Getting back into CB...

[adkangler1966]

I'm getting back into CB, after 40ish years. I'm going mobile, driving a 2021 Subaru Forester. I need an antenna, mounted either fore or aft...likely a lip mount of some kind. My garage has a seven foot clearance, so I'd prefer little to no scraping. Any suggestions, as per antenna/mount are appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

[slowmover]

Larsen NMO-27B (with optional spring).

President Harrison 2



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Power to BATT positive, fused. NEG to closest possible DC ground, unfused. (Marine-grade wiring & fuse plus heat-shrink terminals). 12-AWG is nice overkill size.

— Don’t skimp on proper power plus NMO-mount antenna as above. “Alternatives” as per your speculations are a joke.

Search this forum re this antenna.

It’s the single important decision on any radio rig to have a proper antenna & mount.

Right antenna + power means you can change components that plug into these systems at will.

RAM (brand) or other mounts for radio. Cup holder, etc. Search what other Subie owners have done with 2-meter, etc.

Speaker firing forward into footwell under drivers seat.

You and I could talk a bit at 70-mph given the above. My big truck radio system will overcome the low power distance problem of yours. I could hear you (and you hear me) a good ways traveling in opposite directions.

But not with a joke of an antenna system. Can’t emphasize this enough.

A KL-203 would put you into the right territory given the difficulty with local comms during this solar cycle. Use, or leave off as needed. Power & Antenna first.

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[belvdr]

Power to BATT positive, fused. NEG to closest possible DC ground, unfused.

And fused as close to the battery as possible.

 

[slowmover]

KØBG.COM

A Web Site For Mobile Amateur Radio Operators

www.k0bg.com

 

[mmckenna]

CB and small/short antennas goes together as well as, well, things that don't go well together.

If you want decent performance, you need a long antenna. Using the short/stubby antennas results in poor performance.

A good whip antenna, like the Larsen NMO-27, will likely hit your garage door.
But it won't hurt anything if you do a proper installation. It'll make some noise, but that's about it. My wife has a short VHF whip on her truck and every day it's in and out of the garage and no damage.

Doing a permanent mount (drill the hole...) will give you better performance, look better, and less likely to cause damage to the vehicle. Ideally you want the antenna in the center of the roof to give it the best omnidirectional coverage. Setting it off to one end/side of the vehicle will make the antenna slightly directional.

 

[RFI-EMI-GUY]

drill baby drill!

 

[slowmover]

Inclusion of NRC (Noise Reduction Circuit) in latest radios is, Digital Signal Processing (DSP), whereby what previously the radio could receive, but not adequately process for you unto which to listen marks the biggest change since 40-channels.

The next 10,000-men with 30-years of daily experience in using CB have opinions about its potential which are obsolete if DSP/NRC isn’t part of that experience.

The distant, marginal signal can now be understood.

To the extent that I’ve repeatedly been on AM-19 conversing with another man on-road . . yet the ones around me cannot hear him well or at all. (I added an outboard DSP device eight years ago . . . over a half-million miles back).

An NMO Larsen isn’t the end in performance. It’s the entryway given an NRC radio into what constitutes CB today.

Reception & Clarity are miles ahead of where once they were given right gear & practice as above.

— There are “bigger” radios of this type as well as antennas. Bigger also in every physical aspect for those added features & performance.

Harrison 2

Line-by-line comparison of other radios suggested (leave nothing out).



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