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antenna upgrade questions

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lonlywolf65

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Doing a lil window shopping for coax... Would this be sufficient to get up and running... Am not sure how much I need yet tho..that will com soon enough....
Seeing I need to somehow connect this line to a ground.. I am guessing to use a double ended connector at the house and then run a pigtail from there to the unit... using the double connector as my ground connection point... whoosh...
Thanks Dave
 

prcguy

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You could toss a weight with some rope high in the tree and use that to hoist the antenna up as high as you can. You could also use a weight at the bottom side of the antenna to keep it taut and vertical or use another rope to a ground stake. You want it as high as you can get it but getting the coax feed point at multiples of 1/2 wavelength will help flatten the pattern out at the horizon and a half wavelength is about 18ft for CB, so if you can get the feedpoint at 18ft its ok, 36t is better and so on. Antenna theory is the same at all frequencies but distances get bigger when you go lower in frequency.

A cheap $9 lightning arrestor off Ebay will give you an attachment screw for a ground wire.

This is the dipole I purchased HALF-WAVE DIPOLE ANTENNA FOR THE CB BAND (11 METERS) BASE STATION | eBay

Now for the hanging details. My ladder is 17 ft which is about where I plan to put the anchor for the perpendicular coax..
so in short will this be ok.?? I saw something saying where this point should be to properly radiate a wave or the wave starts to flatten as you go lower and then at some point the wave starts spitting up... Not sure if this applies to this situation but I watched read and tried to learn.

The hardest part to figure out is what applies to what band. The theory changes as does the frequency...

Ok next does anyone have some good advice about how to hang it..lol... I can see a good upper branch however there is not a lower branch under it to keep dipole 90 degrees from all angles..... this leaves me with the though of some sort of ground anchor to hold the lower end of dipole....
OK enough typing for now..... will drag out the ladder and see more exactly a better plan and wait for advice from here
Thanks a bunch !!! I am begining to learn more as I read but still along way from real understanding...
Thanks Dave
 

lonlywolf65

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Well i went out and climbed the ladder my coax anchor will be 15ft 7 inches... Im a short guy and my 17 ft ladder was only 15 ft.....unless I find a way to raise the ladder...lol I found and purchased a lightning arrestor step by step getting closer....
Thanks for the awesome advice !!!
 

prcguy

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Its best to have the coax exit the dipole at 90deg from the wire elements but maybe you can hoist the dipole much higher and pull the coax to the side and down then tie it off at the lower level you can reach.

Well i went out and climbed the ladder my coax anchor will be 15ft 7 inches... Im a short guy and my 17 ft ladder was only 15 ft.....unless I find a way to raise the ladder...lol I found and purchased a lightning arrestor step by step getting closer....
Thanks for the awesome advice !!!
 

lonlywolf65

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Ok some notes on the topic of attaching the ground to the main house ground... Not sure where it is or.. if there is one.. I have no idea when the electrical was added to the home... My house started as a cabin in 1937...
The front half doesn't even have grounded outlets...that's another project tho... Anyways I am gonna attach some photos or how and where the main power enters the home.... Pics in next post. Files are too large for server
 

lonlywolf65

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Ok some notes on the topic of attaching the ground to the main house ground... Not sure where it is or.. if there is one.. I have no idea when the electrical was added to the home... My house started as a cabin in 1937...
The front half doesn't even have grounded outlets...that's another project tho... Anyways I am gonna attach some photos or how and where the main power enters the home.... Pics in next post. Files are too large for
 

lonlywolf65

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Got the grounding rod... and will install as per.... long as I am posting.... I already purchased a half wave di pole... hoever I got to thinking I may be able to purchase a standard " stik type" antenna... I might be able to transfer money from getting so much cable to a shorter cable and a stik type.... now comes the flood of all the different kinds... To make this easier lets keep the antenna under 150$. I am still looking for the coax... I am guessing I will need about about 50 ft pending how hi I can get the antenna....... a list of a good brand and coax "name" RG-8 for example...
Thank you all for the help
 

lonlywolf65

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I looked at the link what would be a upgrade to that cable I saw RG8 U ?? or is there something in between? How much difference does this actually make.. ...
... how much will depend on the antenna I actually end up using... With a mast type I can save alot of footage of cable... hence a better and easier to put up than a di pole... I am new to this and am asking alot of questions...
Thanks Dave
 

prcguy

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RG-8 is twice as thick and would be an upgrade if you can find 50ft for a good price, like maybe $35. I look at things like this in proportion. You bought a basic dipole antenna for a low price so why put $100 worth of coax on it? If you upgraded to a Hy-Gain Penetrator base antenna then I would spend an appropriate amount on LMR400 coax.

But if you bought a Hy-Gain Penetrator and LMR400, why would you waste that on a cheap Cobra mobile CB? You would have to upgrade your radio, and there ya go, it never ends. Spend now or spend later, its gonna happen.


I looked at the link what would be a upgrade to that cable I saw RG8 U ?? or is there something in between? How much difference does this actually make.. ...
... how much will depend on the antenna I actually end up using... With a mast type I can save alot of footage of cable... hence a better and easier to put up than a di pole... I am new to this and am asking alot of questions...
Thanks Dave
 

lonlywolf65

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I guess I am trying to find a happy medium... Before I go big I want to see if there is even a talk group in my area...
As far as antenna I was jumping the gun a bit when I bought the dipole... yes it will work but will be a real pita to hang vertically.. and will require alot more coax to hang it.. So before I get out of hand any more I figured ask about a regular mast type antenna.. would cut my cable length in half .. and will be alot easier to mount . .. No I am not trying to talk across the US.. never expected to unless I caught a random skip.. just hoping to be able to reach out to my locals... and maybe who knows who else.. At this point I have a cheap cobra 19 in the car and now the roadking.. I never expected alot out of this to begin with, I know it is not a real base set up and wont be compared to most.
If my interest grows then so will the equipment but for now if I got 10 miles I would be tickled pink..lol..
If I go with the Dipole my cable would most likely be over 50 ft.... with a mast type 30 foot would most likely work maybe even too much...
I will also need a 10 ft lead of same cable to enter the home...
Thanks Dave
 

cmdrwill

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Grounding. I would definitely install a ground rod. Then run a separate wire up to the AC meter. Then two seperate ground wires from the ground rod to the 'cable box' and to the antenna.

This should work ok but RG-8 would be better.

That seller has cheep RG8X that has steel braid that you can not solder to. Not sure the cable Lonlywolf65 posted is that cheeeep shield also.
 

prcguy

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That particular Procomm antenna is what's known in the business as a POS. I think about the best vertical antenna you will find these days in that price range is this, just a little more but a lot better.


An Antron 99 would work similar but they are up around $100 now.


 

ind224

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Me thinks yer working too hard for mediocre results. Per PRC you want vertical for most CB. I'm running a Maco 5/8 $120 from Copper about a wavelength up and use it for local and skip. My "horizontal" G5RV is a full 204' but the neighbor cut her tree and so now it is more a sloper and the loss in height has killed my HF aero from NY. I use the horizonal for receive only.
 

KANE4109

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Just curious, did you get one of the hamstick type brackets or did you roll something of your own to tie the two sticks together?
 
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