| Author |
Message |
    
Jim
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2001 - 1:46 pm: | 
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Hello: I have a 1998 Ford Ranger regular cab pickup with a fiberglass cap and rack. I have a new Uniden PC122XL CB/SSB. The metal roof area is 50"x 32" and the hood is aluminum. I am exploring antenna mounting options. Will I get better performance with a roof mount (roof as GP) or with a NGP antenna mounted on the rack on the cap? Since the roof area available for a GP is small, I'm wondering if my performance will be roughly equal to a NGP set-up. I'm thinking of a 3' fiberglass for this antenna. Since another topic here stated that a regular Firestick would accept a maximum 10" long ground wire for proper operation, I wouldn't be able to mount one on the rack and ground to the top of a bed wall...or would say a 30" ground wire work? Also, if I mount an additional 3' fiberglass scanner antenna on the roof nearby, will its physical presence interfere with the CB operation? I won't run both at once. I also would like to use those Firestik fold-down mounts (DV-SBS)so I can get into the garage...any problems associated with repeated folding of these mounts or excessive signal loss? Any help will be greatly appreciated! Thank you. |
bruce
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 31, 2001 - 11:47 pm: |
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Jim im going through a simular problem right now with some clone motorola antennas. I would go with the ground independant ant. As for the scanner antenna on my car i run 10 meters, 11 meters and a 2/44 through the glass in between them. I have little problems with them interaction If you are a ham you can run any kind of scanner you want if you are not check some states do not allow a scanner with police frequencys in a car. Strange as it sounds in Florida it is ok to have a scanner IN your car but you cannot hook it up to the car again if you are a ham no problem |
Tech181 (Tech181)
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 12:08 am: |
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Jim,
I had a Wilson 1000 (magnet mount) mounted on the roof of a Toyota P/U and it seemed to work fine. The ground plane was small but seemed to be sufficient. There was some change in SWR when you were to open the doors, but that can be expected with almost any vehicle.
There is to be minor SWR issues expected from reflection off of nearby antennas like your scanner antenna. Keep the antennas as far away as possible.
You may want to consider a fender mount fiberglass scanner antenna mounted on the front fender of your truck. This will allow your CB's antenna to fully radiate above the scanner antenna, therefore minimizing the reflection problem.
As far as the P/U truck with a CB antenna and the garage issue, this is something that is always a problem.
Steve
Tech181
Tech181@copperelectronics.com |
bruce
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 10:47 am: |
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it dosnt even have to be a pickup truck my k40 became intangled in the garage door till its last day my trunk lid had a strange bulge where that mount was Im useing the Rad-Shack with the big air wound coil it works fine on my small car. SWR has never been a problem even with 3 antennas only 5 foot apart. I agree with what 181 said should be no real problem. |
Jim
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 8:59 pm: |
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Thanks for the comments everyone. This is a great forum! |
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