A little setup help please

[mike007]

I haven't been on here on a long time but I thought I'd ask.

When I was on the highway I had my cobra 29 setup really good 1.1-1.0 swr with a 6.5 foot Francis whip.

Now since with my pickup I haven't been able to get under 3.0 with a Francis whip or lil will mag mount.

Any tips for antenna, location, things I should do to my truck.



Thanks in advance.

[n9mxq]

It's not clear where the antenna is mounted. When you moved the setup to the pickup is there a chance of damaging the coax?

Need more input before we can give you a solid answer..

OK all the CB haters can post their usual diatribes now.

[mike007]

Oh sorry. There's nothing installed right now. I had a mag mount on the truck right in front of the camper over hang. It had a new coax on it. Before the camper, I had the francis whip on the box side with brand new coax.
I took it all out to sell the truck but didn't sell it. So I want to do things again better than the last time.

I'm just looking for big clean ears. I enjoy listening to the nonsense on skip from time to time.
I don't care if it gets out the way it did with my highway truck. (14 miles was my best)

It's been a long time but I think it used to dead key at 4-5 watts and swing 15. I think.

[LtDoc]

If there's no window in the front side of that 'camper', I know what I'd try. Put a permanent mount antenna there and just bend the 'whip' part vertically. that would put the antenna 'above' most of the metal of the vehicle, not as 'obstructed' sort of. It would also mean that considering it's height, it would hit everything it got close to. Another fairly decent mounting place would be on the hood, top of a fender. Or, as you seem to have tried, magmount on the front of the cab.
All of those alternatives have 'catches' to them of some kind. Just a matter of which one of those 'catches' you think you can put up with.
As for tuning your antenna, 'they' just don't 'like' being close to things, especially metal. 'They' like being above metal more than beside metal, and just don't like being under metal at all. You just do the best that is practical for you. If you are just going to listen, then who cares what the SWR is?
- 'Doc

[mike007]

Ok thanks. Good tips. I guess that's why it worked so well on my mostly fibreglass highway truck.

I would love to do that 102" whip straight up above the camper but the height really would be a problem being that it would be at about 16-17 feet.

Looks wise, an antenna on the wiper cowl opposite my factory antenna would look nice, would that be ok?

So if I'm just primarily listening, how do I get the noise down as much as possible. On the not of swr, is anything under 3.0 safe to transmit or should I aim to be lower than 2?

My highway truck I could leave the rf knob wide open and squelch was always off, I would hardly get any noise.

When it was in the pickup a few times I could never leave the rf wide open, always 1/2 maybe 3/4 open.

Again thanks for any and all help guys.

[robertmac]

Soak with Olive Oil for 10 minutes then wash out with warm water. Mind you when I used to listen to the CB foul mouthed operators, I was grabing for cotton to put in my ears and throwing a bar of soap to the operators. Screw on a metal plate to the roof [and weather seal it] of the camper and put the mag mount on top of it.

[k3cfc]

If you could ever find one they did make a ball mount and a bumper chain mount. then a 102 stainless whip.the farther you can get the antenna away from the engine compartment the better.

K3CFC

[JayMojave]

Hello Mike 007:

Been there done that with the truck and Camper antenna stuff. I used a wilson 1000 or 5000 antenna that uses a 5 Ft very flexable whip antenna. Either mounted in the center of the camper, or off the side using a "L" bracket mounted to the top camper trim screws. I am sure the Francis would also work mounted to the side. Its ok to tilt the antenna back a little. Works great.

The Wilson Little Wil antenna is a short, narrow banded, low power, short range antenna, that you will see some SWR on it, not a big deal. The Wilson 2000 I have never seen work right.

Good luck.

Jay in the Mojave

[mike007]

Thanks for the tips guys.

I think I could live with the 102" mounted on the rear bumper. It would only stick up a couple feet above the camper.

[prcguy]

Have you considered a fold over mount at roof level on the side of the camper? This would get a reasonable antenna like your Francis whip up high and in the clear but would also allow you to fold it down when needed.

I'm a fan of the Shakespeare 495B Lift and Lay mount for marine antennas. Its also got 3/8-24 threads and you can mount it on the roof of the camper close to one edge (driver side best). When its time to get small you grab the mount, pull up and the antenna lays over.
prcguy

[mike007]

I haven't really considered anything. Thats why I'm asking. I thought I knew a bit about this stuff but after reading through this forum, clearly I have a lot to learn.

I checked out that mount, neat idea.

Does it matter that my camper is aluminum?
Do I need to ground the skin of the camper to the truck box and frame?

I'm starting from scratch again here so I'm open to all tips or tricks for my setup.

[prcguy]

If your mounting a CB antenna on the camper, aluminum is good. The camper skin will be the counterpoise for the antenna and if the roof is one piece or its electrically bonded you dont need to ground it to anything. Just make sure the braid of the coax connects to the camper skin right below where the antenna mounts.

From the antennas point of view a wire from the camper to the body of the truck or to the battery will not make any difference. Making a several inch wide strap or several from the front of the camper roof to the truck roof might make a slight improvement in antenna performance but that's not practical.
prcguy

Originally Posted by mike007

I haven't really considered anything. Thats why I'm asking. I thought I knew a bit about this stuff but after reading through this forum, clearly I have a lot to learn.

I checked out that mount, neat idea.

Does it matter that my camper is aluminum?
Do I need to ground the skin of the camper to the truck box and frame?

I'm starting from scratch again here so I'm open to all tips or tricks for my setup.

[mike007]

Hmmm I don't think mounting to the top of the camper will be very practical. Height is somewhat a concern and then the installation through the roof of the camper then the floor then the truck bed and back into the cab.
So if I was to settle for mounting to the truck itself, mounting the longest antenna to the rear bumper will be my best option???