Where did you mount your CB Radio?

[kitkat]

I have the same location and radio as the first pic Knapp posted, behind the console. I also found a good bracket and mounted my antenna in the back

sorry, meant to add this and fingers moved faster than the brain

[Spigot]

I have the same location and radio as the first pic Knapp posted, behind the console. I also found a good bracket and mounted my antenna in the back

sorry, meant to add this and fingers moved faster than the brain

Looks good. What antenna is that? It looks like a good height!

[1USMC]

Looks good. What antenna is that? It looks like a good height!

It's a Wilson, (perhaps a 4' Flex ??) I also have a question for Kitkat.. Did you have any problems with your SWR before you grounded the Wilson's "ground wire" ? And if so did it make a big difference ? I was hoping I would not have to.
I'm getting ready to mount a couple of antennas on "Doc's" swing out tire carrier and I am concerned about ground plane/SWR problems. It also looks like you are running an extra ground wire from the mount ? Is that true ? I am doing that because of the possible poor grounding due to the swing out.

[kitkat]

Sorry, recently switched internet and am having issues...I don't know anything about grounding or SWR but, I did ground as soon as I had it installed. Also, because I have an aftermarket stereo with Bluetooth and stuff, I was getting some interferance using the CB. I got a 95% sheilded cable rather than the normal CB cable and seems good now.
The ground wire to the mount is actually part of the mount. I did it only so I could take the antenna off easier if I had to. 1 wire to the mount, 1 from the mount into my tail light ground

[superacerc]

The ground wire is essential unless you have a well grounded antenna bracket with no paint between the metal. All antennas require 2 parts to complete the wave radiation properly or you will have bad SWR. One side is the radiator and the other is the ground side. The ground side is essential to properly send out your radio wave. On a mag mount the cars roof metal becomes the ground through inductance(kind of like an electrical transformer's windings) therefore not needing a ground and the wider the magnet base the better it will ground. On a hard mount the either you must mount it bare metal to bare metal or add a ground wire going to something that's bare metal like under a bolt somewhere on the chassis.

SWR is standing wave ratio - basically if you don't have a "perfect antenna" you will have a reflected wave which means that instead of the radiation leaving the antenna it will come back down the ground side and back into your radio ( can even come out through your hand mic if you have a metal button on the back) and could possibly cause RF burns. Even worse than the unpleasant burning sensation your signal wont get out well!!!

There are varying degrees of SWR so you need a meter to read it. You want to see 1:1 match which means that for everything you sent out all of it left the antenna. if it's less it would read 2:1, 3:1 or worse. ANything under 2:1 is considered ok. i.e. 1.5:1

My antenna wouldn't read under 3:1 without the ground so I added it as my bracket didn't have a built in one.

[1USMC]

I wasn't exact ( purposely) with my question regarding the Wilson antenna ground wire.. ( that I noticed is grounded in the photo). Its really a " impedance matching transformer " connector used to help with SWR >2.0:1 , after tuning, perhaps to help with a poor ground/ mounting location ( helps to get back to 50 ohms). If the SWR is lower they recommend not using that wire. Other fiberglass CB antenna makers do not have this feature. I was wondering if Kitkat checked his SWR before grounding the Wilson wire ? I'm ( once again if I ever have time, ha..) going to also be mounting a Wilson antenna and was curious what results others may have had with locations that are not ideal ( like mine) and if the Wilson connector wire made a difference.

Kitkat good to hear your system is working well now, with the better cable !

Glad to have your expertise and help superacerc, Thanks..

[superacerc]

Alright. Sorry If I misinterpreted your question. I was trying to find out about the impedence matching system on the wilsons and on the web site for wilson it just calls it a ground. (Seems to me its being used for the same job either way) My guess is still that if the mount isn't grounded through how it's attached you'll need the wire to be grounded. Just for kicks check out how my antenna looked on my old jetta. People gave me some strange looks!
There's a 108" whip on top of a tunable electric screwdriver antenna that i could raise and lower from in the car.

[1USMC]

I was trying to find out about the impedence matching system on the wilsons and on the web site for wilson it just calls it a ground. ........ tunable electric screwdriver antenna...

For more info on the Wilson .. (You will understand more of it that I, ..especially the 25 ohm re-inserts back to 50..)... http://www.wilsonantenna.com/faq.php then look under " Fiberglass antennas" FAQ's # 1 and #2

Awesome whip antenna ... I had to look up the " screwdriver" .... moving loading coil for tunning...sweet !!

[superacerc]

Ok.....I see what they are doing now. They are adding a 25 ohm leg onto the antenna in case you aren't accomplishing the required impedence because of the coax type, or in their example when using a cophase antenna harness which will change the impedence with it's split set of coax.

You most likely wouldn't need it then if you had proper 50 ohm coax and a decent ground.

Thanks for pointing that out. I had never thought of needing a matching segment on a CB antenna but I see why you could use it now.

The screwdriver antenna was great! I could use it for any frequencies between 3.5mhz and 50mhz. (Including the CB band) I would use it alot between classes when I was in college and had a large gap of time. I frequently sat in the school parking lot and talked to Sweden, Italy, Germany and the UK on 14mhz (20meter band) and a few times down to venezuela the antilles and central america on 10meters (28-29mhz) when the sunspots would flare up. It was great for US talking as well especially at night on 3.800 mhz.

[ped4599]

HERE is where put my CB. It is hidden until i need it. I keep the mic inthe side pocket of the door and the antena cord get run out and up to the roof rack. The antena fire stick is in the back storage box by the OEM tire jack.Its all wired up and ready to go as soon as put on the mic, then run the mic out along the steering wheel.