Antenna Questions

[bob-the-scanner-man]

I think I have a good amount of experience with mobile antennas, but none with base antennas so I am a little lost. I want to set up a decent (read: decent, not top of the line) CB base station. I already have a CB radio to use. I don't want to spend too much so I was considering the Workman B100. Would this antenna be decent for the price and give me decent range(a few miles)? Would I be able to mount it somewhere on a shed that I'm going to use for my shack? Would I need a small mast attached to the shed then the antenna, or could it just be mounted on the shed itself? And, how would I ground it if I mounted it on the side of my house or on a mast?

Please steer me in the right direction on antennas and grounding for dummies.

Thanks.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

Anyone?

 

[DPD1]

I haven't dealt with CB stuff since I was a kid, so I'm no expert. But judging by the size, I assume this is a coiled design. Which isn't going to give ideal performance, but I would think it would go as far as you mention. Anything that's better performance will be considerably bigger. It also doesn't need a ground plane, so it would appear that grounding for function is not necessary. Ground for potential lighting would be necessary if you live in an area that gets it, and that would be best learned about from an electrician if you want to do it right and follow code. You would definitely want to mount it on a mast above the top of the roof and use some decent cable... At least RG8X.

 

[prcguy]

That little 39" long antenna would not fall in the decent category. When you see an antenna company telling you how long to cut your coaxial cable and their antenna has "low bleed over" you should run.
prcguy

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

I live in Alabama, we don't get that much lightning, but we do get some. The antenna would not be mounted that high.

If that antenna wouldn't give decent performance, please point me to one that would be better. Keep in mind that I don't want to spend a lot for an antenna.

To get decent range, does the antenna have to be mounted above the treeline or would I still have some range if it were below the treeline? I don't really want to have a large tower or anything. I want to keep the total height(after connected to the shed) at around 20'. I don't know if this is possible or not.

Thanks for the help so far.

 

[digitalanalog]

Antron A99 antenna.

I used one years ago and it worked very well.
maybe a bit more money, but a MUCH better antenna, and if you get the
radial ground kit for it, it's even better. ( i had the ground kit on mine)

They are available on SleazyBay.

Good Luck.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

Antron A99 antenna.

I used one years ago and it worked very well.
maybe a bit more money, but a MUCH better antenna, and if you get the
radial ground kit for it, it's even better. ( i had the ground kit on mine)

They are available on SleazyBay.

Good Luck.

I saw one on Ebay for around $50. I'll be on the look out for another one. I've read lots of good reviews about it on here, but I wanted to check and see how the Workman would be first before I looked at anything else.

I'm also considering making my mast so that I can raise it when I use it, and lower it when not in use.

 

[Sinister]

That little 39" long antenna would not fall in the decent category. When you see an antenna company telling you how long to cut your coaxial cable and their antenna has "low bleed over" you should run.
prcguy

I would listen to what prcguy has said before you buy. I read a few comments from users of that antenna saying they had high swr and either had to install a ground plane or cut their coax cable to fix the issue.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

Yeah, I kind of thought that, but I wanted to be sure. I'm now thinking about getting the Antron A99. I've read lots of good things about it.

Now I just need to decide where/how I want to mount it, and how to ground it.

 

[kb9hgi]

Here is where you will find A99. I have one I have used for years on 10 meters. Very good antenna can not complain..

Copper Electronics, Inc.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

The A99 seems like it would be a great antenna, but now that I've researched it some more I don't know if I want something that long(18ft.). Anyone know of any antennas that are maybe a little bit smaller that would still give decent performance? Maybe in the 5-10ft. range, that seems more manageable for me right now.

Thanks to all who have given their input so far.

 

[gewecke]

Because of the wavelength of 27mhz. the 18' length is pretty much average for a antenna that offers any decent performance for the band you're wanting to use.
Yes,you can get shorter more compact antennas but again the performance WILL suffer greatly.
You will have a great deal less range! Now if you went with another band besides cb,then yes a shorter antenna would be usable!
N9ZAS.

 

[prcguy]

A simple 1/4 ground plane would be about 9ft tall above a building with the radials at roof level. Performance is almost as good as an A99.
prcguy

 

[gewecke]

True. But the added gain is nice.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

10-4 on that, lol. I know that the frequency of CB requires a very large antenna, but as a beginner I wanted something a little smaller, although I know the A99 would be great. Where can I find a 1/4 ground plane antenna?


And again, thanks to all who have helped me out so far. I am experienced with scanners, but this is really my first real attempt at getting into CB as a base station instead of mobile, so excuse all of my questions.

 

[prcguy]

The added gain of an A99 over a 1/4 groundplane is probably on the order of 1dB and barely noticeable. Any increase over that would be due to the added height of the A99.
The A99 is just an end fed 1/2 wave or technically the same as a 1/2 wave dipole except for some loss in the A99 matching section.
prcguy

True. But the added gain is nice.

 

[bob-the-scanner-man]

I came across this antenna, it's 12ft. long. Would this be a decent antenna? Patriot 12ft antenna.

Also, I doubt I'd buy one(better judgement tells me otherwise) but has anyone had any experience with these "double bazooka" cb antennas that are all over ebay? Again, I wouldn't buy one, but I'm just curious.

Thanks again for all the help.