View Full Version : New CB antenna mount
lekmedm
06-01-2013, 12:19 PM
I've been itching to get my CB antenna mount off the roof and down by the fender. Well, this is what I've come up with:
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130601_142421-1.jpg (http://s701.photobucket.com/user/lekmedm/media/Jeep/20130601_142421.jpg.html)
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130601_142745-1.jpg (http://s701.photobucket.com/user/lekmedm/media/Jeep/20130601_142745.jpg.html)
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130601_143145-1.jpg (http://s701.photobucket.com/user/lekmedm/media/Jeep/20130601_143145.jpg.html)
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130601_143154-1.jpg (http://s701.photobucket.com/user/lekmedm/media/Jeep/20130601_143154.jpg.html)
I ran out of time to move the stud and run the cable, but you get the idea. :cool:
pjmjr508
06-01-2013, 01:55 PM
Nice set up
Nice!!
Just a quick FYI that I found out the hard way... make sure you get a ngp (no ground plane) coax and antenna kit for that location. Since the hood is non magnetic it doesnt act as a ground plane like the roof normally would .
lekmedm
06-01-2013, 08:45 PM
Nice!!
Just a quick FYI that I found out the hard way... make sure you get a ngp (no ground plane) coax and antenna kit for that location. Since the hood is non magnetic it doesnt act as a ground plane like the roof normally would .
Yeah, I'm aware of that. My current setup is ground plane. I'm going to ground the mount with an extra wire and use the same stuff.
Sent from wherever my Jeep takes me.
An extra ground won't help... but at the same time i haven't changed to a NGP setup because my CB has work sufficiently well at Rausch, and I don't think its bad enough to hurt anything. So you'll be good to go.
BUT, if you were going to order a new antenna and/or coax, might as well get the NGP stuff.
The_War_Wagon
06-02-2013, 10:02 AM
I'm gonna try mine on the C-pillar by the top of the hatch, as some others have tried - but that's an AWESOME looking setup! :cool:
lekmedm
06-02-2013, 12:46 PM
Damn it's hot out!!! Not a big job, but I sweated up a storm. (I know I shouldn't complain since someone from Texas or Arizona will put me in my place where heat is concerned, but, hey, I'm a Northerner!)
So I put the stud on and ran my wire through the firewall. Here are the results:
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130602_151720-1.jpg (http://s701.photobucket.com/user/lekmedm/media/Jeep/20130602_151720.jpg.html)
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130602_1517451-1.jpg (http://s701.photobucket.com/user/lekmedm/media/Jeep/20130602_151745-1.jpg.html)
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130602_151750-1.jpg (http://s701.photobucket.com/user/lekmedm/media/Jeep/20130602_151750.jpg.html)
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130602_152615-1.jpg (http://s701.photobucket.com/user/lekmedm/media/Jeep/20130602_152615.jpg.html)
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130602_152623-1.jpg (http://s701.photobucket.com/user/lekmedm/media/Jeep/20130602_152623.jpg.html)
I need to either spend the money for an SWR meter or find a friend with one. Any friends out there?
Next time I'm out driving, I'll see if any truckers can hear me. I still haven't grounded the mount like I said I would. One step at a time!
lekmedm
06-02-2013, 01:06 PM
<----- friend
You gots da meter, friend??? :rolleyes:
pjmjr508
06-02-2013, 01:10 PM
I like the way that looks
criket
06-02-2013, 02:15 PM
That looks really nice. I like that mount and mounting location a lot.
You gots da meter, friend??? :rolleyes:
Yessir :cool:
Do you have a link to where you got this? I'm definitely copying....
And now you have me thinking.... i bet there's enough room under the hood there to make an antenna storage spot...
pjmjr508
06-02-2013, 04:20 PM
And now you have me thinking.... i bet there's enough room under the hood there to make an antenna storage spot...
Ohh I have to see this
lekmedm
06-02-2013, 04:22 PM
Do you have a link to where you got this? I'm definitely copying....
Ebay! They come in black (http://www.ebay.com/itm/170860754663?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649) and silver (http://www.ebay.com/itm/180907736090?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649).
(Click on the words "black" and "silver" to be taken to the ebay listings.)
Who's the seller? I've searched CB antenna mounts before and never saw one like that.
lekmedm
06-02-2013, 05:11 PM
Who's the seller? I've searched CB antenna mounts before and never saw one like that.
Seller is mit618. Don't the links work in my reply above?
lol i didn't realize they were links. thanks!!
pjmjr508
06-03-2013, 10:31 AM
What links? I looked I did not see any links posted.
lekmedm
06-03-2013, 10:40 AM
Click on "black" and "silver".
I ordered the black one last night.
lekmedm
06-03-2013, 01:32 PM
I ordered the black one last night.
Atta' Boy!!! :cool:
pjmjr508
06-03-2013, 01:45 PM
Click on "black" and "silver".
Found it thx
lekmedm
06-04-2013, 09:11 AM
Nice!!
Just a quick FYI that I found out the hard way... make sure you get a ngp (no ground plane) coax and antenna kit for that location. Since the hood is non magnetic it doesnt act as a ground plane like the roof normally would .
You know what? I was just thinking about this. Magnetism has nothing to do with electrical conductivity. My whole house is wired with aluminum wiring (which I'm not a fan of, but that's another conversation). Our hoods are aluminum, not fiberglass, right? So an aluminum hood will conduct electricity and ground an antenna, no?
Thats true, but electrical conductivity does not correlate to making a good ground plane. Aluminum does not make a good ground plane.
I think you're confusing "ground plane" with "electric ground".... they're different things.
Im by no means an electrical engineer or a cb radio expert..... but this is what I do know:
http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/GP-or-NGP.htm
lekmedm
06-04-2013, 12:43 PM
Yeah, I read through that some time back. For the life of me, I can't remember if the system I bought is GP or NGP. Quite frankly, I think I must have gotten the NGP because things seem to be working quite nicely. I'm sure it'll be even better after the antenna gets a tune. I need to find an excuse to come over again, Matt! ;)
I did have to do one little mod for my setup. The hole on the new mount is larger than the standard 3/8" size. I bought a couple of 3/8" stainless steel washers to sandwich on the stud for good measure.
Roger that man. I have an SWR meter here that's begging to be used! ;)
You'll know if you have NGP or not when we tune it. If we can't get the SWR's within spec, you're probably like me. My CB works "fine", but I know my SWR's are in the red above channel 11.
We can throw some burgers on next time too :D
lekmedm
06-06-2013, 07:02 AM
Got my first confirmed radio check today, so something is working right!
Mine came in today... very well built & packaged for the price!
I'm going to mount it slightly different. Maybe I'll do that after we put the kids to bed.
All mounted up!!
To get the firering to properly ground to the mount I had to drill out 1/2" hole in a washer, then trim the sides so it would fit into the bracket. Note that I trimmed a lot more than necessary...
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130607140948_zpsa7b071f4-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130607141148_zps2e79a01c-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130607153238_zps9e4a448e-1.jpg
Just attaching the bracket to the hood doesn't ground the bracket. So i was going to put a short ground strap to the hood.... but even then there's still a significant amount of resistance to battery ground. I ended up putting a ground strap to the body for a good ground.
Was lucky enough to find a small nut that matched the threads of the bracket studs.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130607163735_zps1b9acfbe-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130607163748_zpsea5ecb6f-1.jpg
Here's how I have it routed out from the engine compartment. There's a nice little tab there that I was able to bend up, put the coax under, then clamp back down. Zip tie to the bottom of the hood latch, and good to go.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130607163803_zps226b5ae1-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130607164124_zpsc7cafd0b-1.jpg
Wasn't able to put my antenna on because it hits my ceiling. Probably going to order a 3' NGP kit though.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130607164108_zps03956860-1.jpg
lekmedm
06-07-2013, 06:38 PM
Nice!! How are you liking it?
Originally I grounded the mount the same way, but I didn't hear any difference in the radio. Maybe I do have a NGP setup!
The black mount looks good on your white Jeep.
I like the new location. I didnt get a chance to hook up my SWR meter to see if there's an improvement from my bumper.
You're not grounding the mount? Be carefull.... CB's are one of those things that just because it seems to work, doesn't mean its installed correctly. You can ruin your CB that way.
I'd verify that you do indeed have NGP:
http://www.firestik.com/CatalogFrame.htm
....otherwise, throw that ground back on.
lekmedm
06-07-2013, 06:55 PM
BTW, I also opened up a couple of stainless washers to ground the FireRing. I just used a Dremel to do it.
Sent from wherever my Jeep takes me.
Did you take yours out for a drive with the antenna on? Wondering if you saw a significant amount of bending at highway speeds. That section of the hood tends to deflect sideways pretty easily... but I dont think it'd be an issue because we generally dong drive 70 mph sideways lol
lekmedm
06-07-2013, 08:05 PM
I like the new location. I didnt get a chance to hook up my SWR meter to see if there's an improvement from my bumper.
You're not grounding the mount? Be carefull.... CB's are one of those things that just because it seems to work, doesn't mean its installed correctly. You can ruin your CB that way.
I'd verify that you do indeed have NGP:
http://www.firestik.com/CatalogFrame.htm
....otherwise, throw that ground back on.
OK, OK... You don't have to shout at me! (j/k) The ground is back on. I know I have a Firestik II tuneable antenna, But I still don't know if it's NGP or not.
Did you take yours out for a drive with the antenna on? Wondering if you saw a significant amount of bending at highway speeds. That section of the hood tends to deflect sideways pretty easily... but I dont think it'd be an issue because we generally dong drive 70 mph sideways lol
Yes, I have driven around with it, but I've only gotten up to about 65mph locally. I have a medium duty spring on mine, so that should bend before the hood does! So far, no problems.
Sorry I meant to post the link to how you can identify if yours is NGP.... it just brought you to the Firestik page though.
Check this out:
Firestik NGP systems are unique. You can identify our NGP system in one of two ways. The coax assembly and the antenna itself.
The Coax
The NGP coax assembly is black with identifying print in silver-grey. Assemblies made before February 2004 are printed with "Fire-Flex" RG-58A/U. Those made after February 2004 are printed with Firestik Super-Shield 50. The connector at the radio end has a soldered tip (not crimped). Also, at the radio end you will find the coax is covered with a piece of black shrink tubing that is about 18 inches (46cm) long. At the mount end of the assembly the center conductor of the coax has been preprocessed and ready to have the ring terminal installed by the user. The braided shield of the coax is not used at the mount end.
The Antenna
All NGP antennas leave the factory with a yellow band around the antenna just above the base. The heavy-duty fiberglass antennas are referred to as the "FG" series and to the non-expert eye will appear similar to the standard "FS" (Firestik II) series antennas. The light-duty fiberglass models are referred to as the "LG" series and have a similar appearance to the "FL" (FireFly) series antennas. If the yellow band has been removed, measuring the length of the close wound section (loading coil) of the antenna will help you tell the difference between the NGP antenna and its near counterpart. The following table gives you the length of the close wound section of our antennas. First measure the over all length of the antenna to determine if it is in the 2, 3, 4 or 5 foot range. Next, measure the distance from the top of the antenna (not including the tunable tip mechanism) to the bottom edge of the close wound section of the antenna. Compare your measurements to the information in the chart below to properly identify the antenna.
https://theultimatejeep.com/notfound.png
Well NGP might not matter here! Just put my antenna on and checked my SWR's and they're A LOT better.1.25-2 throughout the entire band. Before none of them were below 2, and they'd get above 3 in the higher channels.
Only thing I might change is dropping down to a 3ft antenna. I don't like how high the 4ft version goes above the roof-line.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130608123355_zps1252cc77-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130608123422_zps1b51081d-1.jpg
lekmedm
06-08-2013, 07:02 PM
Wow. This is good news. I found that page on the website last night. I think I have the FS series antenna, which is GP.
Yeah, the 4 foot antenna is mighty tall there. Mine is the 3 foot. Can't wait to get it tuned. :)
Sent from wherever my Jeep takes me.
Just ordered the 3' USA Firestik... had some other stuff i needed to order on amazon so it was easy hiding that $20 in that order so i dont feel guilty :p
I have the HD spring and think im gonna keep that to see how it does for now.
lekmedm
06-10-2013, 12:53 PM
I didn't know that Firestik has a similar mount to the ones we bought: http://www.firestik.com/Catalog/WTP-4.htm
lekmedm
06-10-2013, 06:04 PM
Today I returned to work after recovering from surgery, so back to my 140 mile round-trip commute on Jersey highways. I had to give the CB a decent try with the new antenna location. Everything worked great and can only get better once tuned. I even got pretty good range of about 5 miles once off the highway.
I'm happy. :D
Sent from wherever my Jeep takes me.
That's definitely some good range there!!
I'll be home Sunday if you wanted to swing by. I have no plans other than tinkering with my Jeep and my sons new RC monster truck. :D
lekmedm
06-11-2013, 07:04 AM
Hey, Daddy, this Sunday is Father's Day! While I'd otherwise be happy to run down there, I'm guessing both your family and mine will was us to themselves! ;)
Let me know what the following weekend is looking like for you.
EDIT: Now that I think about it, if it's Father's Day, then a bunch of Dads should get together to do manly-man things! HA!
Lol that was the point! When my wife asked what I wanted to do on fathers day I said "nothing. No picnics, no dinners, no plans. I want to be free to sit quietly and drink a beer if I so choose"
As you might remember, my next months worth of weekends are filled with weddings, birthdays and family reunions ...
pjmjr508
06-13-2013, 10:33 PM
kept looking back at this thread, I like the way this is setup compaired to mine which is setup on top the roofrack. I orded the silver one.
lekmedm
06-14-2013, 08:33 PM
kept looking back at this thread, I like the way this is setup compaired to mine which is setup on top the roofrack. I orded the silver one.
Wooohoooo....!!! Jump on in, the water's fine...! :D
My 3' antenna came in today. I'll probably throw it on and tune it on Friday.
Didnt tune it yet... but it looks a lot better on there.
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130619174033_zps966196b7-1.jpg
https://theultimatejeep.com/images/imported/2013/06/20130619174019_zps3a13dcec-1.jpg
lekmedm
06-19-2013, 05:53 PM
Cool! :)
Sent from wherever my Jeep takes me.
pjmjr508
06-19-2013, 08:29 PM
Nice.
lekmedm
11-07-2013, 06:56 AM
So, Matt, how has this new CB mount worked out for you since you've been offroading now? I've been very happy with mine. :)
The_War_Wagon
11-07-2013, 08:22 AM
I tore the condom off mine at an Arby's drive-thru in Erie last month... D'OHHHH!
Bought a cheap-azz replacement stick at a truck stop, and took the condom off THAT one, to protect my Wilson (and the condom DOES make a difference with a tuneable antenna!!!). And then I electrical taped it in place, for good measure!
Discovered that with the QD mount and the antenna removed, I CAN still run it through car washes without problems. Changes the angle on the hood-mounted scanner antenna, but I gotta jump out and fold the mirrors back into place after a car wash anyways. :rolleyes:
So, Matt, how has this new CB mount worked out for you since you've been offroading now? I've been very happy with mine. :)
Actually I forgot to come here and update. .... not happy with mine. Went through a tight trail in the pines and it got tore off. Luckily no major hood damage.
I like the location so im going to design/make my own mount for there that bolts on via the hood latch bolts.
lekmedm
11-07-2013, 09:31 AM
Actually I forgot to come here and update. .... not happy with mine. Went through a tight trail in the pines and it got tore off. Luckily no major hood damage.
I like the location so im going to design/make my own mount for there that bolts on via the hood latch bolts.
Would a different spring have helped prevent that? I'm running an MD spring. I think you once said you have an HD one.
Not sure. I thought mine bent far enough but I guess not. I think it got wedged in a V of a branch and was literally pulled outwards, not just bent.
lekmedm
11-08-2013, 11:48 AM
Not sure. I thought mine bent far enough but I guess not. I think it got wedged in a V of a branch and was literally pulled outwards, not just bent.
Well, caught in a "V" would yank an antenna from any mount, or at least cause some damage.
I disgree. It still slid through, just the clamp force of that hood mount is too weak. A steel bracket bolted to the hood latch aint going anywhere. And if it does get caught on something I dont have to worry about it bending/damaging my hood.
lekmedm
09-12-2014, 11:57 AM
Hey, Matt! I just ran across this picture. Maybe using your mount on the door would be better than on the hood???
2378
thance
09-12-2014, 01:29 PM
I disgree. It still slid through, just the clamp force of that hood mount is too weak. A steel bracket bolted to the hood latch aint going anywhere. And if it does get caught on something I dont have to worry about it bending/damaging my hood.
I saw one for a WK that bolts to the hinge, not sure if it would work on the XK............ I'll have to see if I can dig up a link.
thance
09-12-2014, 01:36 PM
My bad.... I think I may have been thing about these light mounts:
http://jeepinbyal.com/collections/wk-mounts-lights-antenna/products/wk-hood-light-mounts
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