Antenna placement

[rcraig114]

Hey folks. Newbie here. Bought a Uniden Bearcat 880, 50 foot coax cable, and the below antenna. I wanted to avoid putting anything on the roof and just mounted the antenna inside my attic on a trust. I've noticed though that my range or hearing anything is relatively low. For example, maybe 1 mile down the street construction guys were using channel 6 (saw a sign on the road). I had my base station inside on 6 all day long. Never heard anything. I've also got a small handheld (Cobra 40-CB) that barely makes it four houses down the street before the base station can't hear me. Do you think the problem is with the antenna being inside the attic, or could it be something else?

Antenna that is in attic

Amazon.com: Tram CB Base Antenna : Electronics

Buy Tram CB Base Antenna: Radio Antennas - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

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Thanks for any advice.

Robert

 

[prcguy]

You have chosen one of the worst performing CB antennas ever made. That antenna will turn your 4 watt CB into roughly the same as a 1 watt walki talki with telescopic whip. Your antenna is 90+% of your station, don't skimp on the antenna and don't mount it in a spot that hampers its performance. Or live with very short range and frustration.

Hey folks. Newbie here. Bought a Uniden Bearcat 880, 50 foot coax cable, and the below antenna. I wanted to avoid putting anything on the roof and just mounted the antenna inside my attic on a trust. I've noticed though that my range or hearing anything is relatively low. For example, maybe 1 mile down the street construction guys were using channel 6 (saw a sign on the road). I had my base station inside on 6 all day long. Never heard anything. I've also got a small handheld (Cobra 40-CB) that barely makes it four houses down the street before the base station can't hear me. Do you think the problem is with the antenna being inside the attic, or could it be something else?

Antenna that is in attic

Amazon.com: Tram CB Base Antenna : Electronics

Buy Tram CB Base Antenna: Radio Antennas - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

Thanks for any advice.

Robert

 

[rcraig114]

You have chosen one of the worst performing CB antennas ever made. That antenna will turn your 4 watt CB into roughly the same as a 1 watt walki talki with telescopic whip. Your antenna is 90+% of your station, don't skimp on the antenna and don't mount it in a spot that hampers its performance. Or live with very short range and frustration.

Appreciate the feedback. What do you recommend that won't break the bank?

Robert

 

[mmckenna]

I agree. You can't cram CB into a 3 foot tall antenna and expect it to work.

I'd add one question, though:
What is your roof made of? Any metallic component to the roof, sheathing, foil backed insulation, etc. will essentially block RF.

Also, do you really need 50 feet of cable?

 

[rcraig114]

I agree. You can't cram CB into a 3 foot tall antenna and expect it to work.

I'd add one question, though:
What is your roof made of? Any metallic component to the roof, sheathing, foil backed insulation, etc. will essentially block RF.

Also, do you really need 50 feet of cable?

Not sure about the roof. All these houses were built around 2013 and the HOA requires asphalt shingles I don't see any foil in the attic so if its underneath the shingles and on top of the particle board, I wouldn't see it. I didn't know how much cable I needed so I just bought a 50' RG58 cable from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FSKFHFZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1).

Robert

 

[mmckenna]

OK, that may not be an issue then. Some insulation has a foil backing, but chances are the insulation is below the antenna.

You need a better antenna if you want any decent performance.
I'd also recommend only using the amount of cable you need to get from the radio to the antenna. All coaxial cable has some amount of loss in it. RG-58 has more loss than higher grade cables. Cable loss goes up with cable length, so using less of it reduces some of the loss.
However, on CB frequencies, that's not what is causing your issues.

 

[prcguy]

Can you get away with something like a skinny 9ft whip clamped to a vent pipe on the roof with three or four thin invisible 9ft long ground plane wires laying on the roof?

Do you have a TV antenna on the roof or are you allowed one? You can easily make a CB antenna using about 5ft of mast and a small TV antenna on top, all connected together with the length adjusted for resonance on CB. The TV antenna will become a "capacity hat" that will shorten the TV mast, which is actually now the CB antenna and it will work about the same as a 1/4 wave ground plane if you put the same invisible radials under it.

Appreciate the feedback. What do you recommend that won't break the bank?

Robert

 

[DaveJacobsen]

also don't forget to tune your antenna!

 

[rcraig114]

Can you get away with something like a skinny 9ft whip clamped to a vent pipe on the roof with three or four thin invisible 9ft long ground plane wires laying on the roof?

Do you have a TV antenna on the roof or are you allowed one? You can easily make a CB antenna using about 5ft of mast and a small TV antenna on top, all connected together with the length adjusted for resonance on CB. The TV antenna will become a "capacity hat" that will shorten the TV mast, which is actually now the CB antenna and it will work about the same as a 1/4 wave ground plane if you put the same invisible radials under it.

I could probably get away with that. I also thought about attaching something similar to what I have to the chimney. Any suggestions?

 

[prcguy]

You might shop around local garage sales, swap meets, Pawn shops, Craig's list if you have it, and look for an old 9ft stainless steel whip. New they are quite expensive these days. You can paint it flat grey with a few random flat black stripes and make it almost disappear on your roof. Then get a cheap CB mirror mount bracket with SO-239 to 3/8-24 adapter and hose clamp that to a vent pipe on your roof. Then attach as many thin 9ft wires to the ground side of the mirror mount bracket for a ground plane. I would make the ground wires more like 10ft, check the match then trim them a bit if the match is off. The 9ft whip will probably be 102" and it really needs to be about 108" by adding a spring but longer ground radials will usually help tune it in without a spring.

I could probably get away with that. I also thought about attaching something similar to what I have to the chimney. Any suggestions?

 

[rcraig114]

You might shop around local garage sales, swap meets, Pawn shops, Craig's list if you have it, and look for an old 9ft stainless steel whip. New they are quite expensive these days. You can paint it flat grey with a few random flat black stripes and make it almost disappear on your roof. Then get a cheap CB mirror mount bracket with SO-239 to 3/8-24 adapter and hose clamp that to a vent pipe on your roof. Then attach as many thin 9ft wires to the ground side of the mirror mount bracket for a ground plane. I would make the ground wires more like 10ft, check the match then trim them a bit if the match is off. The 9ft whip will probably be 102" and it really needs to be about 108" by adding a spring but longer ground radials will usually help tune it in without a spring.

Looks like lots of 4’ antennas out there. Would I just cut the thin wire length in half of the whip is half?

Robert

 

[prcguy]

The ground radials should always be around 1/4 wavelength or 9ft but some antennas are electrically shortened. When you shorten an antenna you loose performance and a 4ft loaded whip like a Firestick compared to a full length 1/4 wave 9ft whip is very noticeable on air. However a 4ft resonant whip like a Firestick on your roof with four 9ft ground radials will work a lot better than what you have now.

Looks like lots of 4’ antennas out there. Would I just cut the thin wire length in half of the whip is half?

Robert

 

[FPR1981]

Those Tram antennas are god awful. Total garbage. Worse than a small magnet mount mobile antenna. And no, I'm not joking. I bought one two months ago when I decided to set up a rig again. I had it 30 feet in the air, and my Tram 300 mobile antenna on my car trunk outperformed it, by a considerable margin.

This is easily the WORST antenna ever released. A Walmart magnet mount with a good SWR on a vehicle roof will smoke this pile of garbage.

These are so useless that I cannot fathom anyone approved them for market. I would be embarrassed to have engineered and released such a pile of crap.

With mine 30 feet in the air, with a good standing wave and 50 feet of the smaller RG8, I could not talk to a buddy's station that was 1.2 miles away. I could go outside in my car and talk to him, with me pulling him in at a solid 7db.

I pulled the Tram antenna down and tossed it in the trash. I put up a Sirio aluminum ground plane and I talk 30 to 50 miles on the regular.

 

[FPR1981]

Appreciate the feedback. What do you recommend that won't break the bank?

Robert

You could build a wire dipole and run it along your attic rafters as an inverted V and it can blow smoke. If you have HOA rules to contend with, this is a FANTASTIC solution!

If you don't know how to build one, there are several on eBay. Just beware, ones like the Workman BS-1 come at a length of 12 feet per leg. If you're going horizontal, they need trimmed substantially. I cut almost 4 feet per side off to get a good SWR. My best advice is mount it, check it, trim, check it, and rinse and repeat until you get a good SWR.

 

[rcraig114]

The ground radials should always be around 1/4 wavelength or 9ft but some antennas are electrically shortened. When you shorten an antenna you loose performance and a 4ft loaded whip like a Firestick compared to a full length 1/4 wave 9ft whip is very noticeable on air. However a 4ft resonant whip like a Firestick on your roof with four 9ft ground radials will work a lot better than what you have now.

OK, I found this guy on Wish and bought it. I'll attach it to either the side of my chimney or one of the vent stacks. If this doesn't work, I may just bilt a wire dipole inside the attic.

 

[rcraig114]

You could build a wire dipole and run it along your attic rafters as an inverted V and it can blow smoke. If you have HOA rules to contend with, this is a FANTASTIC solution!

If you don't know how to build one, there are several on eBay. Just beware, ones like the Workman BS-1 come at a length of 12 feet per leg. If you're going horizontal, they need trimmed substantially. I cut almost 4 feet per side off to get a good SWR. My best advice is mount it, check it, trim, check it, and rinse and repeat until you get a good SWR.

Might be a good idea if what I just bought on wish doesn't work.

Robert

 

[WB9YBM]

Appreciate the feedback. What do you recommend that won't break the bank?

Robert

check out: CB Radio Shop with Accessories & Radios for Sale: Walcott Radio, or: Base CB Antennas | Copper Electronics

 

[prcguy]

It will work a little worse than a 9ft whip but it still needs a lot of ground plane. Plan on some thin invisible 9ft long wires attached to the ground side of the mount and streatched out on the roof. Without a ground plane its not much better than the short little Tram stick you already have.

There is no magic to antennas and they have to be of a certain size for their frequency range to work. If you know some particular antenna works well (and it will be big) then something that is a fraction of the size is only going to work a fraction as well. There is no way around this.

OK, I found this guy on Wish and bought it. I'll attach it to either the side of my chimney or one of the vent stacks. If this doesn't work, I may just bilt a wire dipole inside the attic.

 

[FPR1981]

OK, I found this guy on Wish and bought it. I'll attach it to either the side of my chimney or one of the vent stacks. If this doesn't work, I may just bilt a wire dipole inside the attic.

Why would you have bought this on Wish when the shipping has to be ridiculous, and you have more options available here in the U.S.?

I'm not trying to be disrespectful, because I understand we're all here to help, but you're taking something very easy to have success with and complicating it. Go with what history says works, and works well.

 

[slowmover]

Dipole. Inverted-V.

DIY, or manufactured.

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