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Cb antenna ground

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Not sure if this post belongs here or in the antenna forum but I’ll ask anyway. I installed a new Galaxy 979f in my 2017 F250. This truck has an aluminum body and I was wondering if the antenna needs to be grounded. On my previous truck with a steel frame I had it mounted on my tool box and it worked fine. The antenna is a 3ft firestik, I also have a 5ft firestik from an old jeep I thought about throwing on instead. My SWR is right around 2.5 but I can get it down to 1.5 by adjusting my RF power. So I was wondering if my antenna needs a different ground on a new truck. I’ve asked for several radio checks with no luck, I drove around the neighborhood and talked to my wife while she was in her 4RUNNER and she said it sounded good. I received her well and even caught chatter on 38lsb from South Carolina (I’m in Michigan) so I know the antenna is at least doing its job.

Input welcome.

Ryan
 

mmckenna

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There are specific antenna designs that will work without a ground plane, however, they'll all work better with one.

As for ground planes, it doesn't matter if it's steel or aluminum, as long as it's conductive, it'll act as a ground plane.
I've installed antennas on the new Fords, 2017 and 2018 F-350's, as well as earlier models with the steel body. No difference in performance.

Could be a lot of reasons why your SWR is high.
How is the antenna mounted right now? Where exactly is it mounted on the truck? How is the coaxial cable routed?
Kind of hard to figure out what is going on without knowing for sure.
As for the SWR improving when you lower the power, if you don't recalibrate the meter when you change power levels, the numbers don't mean anything.
 
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Right now the antenna is mounted on an L bracket attached to the side of my toolbox on the drivers side. Coax runs straight down between cab and bed and is secured under the truck and enters the cab through the floorboard. No kinks or tight circles in the coax. Also I only used the built in meter on the radio, I have an SWR meter in my shop I can hook up to it. I think I’ll do that and see if it changes. 2.5 isn’t too bad right?
 

JayMojave

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Hello AL: The coax shield wire at the antenna end should be grounded to the vehicles body,
aluminum is fine. A cleaned electrical connection is the way to go.

Grounding the radio to the vehicles body is a good call but not necessary.
I have used radios just setting on the seat have worked for me.

The shorter antennas will have a higher SWR and a much narrower SWR bandwidth to start with, as compared to longer antennas. A SWR of 2.5 to 1 isn't the end of the world. Need more info on your antenna installation as already said.

Jay in the Great Mojave Desert.... 110 F degrees most all last week

The 2.5 SWR maybe due to the antenna being too close to the cab of the truck. Just added this as your reply showed up.
 
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I hooked my swr meter up to it instead of using the built in one and I got a reading of 1.6 across the board. So I’ll leave it the way it is and hopefully get some reports this week on how it sounds/performance. Thanks guys.

Ryan
 

Ravenkeeper

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I agree with Jay. You need at least 50% of the antenna above the top of the cab. Your SWR should drop lower with the longer antenna, once you have it dialed in.

Mine was flatlined across all channels too, but mine was mounted in the front right stake hole. I had a great ground, 4’ FireStik, SWR: 2.4:1, and not sure what I could do to get it to curve like it should. I’ll have to play with it once I get it installed in/on my new truck, end of Aug or beginning of Sept.
 
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