If you got a CB Antenna please post pic.

[Tookie]

Not CB, but but my Ham antenna is in the same location as Ramz's except that it is mounted to the door.

[CoastieCosta567]

Man, they all look sweet, thanx again all for the pic's. You guys have deff... gave me a large choice to select.

- Does having the antenna on the roof help get a better signal?

[VX KAT]

- Does having the antenna on the roof help get a better signal?

Yes, that's what the CB shops will say. I recall they recommended it be as high as possible and in the center of the roof area as well. Metal on metal was also recommended, but I have a rubber and a nylon washer on each side of my antenna bracket, and a rubbery lining on my mount (to protect finish on my Yakima basket), and I still get good reception.

[tjh]

Having your SWR set after the install is also crucial . If it is far enough out it can actually destroy the transmitting part of your CB radio. SWR (standing wave ratio).

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

SWR on mine was so close to zero (the desired reading...often not possible) that I thought the meter I had purchased was defective so I took it back and bought another one...only to get the same perfect reading of zero!

This is the fourth cb installation I've done in my life and by far it blows the others completely away with performance. I got alot of complements on how mine functioned the one time I went to Moab. I thought PBKid's worked great too! We both mounted ours to the rear door. I think that since mine is bolted directly to the sheet metal and is not far from center of roof and is sufficiently above roof-line it performs great! CB is a "Cobra" and antenna is a "FireStik". Here is a pic:

[tjh]

SWR on mine was so close to zero (the desired reading...often not possible) that I thought the meter I had purchased was defective so I took it back and bought another one...only to get the same perfect reading of zero!

This is the fourth cb installation I've done in my life and by far it blows the others completely away with performance. I got alot of complements on how mine functioned the one time I went to Moab. I thought PBKid's worked great too! We both mounted ours to the rear door. I think that since mine is bolted directly to the sheet metal and is not far from center of roof and is sufficiently above roof-line it performs great! CB is a "Cobra" and antenna is a "FireStik". Here is a pic:

Awesome ! I copied your set up , basically . Cobra wx st ii , same mount on the rear gate . I went with a 3' antenna , it took awhile to get in tune.

I just might get a 4' and see how it talks .

I like your your setup!

[Marlin]

I used the RV firestick. It is designed to be mounted on fiberglass and the cable is the ground. It comes precalibrated, so you don't have to worry about adjusting the SWR. As long as you don't modify the cable, you are good to go

[VX KAT]

Oh yeah, good point Travis, SWR is important. I couldn't find a shop within 50 miles that had an SWR meter to test my set up! They all said CB was.... oh so passe.... So...I bought a cheap one on ebay (of course!)

A value of 1-3 is considered to be the general target, the lower the better, over 3 can damage your CB as Travis mentioned. Both my set up and hubby's were 1.5 as is. We both got FireStik CB antennas (...and yes, they did make it in pink!)....OK, so he got a black one.... Dave & I tested both of ours in hills around here and got good reception within 5 miles and several mountains between us...so we left both as is.

Here's a good brief overview of the SWR issue:
http://www.flycom.co.uk/antenna_swr.htm

[RamAirZ]

I don't think you can get 0, 1.0 is perfect

[pbkid]

ya my antenna on my VX worked GREAT! and i always thought that 'jollyrogers' worked very well as well. i never had any problems hearing him.

I've found that the length of the antenna is more important than the location (my 4 foot worked much better than my 2 foot)

[CoastieCosta567]

Man, I never thought it had such science involved in it, I'm very thankful for all the info. This is what I love about this forum, you guys give more info then asked and thats always badass, 150% always better then 100%. Thanx again all. Now let me go see what i can do. I'm gonna go for the rear door mount and try to get a mondo size antenna today. I'll post pic's when done, but wont be till the end of the day, gots lots to do, gotta get ready to go camping with my wifey and leave at 1 am tonight to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Georgia.

[CoastieCosta567]

pics of my mounted antenna

[WILLY]

posting pics on here is not easy

[Jolly Roger VX'er]

LQQK'ING Good Costie. I like how your VX has turned out!

[vt_maverick]

Not for an antenna, but you could run the cable through your spoiler like I did for my lights. I like where Mark has his. You could just drop the cable down and in.



Bart

If you remove the spoiler, there are holes in the roof already for the wiring for the brake light. I used that hole, and ran the wire down into the VX. Then you just need to pull (carefully) off the rear trim piece at the back of the headliner, just inside the back door. Your wire will come down in there, and then you can push it inbetween the headliner and the top of the trim, all the way forward to your A or B pillar. I think I ran mine down at the B pillar, and then under the plastic skuff plate on the driver's side, and then up through the firewall to my battery. In your case, you would just need a single coax cable to where ever your CB is going to be mounted.

Bart

I wonder... has anyone ever drilled a hole through the roof rails right around the rail cap location? Obviously much more involved, but then you could snake your wire up the backside of the cross rail support, making it nearly invisible.