antenna

[jgm1945]

You know back years ago I thought the 102'' stainless whip was suppose to be the cat's tail for cb radio base station, but now they seem to be at the bottom of the pole...no pun intended. what's up with that?

 

[kf4eyr]

quarter wave doesnt have the gain that a 5/8 wave or .64 wave does,,,,,but is better than a dipole,,,,102 is the best for a mobile antenna,,,,,,

 

[jonwienke]

A 1/4-wave whip (102" whip + a 6" spring, total length ~108") is the best overall mobile CB antenna. A super-high-gain antenna would cut in and out when waving around with wind gusts, hitting bumps, etc.

But for a base station, it's pretty tough to beat a good 5/8-wave ground plane.

 

[cmdrwill]

You know back years ago I thought the 102'' stainless whip was suppose to be the cat's tail for cb radio base station, but now they seem to be at the bottom of the pole...no pun intended. what's up with that?

The "102" stainless steel whip" is only half the antenna, it needs a counterpoise or groundplane. That would be a groundplane antenna for a "CB base station". That would be more like 108" for the radiator and 108" for each of the three or 4 radials.

 

[TheSpaceMann]

A Solarcon A-99 or an IMAX-2000 will perform a lot better than a 102 inch whip as a base antenna. However, you can make an excellent base antenna out of a 102 inch whip just by extending a few 9 foot radials down at 45 degree angles!

 

[cmdrwill]

However, you can make an excellent base antenna out of a 102 inch whip just by extending a few 9 foot radials down at 45 degree angles!

Exactly,a groundplane antenna!

 

[DJ11DLN]

A Solarcon A-99 or an IMAX-2000 will perform a lot better than a 102 inch whip as a base antenna. However, you can make an excellent base antenna out of a 102 inch whip just by extending a few 9 foot radials down at 45 degree angles!

Or mount it on a metal roof up 35' in the air. I used one of those years and years ago when I still CB'd, mounted in the middle of the barn roof. I was accused of running power many times, never had anything like that. Did have a Courier Centurion that would hit almost 17W PEP on LSB...talked all over the country and to folks in several other countries with it, just with that 9' stainless whip on the barn roof.:lol:

 

[TheSpaceMann]

Or mount it on a metal roof up 35' in the air. I used one of those years and years ago when I still CB'd, mounted in the middle of the barn roof. I was accused of running power many times, never had anything like that. Did have a Courier Centurion that would hit almost 17W PEP on LSB...talked all over the country and to folks in several other countries with it, just with that 9' stainless whip on the barn roof.:lol:

Good point! I've also seen some people mounting them onto metal fences and rain gutters!

 

[lucky43113]

Or mount it on a metal roof up 35' in the air. I used one of those years and years ago when I still CB'd, mounted in the middle of the barn roof. I was accused of running power many times, never had anything like that. Did have a Courier Centurion that would hit almost 17W PEP on LSB...talked all over the country and to folks in several other countries with it, just with that 9' stainless whip on the barn roof.:lol:

I use to play CB a lot and would run 250w of power but I couldn't compete with the big guys in town 2-3kw just to talk local that's the reason I got out of it .

 

[DJ11DLN]

I use to play CB a lot and would run 250w of power but I couldn't compete with the big guys in town 2-3kw just to talk local that's the reason I got out of it .

I was active mid-'70s to about 1983. It was a lot of fun at first but it went downhill quick. And people running a lot of power and apparently just wanting to broadcast, because they never shut up long enough for anyone to reply, were primary reasons that I dismantled my setup and got out of it too. Kept an old Cobra 21 in the pickup a few more years, mainly to listen to truckers when traveling...haven't owned a CB in a very long time.

 

[jgm1945]

From everything I'm reading, cb is on a come back. I don't think some folks are getting what they want out of the 2mm band, I think they want to talk more than just a short contact. Another is the cheap China radio's are so hard to program, and work with, and folks just can't spend the money right now for good name brand equipment.
The thing I like about the cb is, if the power goes down on the 2mm repeaters your be just like the rest of the folks, but the ole cb is like the pink bunny rabbit, it can keep on keeping on.
Five years ago when the ice storm hit here, my area was without power for 18 days. Everything was down except what generator's could run, and the repeaters were down here also, but they said there was cb talk going after about 4 days into the storm. So I think if a person had a good cb with side band, and good antenna they may be able to keep up with whats happening around them, of course this is JMO.

 

[TheSpaceMann]

From everything I'm reading, cb is on a come back. I don't think some folks are getting what they want out of the 2mm band, I think they want to talk more than just a short contact. Another is the cheap China radio's are so hard to program, and work with, and folks just can't spend the money right now for good name brand equipment.
The thing I like about the cb is, if the power goes down on the 2mm repeaters your be just like the rest of the folks, but the ole cb is like the pink bunny rabbit, it can keep on keeping on.
Five years ago when the ice storm hit here, my area was without power for 18 days. Everything was down except what generator's could run, and the repeaters were down here also, but they said there was cb talk going after about 4 days into the storm. So I think if a person had a good cb with side band, and good antenna they may be able to keep up with whats happening around them, of course this is JMO.

Good point! When hurricane Sandy hit, it took out the power, landlines, internet and cellphone towers. The only remaining way for the average citizen to call for help was through a CB radio.

 

[KC4RAF]

I have several CBs that I have laying around and sometimes use. But for the life of me, I don't know where you are coming from about the repeater. Sure power goes off, so do some of the repeaters. But MANY have backup generators. Down here, 2 meters come in handy during the hurricane season. When Charlie, Jean, and Francis came through in '04, none of the 2 meter nets went down because of the generators.
Another side of the coin; if we loose power to the 2 meter rigs, then YOU loose power for the CB. The CB is not the magical radio claimed. What ever knocks out a 2 meter or 70 cm or any other ham units, ALSO does the same to CB.
I'm not here to criticize or put down the CB, it has it's place and does a good job when the local yahoos aren't running high power; but to let you know whatever happens to amateur equipment, happens to CBs also.

 

[TheSpaceMann]

When Sandy hit, many repeaters were down because their antennas were either knocked down or damaged from hurricane winds. Even when the power in their homes was gone, people could still hook up their CBs to their car batteries and call for help. Truckers were able to pick up their signals, and relay them to the local authorities.

 

[jgm1945]

I have several CBs that I have laying around and sometimes use. But for the life of me, I don't know where you are coming from about the repeater. Sure power goes off, so do some of the repeaters. But MANY have backup generators. Down here, 2 meters come in handy during the hurricane season. When Charlie, Jean, and Francis came through in '04, none of the 2 meter nets went down because of the generators.
Another side of the coin; if we loose power to the 2 meter rigs, then YOU loose power for the CB. The CB is not the magical radio claimed. What ever knocks out a 2 meter or 70 cm or any other ham units, ALSO does the same to CB.
I'm not here to criticize or put down the CB, it has it's place and does a good job when the local yahoos aren't running high power; but to let you know whatever happens to amateur equipment, happens to CBs also.

KC4RAF....The repeaters here where I live have no back up generators, or batteries, so that was what I was referring too. With a CB, all you do is get in your truck and turn it on, or bring it in the house. I guess you could do the same with 2mm, but you still don't have back up power here on repeater. Another thing if you have a ice storm like we did here with power out 18 days, will you have enough gas to run a generator 24/7 for 18 days. With CB power, if it gets low, start your truck motor and recharge battery.
I think a time will come to America, or parts of America that our power grid will go down and we''ll see then just how valuable the ole CB will be. The way I look at it, is the CB is a sure thing, depending on our power company is not. I would like both.

 

[jonwienke]

CB is not magic. A 2-meter mobile will function just as long as a CB in a vehicle in a disaster situation, and in most cases will talk just as far as a CB on simplex. CB can refract around terrain better, but it is more susceptible to skip and solar interference than 2-meter VHF, so there isn't a clear winner there.

In an extended power outage situation, if you don't have gas to run a generator, where are you getting gas to run a vehicle? If you seriously expect to operate 18 days off-grid with no utility AC power, you should look into solar and hefty battery backup.

 

[jgm1945]

In a big power outage you might be better off with a hf radio, with home made antenna, and a battery. Where I live anyway. This area is about dead it seems in the 2mm range. You would think with so many retired people living around [retirement area] here that ham radio would be very popular, and at one time I think it may have been, but they lost interest, and have died out and the clubs dried up. I'm trying to get some guys interest back up, and get this repeater up and running again.

 

[TheSpaceMann]

Good points, but while a HF radio might do better in an emergency, how many members of the general public have HF radios laying around? The great advantage of CB is they are cheap, do not require a license to operate, can be operated from any 12 volt vehicle battery, and do not require a repeater to work! An even bigger advantage is that a huge number of truckers still have CB radios in their vehicles, and there are literally thousands of them a cruising up and down the Interstate highways 24 hours a day! In an emergency, you would have an excellent chance that one of them will hear you.

 

[jgm1945]

Good points, but while a HF radio might do better in an emergency, how many members of the general public have HF radios laying around? The great advantage of CB is they are cheap, do not require a license to operate, can be operated from any 12 volt vehicle battery, and do not require a repeater to work! An even bigger advantage is that a huge number of truckers still have CB radios in their vehicles, and there are literally thousands of them a cruising up and down the Interstate highways 24 hours a day! In an emergency, you would have an excellent chance that one of them will hear you.

SpaceMann
I agree with most all that has been said in all the post, but I don't think that a good side band cb is cheap. I think the cheapest I've seen is about $150 dollars, and that is a Bearcat, and after that the price gets higher.
I think a radio and antenna, pole and wire you will be out a good $300 dollars or so. Not really cheap, but not to bad.
My self I don't know what to get...I have an old Cobra 23 channel that I used a short while driving on the road, and I had it worked on by a great radio guy, and it does pretty good for what it it is. If I go with a cb, I want one that has side band, and I want to have it opened up a little on power, not one that spatters, but good clean sound.
I had a good Connex that was a great sounding radio, but sold it after I came out of the truck, I should have kept it. Decision's....Decision's

 

[TheSpaceMann]

SpaceMann
I agree with most all that has been said in all the post, but I don't think that a good side band cb is cheap. I think the cheapest I've seen is about $150 dollars, and that is a Bearcat, and after that the price gets higher.
I think a radio and antenna, pole and wire you will be out a good $300 dollars or so. Not really cheap, but not to bad.
My self I don't know what to get...I have an old Cobra 23 channel that I used a short while driving on the road, and I had it worked on by a great radio guy, and it does pretty good for what it it is. If I go with a cb, I want one that has side band, and I want to have it opened up a little on power, not one that spatters, but good clean sound.
I had a good Connex that was a great sounding radio, but sold it after I came out of the truck, I should have kept it. Decision's....Decision's

You can get the Uniden 980 SSB radio today for $115 through Home Depot with free shipping to your home or the store! Antennas can be made out of wire and PVC. There are loads of much less expensive CB AM rigs for sale as well, which is mainly what the truckers are using in their vehicles. Also, you can find a lot of good older CB rigs and antennas on ebay, for very low prices!