :cool2 OCR
This could be true OCR...I'd love to be involved in a study including a micrometer and.....:cool2 Then I'd have some news to report...
Yes, and of course, multiple measurements would be needed... as, to arrive at an average, that could be considered a standard... :cool2 Possibly... a grant would be in order here... OCR
Don't forget we need to do this at a controlled ambient temperature. Extreme changes between high and low temps will have a detrimental effect on the averages to achieve a standard measure. :falldownlaugh
Yes, absolutely... and humidity will need to be considered, too... It could be one of the most difficult parameters to control... This study will certainly require many more measurements than I originally anticipated... :cool2 OCR
I'm sensing a desire for others to want to be part of my research team here... I guess in the name of science I could use some assistance...just don't look me directly in the eyes while working, please.:lmao:naughty
Where to put my CB whips... and a standard measure: Lowboy!!!... Now, I have a mental image... Hard at work, micrometers in hand... Then, simultaneously, we both slightly raise and turn our heads... And glance at each other, through the corner of our eyes. Now, due to an uncontrollable outburst of... :falldownlaugh I am temporally unable to maintain a strict scientific outlook on this thread... :lmao I will, however, recover shortly... OCR
I'm protected. I'm wearing shade 5 torching safety glasses! :bouncegri
Man, talk about straying off topic...:lmao
Right you are LowBoy... And, dirt digger... I hope you will accept my apologies, for the part I played in causing your thread to stray off like this... OCR
Yes, sadly, it is a weakness of ours, but not without a pupose. You have proven you have immense knowledge of the workings of CB's as well as radio transmition and reception, very impressive. :notworthy We are simply trying to ease into your circle, to "look into your eyes" as it were, with the intent to capture some of your knowledge for ourselves. So, when you wake up one morning feeling and looking like Sean Penn, you'll know we were sucessful! :dizzy Still a very good thread and great responses.
i dont care if its off track...haha my question got answered roll on....
This has been a good thread .I havent used a CB since the middle 1980's."Breaker one nine for radio check".I miss those day's.I guess the cell phone killed the CB.
i wouldn't say that...they come in real handy for finding speeds traps on the highway
When I used to run the highways, the CB was right there with me. Don't run the roads anymore. Reading LowBoy talk about antenna set up's and SWR's...that brings back memories. Cool thread.
"thats a big 10-4 " dirt digger.I miss the cb days.
Thanks, ever so much, dirt digger... :thumbsup My feelings of guilt, have now been absolved... OCR
ATCOEQUIP... The wording in your post # 35, was absolutely elegant... :thumbsup It would be very difficult, to find a more effective choice of words... :cool2 And... since I'm unfamiliar with Sean Penn, (my ignorance, not yours) I'll have a good research project, that can be done on the side... OCR
Me to! I used to be into CB's big time in my younger days. Then as the "Skip" kept getting worse I enventually got away from them. Used to have a big base set at home, with an antenna that was almost into the clouds and a mobile set in my car. Base set was a Royce sideband and the mobile was a Jana (I think that was the name of it) sideband. I remember to get the "SWR" just right I had to keep cutting small sections of antenna off at the base to get it to the perfect 1.1 Good times.
I'm afraid if you attempted to "look into my eyes; to capture knowledge" ATCOQUIP, you'd end up in much more trouble than anticipated.:lmao It would be a looooong, deeeeeep stare into the abyss, unfortunately.:falldownlaugh Not to mention the seemingly endless wait to extract any " usable " knowledge... Somewhere along the line, the Sean Penn thing grazed over top 'o my head like a low flying plane. I guess I missed the point, but I should make mention of the fact that although I appreciate his acting talent, I detest his ability to breathe the same oxygen as the rest of us for reasons I shall not disclose. Now on a serious note. I guess my OCD (not to be confused with O C R,) provides the ways and means to "over-express" sometimes. I try to give a one-liner like Grader4me does, (and does it eliquently I might add,) but I'm missing the chemical in my brain that governs how much to say about a certain topic sometimes. Thus, the short novel on CB SWR's and all that nonsense I spewed out when all the poor kid wanted to know was how his antennas looked on his truck...was just another example of what happens when you go through life untreated.:Banghead I'm trying to cut back, but it's tough. My fascination with radio refrequency broadcasting has always lead me to want to gain more knowledge of the phenomenon itself. I always picture what happens when you key a CB mic, what the signal looks like off the antenna, and what it looks like coming back on the receiving side. (Much the same as I picture what's happening inside a transmission as I change gears.) HAM radio is another fascination of mine, although I never got licensed. Believe it or not, there's a lot of truckers that have HAM band (10 meter) radios, and speak to each other across the country every day! The overall frequency spectrum is a deep, fascinating thing in general, and if you're a deep thinker (aside from using hallucinagenics,) you can't help but be mezmorized by the whole thing. From AM radio signals to microwaves to carrier beams...it's an invisible world that we so take for granted right down to the every day use of our cellphones, which is nothing more than a radio transmitter/receiver itself. I am a believer in being cautious of too much cellphone radiation exposure too. Excessive exposure isn't healthy, that's why I use an external cellphone antenna in my vehicles, because it channels the energy away from your delicate body at the cellular level, and throws it out the antenna where it belongs. Wilson Electronics sells a nice line of external antennas that serve not only as a "healthier choice", but is a signal enhancer as well. Even those little 4" long mini magnetic ones will perk your phone up a bar or 2 in places you didn't have great service before, and couple that with a Wilson 3 watt Booster, and you have a setup that's night and day compared to one without anything. I could elaborate on this subject, if you'd like...:cool2
See, it's working LowBoy! I just gleaned some more tidbits of info from ya! :notworthy Nothing wrong with lengthy discriptive posts, that's how we all learned a lot of things, someone took the time to teach us. I've had people ask me "where did you go to college", when I tell them "I didn't" they look at me like I have ten heads! I've learned what little I know by doing a lot of reading, a lot of listening, and a little experience. Keep talking...we're listening.
I attended the same university ATCO, and got an "HK" degree. (Hard Knocks".)
You got it bro! I wanted to clarify something here anyway, I've been thinking about this all day long. When I mentioned that people have asked me "where did you go to college, and I replied I didn't", I got to thinking "that seems a bit bragadocious". When in fact, I meant it as humorous. I know there is a substantial number of folks on this forum that are just like me. Ordinary education, nothing formal. But we had some good teachers in our life. We listened, we payed attention, learning everthing we could from whoever or wherever. Never afraid of a challenge or opportunity when they arose. In time, you gain considerable knowledge, understanding, and applicable experience. Then, when someone asks, "where did you go to college...", you just want to crack up because this person thinks the only way you can be this knowledgeable is via "formal education". Formal education is good, and very necessary for many skills. But for many of us...it was listen, learn, and get your hands dirty. As for radio, LowBoy, I'm fascinated by it as well. It amazes me that we are all at this very moment completely surrounded by radio and telecom waves. Crazy stuff. Oh yeah, I love the Green Mountain area. I did a job once in N Adams Massachusetts, I stayed up in Vermont. Did a little driving around up there on the weekend. Beautiful country.