CB problems

CBs are a good tool for trail runs in a group or running by yourself if you have talk back.

Just to keeps things open here, although my CB is out of the truck at the moment I run an RCI 9300 A200 w/internal switched amp.
Right off the top of my head I do not know the swing but it does get out well enough but no matter how much power you have it is still in that antenna/coax and how well it is tuned. Close enough on the SWR is ok when you have extra power to waste but when you are running 4 to 6 watts every watt counts so the better the parts and the better the tuning job the more power will make it out the antenna. (parts = Antenna and Coax)

Also, yes to all the grounding comments, a MUST to have a good ground between the Frame of the vehicle and the Antenna Mount.

FX4wannabe, thks :thumbup1: but I just fake it and if it sounds good ok ! lol

 

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So in other words, my antennas being mounted to the bed aren't grounded good? Because I have the body lift on and rhino liner in the bed.

 

body lift has nothing to do with it, but the bed lining yes

 

How doesn't it? Nylon blocks separating the body from the frame

 

Can't say for sure if the body lift is any worse than stock but easy fix.

Just take a 5/8 or 3/4 inch braided wire strap and run it from the antenna mount to the frame.
Use ring lugs, get to bare metal where you mount it and use external tooth HD lock washers and an anti-corrosion type of paste or sealer on all of the connections and lug ends.

 

How very informative of you....







Oh and....

 

oh i dont feel like going into the details that took 6 hours to mod it so let leave it at i have an super cb

 

lol Shane...

 

or as will most ants should not be grounded. that is why when you look at the mounts you will see the nylon spacers to keep metal contact bewteen the ants stud and the mount

 

The nylon spacers are there to keep corrosion from getting built up. Coax threads are steel while most (I repeat, MOST) mounts are aluminum. They have to be grounded.

I cannot stress to you enough to PLEASE get your facts straight before going and posting in a tech thread (that's over 2 months old)

 

ok lets get facts

read the ant instructions contact a cb shop the nylon space is not for corrosion it stops grounding. sorry i build radio setups a grounded ant that is not suppose to be can burn out a mosfet as soon as you turn it on. so quite going around talking crap on the new guy just because i just joined does not mean i am an idiot. your post show you have no knowledge of cb radios nor there setup. you are giving people bad info that can cost them lots in repairs. the average repair is 20 to 50 bucks at a cb shop and thats just to change the finals. So before you post do some homework.when you ground an ant you cross the signals into the body and cause a feed back to the radio. yes there are ants that require a ground and they will have a wire coming off the ant to be grounded.

 

i cant say i know if this is true or not, but i know that brinker works at a semi truck garage so he may know things

 

CB antennas need a good ground in order to work properly. Without a proper ground, you'll receive poor performance, high SWR levels and you may even damage your radio's electronics. Make sure to install the antenna mount where it will be well grounded, or where you'll be able to run a short grounding wire to the vehicle's chassis. If you do run a grounding wire, try to use one that is as short as possible.

Plastic or nylon insulating washers must be used on both sides of the mount to isolate the whip antenna itself from the mount. Use a stepped washer that will hold the antenna centered in the mounting hole so it can't move to the side and short against the mount. Most errors in mounting antennas result from the antenna touching the mount instead of being electrically isolated via the pair of nylon washers. Then the center conductor from the antenna cable is soldered to the mount's connector that the antenna is screwed into. The cable's braid is connected to the steel mount so it is well grounded through it to the chassis.

So in less words, we're both right.

 

ok the ant stud is isolated and non grounding you have it backwards a ant the requires a ground WILL have a ground wire. I too worked on rigs owned my own repaired my own ran a repair shop of my own and built my own radios. a grounded ant will feed back to the radio and burn out the final not the other way around. PLEASE GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT JUST BECAUSE YOU POSTED WRONG AND DONT WANT TO LOOK STUPID DOES NOT MEAN YOU NEED TO COME ON AS MISTER PERFECT. Do not ground your ant enless it has a ground wire from the factory. think about it for a second you run a grown strap whats happening. signals are being push back and forth through the strap. this causes poor pick up and out put it also cause finals to burn out in the radio itself. an ant that requires will have a ground wire on them. normally high end fire sticks that have a weave in the fiber glass stick and high power coil pack ants which is a 150 dollar ant. you might run a fire stick on a pick up they are still costly but still if it needs a ground it will have an 8 gauge wire with round bolt down connector on it. you would run that wire to the mount bolts, at that point depending on your mount you may need a ground to the frame or other point. but if your ant does not have the wire do not add one enless it calls for it.

 

OK, OK, I know this is a 3 month old thread but let’s talk anyway.

There a few antennas out there that have a small gauge wire sticking out from the base of the antenna and most say do not use unless the SWR is SSSSOOO far off that there is nothing you can do.
As I have stated before, most antennas can be tuned with patients, good grounding and a good external meter.

To add, the only part of a Communication antenna that requires grounding is the Mounting Base nothing more.

First to keep on the beginning of the statement above… I have been an Amateur Radio Operator for longer than I want to say and have on occasion tuned an antenna or two and I believe you are thinking about shorting the center of the antenna not the actual grounding of the system because with out a good ground there would be no ground plane for the antenna to bounce the signals off of, i.e. frame/body of the vehicle.

Do not ground your antenna at all, if there is a wire coming out of the side of the antenna please do not use it.
If the SWR is that far off then there is another problem that needs to be addressed.
The Antenna works on a shorted condition, use a multimeter on the base of an unmounted antenna, what do you see a direct short. BUT that does not mean you can short the center of the antenna and still transmit with as stated burning up the radio.
The idea is to achieve a good grounding of the base/mount and send part of the returning signal through the frame and create a better ground plane in which to transmit from.

Without a good ground the SWR will be higher than with one.

Yes, always buy the best antenna you can because if running legal power you will only have four watts or so to communicate with and any problems in the antenna/system will cut that number of watts down really fast.
Running a ground strap from the Mount of the antenna to the frame create the best possible route for the ground to get back to the battery. The ground wire on the CB (the small black one) is and should only be used for an electrical ground and not to the body of the vehicle just because it works. Both power wires should be run to the battery for a cleaner power and hopefully less noise (an extra piece of coax will make a great power wire).


Keep in mind that although the antenna system and the CB requires a grounded system to work properly, we are not talking about the center of the antenna/coax; that is why there is an isolating washer as part of the mount… to keep the center of the antenna separated from the grounded base.

Ok rattling on again, sorry.
Always ground the MOUNT of the Antenna, not the antenna.



In the first Antenna Stud you can see the Isolation Washer on the top of the mount isolating the center of the coax/antenna but the bottom of the stud is in contact with the mount to create a needed ground.

The second Stud, The Ring Lugs connected with a bolt through the base, this requires two isolation washers to separate the center of the coax/antenna from the ground but the braided shield of the coax is connected directly to the Mount.

The third type - FORGET ABOUT IT !!!
It is made by FireStik and called a Fire Ring connection and can cause more problems than they are worth.

The second connection, the Ring Lugs, is a better match for any 50 ohm transmission setup but a lot of people don’t like them for what reasons I do not know. Easier to run coax, easy to setup at first and on the trail if trouble arrises.
The first one is sometimes easier or so it seems but the larger connector, if already mounted, will require a larger hole to pass through and if it requires trail repairs is not the easiest to repair.

Anyway back to gorunding…
Do not get your grounding mixed up, the antenna requires a good ground, sort of a loop, without it the radio could not transmit and create a ground plane to communicate off of.

Good Luck on your CB installs and always ask questions if you do not know don’t guess.

Please let me know, PM, if you see a problem.