niceguy71
Active Member
thank you Nokones
so those are the ones that work good huh... and a Firestick II... ok thanks for the info..
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anyone able to get a CB antenna to work on a Jeep TJ it's like the old CJ's??
- Thread starter niceguy71
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so those are the ones that work good huh... and a Firestick II... ok thanks for the info..
slowmover
Active Member
Grabbed a couple of Jeep A-Pillar brackets from DTB Radio in Carlisle, PA alike to those shown above. Owner had his Jeep set up that way for other than CB.
Looked handy to me for my own uses.
Looked handy to me for my own uses.
niceguy71
Active Member
thank you PRCGUY... it took me a few minutes to figure out the picture... now I know why you couldn't figure out my picture!.... if you're just looking at it.. it takes a bit of orientation.
that hood looks like a normal hood that I am used too... similar to the trunk lip... I can see the mount.... similar to my K40 mount but it looks much thicker.... I can see that a K-40 trunk lip would work on your style hood....... might be too tight but NEVER on my friends Jeep.
sadly my friends 2005 Jeep is nothing like it...... I'll take a picture of a cake pan and my K-40 lip mount..... as I said his is just bend to a 90 degree angle and the hood hangs down an inch ... so if I put a normal lip mount on it... and shut the hood the antenna would be going through the firewall and stick out level with the steering wheel
niceguy71
Active Member
I don't have the Jeep here for a picture... but I looked at his hood pretty closely and it is just a giant Cake Pan
in the below pictures I am using a 2 inch deep cake pan... his hood lip is a little over an inch.. but the hood and lip is just like the below pan.....
I am using the cake pan as the hood and have my K-40 lip mount on the back lip of the hood... as you can see.. sadly not going to work.
and I don't see a way to put a lip mount on it..
so if I can find a flat spot I can drill ..I'll drill a NMO mount into the rear right side of the hood.
in the hood picture you can see the hood hinge bolts that is the underside of the hood... in the picture above that is like a beam that goes across the hood... under the hinge bolts is the back of the hood lip.. it is two pieces of metal spot welded together... but it basically looks like a cake pan edge.
I thank you PRCGUY for your idea's and all your time.
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niceguy71
Active Member
well I am going to work on the Jeep again this weekend
I had thought I was going to try to persuade my friend into drilling the hole.... but as I look at the hood.... it is not FLAT ... the hood itself is flat on top... but the underside is all ribbed with bars and curves and bends to strengthen the hood.. I don't think I could find a spot in the rear right corner that I could get to drill for a NMO mount???? I'll look Sunday....
but I guess you guys find the same thing on the roof of trucks and still find a flat spot.... if I can't drill the hole... I was thinking I have the back of the hood... it's 3/4" of flat metal ..I drew a blue arrow to the back edge of the hood and circled the hood hinge
what if I bought this.... pictures are below..... Larsen NMO Bracket Amazon NMO mount bracket .....
I can take rubber gasket material and cut it in the same shape as the NMO Mount and glue it on the top of the hood then lay that bracket on the hood and drill two holes in the back lip of the hood and through that new NMO bracket then bolted it to that back lip?????
would that NMO underside and washer rust ??? I'm sure it is meant to be under the roof not exposed to the weather..... I guess I could paint it......
next question... would that give me a ground plane?
I had thought I was going to try to persuade my friend into drilling the hole.... but as I look at the hood.... it is not FLAT ... the hood itself is flat on top... but the underside is all ribbed with bars and curves and bends to strengthen the hood.. I don't think I could find a spot in the rear right corner that I could get to drill for a NMO mount???? I'll look Sunday....
but I guess you guys find the same thing on the roof of trucks and still find a flat spot.... if I can't drill the hole... I was thinking I have the back of the hood... it's 3/4" of flat metal ..I drew a blue arrow to the back edge of the hood and circled the hood hinge
what if I bought this.... pictures are below..... Larsen NMO Bracket Amazon NMO mount bracket .....
I can take rubber gasket material and cut it in the same shape as the NMO Mount and glue it on the top of the hood then lay that bracket on the hood and drill two holes in the back lip of the hood and through that new NMO bracket then bolted it to that back lip?????
would that NMO underside and washer rust ??? I'm sure it is meant to be under the roof not exposed to the weather..... I guess I could paint it......
next question... would that give me a ground plane?
Attachments
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
They make NMO mounts that only require a 3/8" hole, and the underside is only about 1/2" wide. I'm thinking if you looked carefully, you'd find a place that could fit.
Remember that the traditional NMO mounts were designed to go through the roof of a vehicle. The underside of most mounts is designed to be somewhere that is dry and not exposed to moisture, oil, fuel, salt, etc. If you do mount one of these NMO mounts where the underside is exposed, look for the Larsen NMOHF style mounts. The underside where the coax is connected is enclosed and better protected than the traditional mounts. You can improve it by sliding a length of marine grade heat shrink over the coax and use that to provide additional sealing where the coax enters the mount.
The mount you linked to has the coax exposed, and the copper will eventually start corroding and lead to a mess.
As for mounting that on a Jeep, not going to touch that with the proverbial 10 foot pole.
Remember that the traditional NMO mounts were designed to go through the roof of a vehicle. The underside of most mounts is designed to be somewhere that is dry and not exposed to moisture, oil, fuel, salt, etc. If you do mount one of these NMO mounts where the underside is exposed, look for the Larsen NMOHF style mounts. The underside where the coax is connected is enclosed and better protected than the traditional mounts. You can improve it by sliding a length of marine grade heat shrink over the coax and use that to provide additional sealing where the coax enters the mount.
The mount you linked to has the coax exposed, and the copper will eventually start corroding and lead to a mess.
As for mounting that on a Jeep, not going to touch that with the proverbial 10 foot pole.
niceguy71
Active Member
ok I know you know your stuff MMkenna..... so I will twist my friends arm and drill the hole..... but the only real place on the hood to put the antenna will be the right rear of the hood.... out of the view of driving ..... so that 6 inch by 6 inch area may not have a flat spot..... we will see....
BEFORE I drill the hole.... and lose a friend.... I plan to set a magnetic mount CB antenna there and test it to see if that location is going to make a good spot for the Larsen NMO 52"
will putting a mag mount in the same spot give me an idea how well that spot will work???? I plan to do RF Bonding on the hood to the tub before the test
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
Yeah, they are a challenge. Usually modern vehicles roof tops have some amount of curve in them, and the NMO mounts still work. But, sure, careful installation as to not damage anything will be important.
Good plan. I keep a magnetic mount around for doing just that.
It should be 'good enough'. The magnetic mount will result in a bit more loss compared to a permanent mount, but likely not noticeable.
3/8" hole mounts:
3/8" NMO Hole Mounts - Permanent Hole Mounts | The Antenna Farm
theantennafarm.com
Notice that those do not have the enclosed coax connection points like the NMOHF mounts. Even if mounted through a hood, I'd probably cover the underside in some sealer of some type. "Liquid electrical tape" type stuff would work if done carefully. Silicone, something that will stand up to the high heat in an engine compartment. Might be overkill, but it won't hurt and is a good preventative measure. There's a lot of hobbyists that will skip that on exposed NMO mounts and live to tell the tale, so not like it's the end of the world if you don't. But it is worth considering.
Not alwasy the best looking but on our grass truck (1950 dodge military with soft top) we just drilled a hole center of hood, droppedin NMO and used it for lowband. When we went 800 TLMR swapped whip and again when the county went UHF.
If you go with the Lip Mount, definitely clean it, prime it, and then paint it and that will help with slowing down the rust process.
I strongly suggest and stay clear of any radio electronic related components from a source that does not specialize and market that product or service. You should be considering reputable radio electronics retailers such as DX Engineering, Talley Communications, Pasternack, Powerwerx, Antenna Farm, and Arc Antenna, and there are other reputable retailers that specialized in the related product or service.
The Antenna Farm is great, and I have done business with them in the past and they provide great customer service. I was going to mention Arc Antenna and they provide great Customer Service. The reason why I use Arc Antenna is because they have a warehouse a few miles from me and I get it the next day and they have great prices. I also use Talley Comm. because the two-way radio products are shipped from their Santa Fe Springs (LA) warehouse and I get it within a couple of days. Talley can be a tad pricey.
www.arcantenna.com
I strongly suggest and stay clear of any radio electronic related components from a source that does not specialize and market that product or service. You should be considering reputable radio electronics retailers such as DX Engineering, Talley Communications, Pasternack, Powerwerx, Antenna Farm, and Arc Antenna, and there are other reputable retailers that specialized in the related product or service.
The Antenna Farm is great, and I have done business with them in the past and they provide great customer service. I was going to mention Arc Antenna and they provide great Customer Service. The reason why I use Arc Antenna is because they have a warehouse a few miles from me and I get it the next day and they have great prices. I also use Talley Comm. because the two-way radio products are shipped from their Santa Fe Springs (LA) warehouse and I get it within a couple of days. Talley can be a tad pricey.
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Arcadian, Inc. is a master stocking distributor of ANTENNAS for Cellular M2M, UHF RFID, Public Safety/LMR & iDAS. Arcadian also offers related wireless gear including antenna mounting brackets, coaxial cable, enclosures, connectors and cable assemblies.
www.arcantenna.com
Jeeps are kit cars, when you buy one new you have to get a catalog and credit card and buy all the stuff that should have been there from the factory. If they don’t supply a simple hood lock why would you think they would care about radio installs?
niceguy71
Active Member
my friend with the Jeep came over today... I am really learning I hate jeeps!
well the little Radioddity CS-47 cb screws right onto the radio/ heater control panel cover down by the shifter and looks like a great place to keep it... and the mic clip can screw to the right of the radio on the same plastic panel... so it will be easy to see while driving and easy to hear while driving... just like looking at your stereo.... so now the passenger seat can slide all the way up... I was shocked just how badly there is no room for a radio! but that little radio fits well there, .... we spent hours trying to get wires through the firewall and trying to find a switched wire to go to the relay that will allow clean power to go from the battery directly to the CB.
we worked all day and didn't finish it.
last time my friend came over he installed the tail light cb antenna bracket on and he scraped the powder coating off where the bolts went through.... but I could not get the SWR to change .. I cut four inches off the whip and it never changed... so a great guy here told me that the bracket probably isn't grounded and the radio is getting it's ground plane through the coax... after he told me that it made sense!
so today we took it off and I put it on the grinder and got nice bare metal... then I made 1 1/4 inch wide ground straps and we put it from the tail light bracket through the hole for the tail light wires ( Big hole ) I then ground the paint off the tub and connected it to the tub... I also ran another ground strap to the frame and ground off all the paint there and grounded it.... after we were done we painted it black.
I plan to put two more ground straps from the hood to the firewall so we can try a magnetic mount Stryker SAR- 10 antenna on the hood and see if it's any better than the Red Tarus /scarlett warrior/ Modulator ... its been around for a while... 6 feet tall antenna... but I think the hood antenna will be better.... I was hoping to range test it tonight... but getting the dash out and back in took a lot of time so next week hopefully we will finish it and test it out.... here are some pictures of the grounded tail light bracket.... I bet it's grounded NOW!
well the little Radioddity CS-47 cb screws right onto the radio/ heater control panel cover down by the shifter and looks like a great place to keep it... and the mic clip can screw to the right of the radio on the same plastic panel... so it will be easy to see while driving and easy to hear while driving... just like looking at your stereo.... so now the passenger seat can slide all the way up... I was shocked just how badly there is no room for a radio! but that little radio fits well there, .... we spent hours trying to get wires through the firewall and trying to find a switched wire to go to the relay that will allow clean power to go from the battery directly to the CB.
we worked all day and didn't finish it.
last time my friend came over he installed the tail light cb antenna bracket on and he scraped the powder coating off where the bolts went through.... but I could not get the SWR to change .. I cut four inches off the whip and it never changed... so a great guy here told me that the bracket probably isn't grounded and the radio is getting it's ground plane through the coax... after he told me that it made sense!
so today we took it off and I put it on the grinder and got nice bare metal... then I made 1 1/4 inch wide ground straps and we put it from the tail light bracket through the hole for the tail light wires ( Big hole ) I then ground the paint off the tub and connected it to the tub... I also ran another ground strap to the frame and ground off all the paint there and grounded it.... after we were done we painted it black.
I plan to put two more ground straps from the hood to the firewall so we can try a magnetic mount Stryker SAR- 10 antenna on the hood and see if it's any better than the Red Tarus /scarlett warrior/ Modulator ... its been around for a while... 6 feet tall antenna... but I think the hood antenna will be better.... I was hoping to range test it tonight... but getting the dash out and back in took a lot of time so next week hopefully we will finish it and test it out.... here are some pictures of the grounded tail light bracket.... I bet it's grounded NOW!
Attachments
Wow, that is a lot of work. By using the Red Tarus /Scarlett warrior/ Modulator or the Stryker SAR- 10, are you guys planning on Skip Shooting the world and run more than a thousand watts of RF? Just kiddin.
What kind of VSWRs were you getting with the Stryker. By any chance do you have a Firestik II antenna handy to at least give it a try and compare.
How about an antenna analyzer that you can check the existing installed cable and then maybe try with a very short cable at the mount with the analyzer just to see if the installed cable and the mount is Ok? Assuming that you verified the fact that you definitely have a ground and with a grounding system like you guys did you would think you would at least get some decent VSWRs with any good antenna.
What kind of VSWRs were you getting with the Stryker. By any chance do you have a Firestik II antenna handy to at least give it a try and compare.
How about an antenna analyzer that you can check the existing installed cable and then maybe try with a very short cable at the mount with the analyzer just to see if the installed cable and the mount is Ok? Assuming that you verified the fact that you definitely have a ground and with a grounding system like you guys did you would think you would at least get some decent VSWRs with any good antenna.
niceguy71
Active Member
when we started months ago. my friend bought a 3 foot Firestick....I adjusted it to a good SWR of 1.5... but as you know I HATE firesticks and don't think they work... but he installed it so I checked the SWR with my expensive Rig Expert 1.5 on all channels ( I never get the same reading on ALL CHANNELS???? I should have known )
we range tested it and he got just over a mile ( NO SURPRISE)
so I bought a Taurus Red Warrior 6 foot antenna... that looks great for Jeeps.... they seem to love them in the UK and range test them and get the same range as the Sirio 4000 you tube of the Scarlet warrior AKA modulator AKA Red Devil
the antenna I thought would be fantastic Taurus Red Warrior AKA a Modulator AKA the Red Devil AKA thunderpole... you get the idea it's been around forever and well liked
we put it on, but I could not get the SWR to change?????... I cut 4 inches off before giving up... later I learned without a good ground it probably used the coax as the ground plane.... we range tested it with his yard sale 4.5 watt Cobra 25 LTD anyway..... we got 6 miles but every time he made a 90 degree turn he couldn't hear my 60 watt base station?????? not hearing my 60 watt base station REALLY SHOCKED ME!!!!!
see radiation pattern picture...
I knew the antenna would only work at specific angles...... but even a mile away if he turned the jeep one way or the other he could not hear my base????? ( see radiation pattern look at left rear bumper.. it doesn't transmit or receive very well there)
when he was going home there would be NOTHING.... then he would make a turn and we could talk.... finally when he got on the highway going straight... we were able to talk at 9 miles apart... but something wasn't right.... I was hoping it was just the RF grounding.
we are not trying to skip talk the world.. it is just a 8 watt AM / 15 watt FM CB, NO SIDE BAND ..... ( see my Radioddity CS -47 range test)
the radio we are using in the Jeep
as I said it was a lot of work.... to get a CB System to work correctly, and really work good it takes a lot of work!!! it got late and we didn't finish so I never even installed an antenna to see what the SWR was... I think I have another 6 hours work to do..... I have never seen a you tube video of a jeep doing a range test ..... their are a few where people are making fun of CB's and telling people to use FRS or GMSR radios... they say we are going to compare the two... they screw on a tail light bracket without grounding it and plug the CHEAPEST CB they can buy into the cigarette lighter plug and put on a 2 or 3 foot firestick on it... they go out and laugh and say look CB's get less than a mile!!!!!
those video's always piss me off as I know a good CB system installed properly can get over 5 miles.....
so I thought I would do EVERY TRICK IN THE BOOK with my friends Jeep and show the world how good a CB system can work!
sadly
I have been researching this for a year and have finally come to the rationalization that a CB TRULY just won't work on a jeep!
I know the antenna needs flat metal under it for a ground plane... the jeeps has no flat metal other than the hood and even then that small hood won't do much and placing the antenna any place other than the middle of the hood is just going to give terrible performance!!!!
but I'm still going to try and see what we get and make a video of the whole process.
maybe I'll be the only one in the world to defy the science and facts of a CB system and get a good working CB in a jeep..... but I now know why no one has a range test of jeeps.. and the only ones that actually work are the 102 whips in the side of the jeep..
after I finish the Jeep I'll post an update.
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niceguy71
Active Member
I NEED HELP getting the SWR set on a jeep tail light bracket
I didn’t want to start a new thread.
I am listing all the info… but sorry it’s a book… feel free to skip it, as life is too short to read all this!
I finished the Jeep install this weekend, and will do a range test video soon.
I had planned to do EVERY TRICK IN THE BOOK on this jeep and show it all on a YouTube video. I was hoping if I did everything right and FAR beyond what most people would do on an install, that I would get really good range and my video would help a lot of Jeep owners.
We worked on it in the summer trying to get his yard sale CB and the antenna and taillight CB bracket to work.
It didn’t work very well and I finally learned he didn’t bond the tail light cb bracket to the jeep ….. he only used the 3 small screws that hold the tail light to the jeep tub and didn’t sand off the powder coating. This made it impossible to adjust the SWR…. His 3 foot firestick got a 1.5 SWR but only worked about one mile range and depending on what direction he was going he could not hear my 60 watt base station.
So it truly wasn’t working correctly even though the Firestick said it had a good SWR
Before I grinded the paint off the tail light bracket…I bought a 6 foot tall Taurus Red Warrior Mobile Cb Antenna that seems to work great in the UK… I put it on and could not lower the SWR….. I started at 1.6 SWR and cut and cut and cut the antenna…1/4 inch at a time…. after 4 inches worth, it would not lower the SWR??? In fact it went up to 1.9 SWR and yet again it wasn’t working correctly
So we gave up last summer and my friend came back the last two weekends to try again.
The tail light bracket has a large ½” hole that your supposed to drill a hole into the Jeep tub and use a large bolt to make the RF Bond… I watched a bunch of videos and nobody drills that hole.
I wasn’t going to drill that hole either… I grinded off all the powder coating under the antenna mount hole, and that large grounding hole… in that hole I used a huge carriage bolt and a 1 ¼” wide strap… I ran the strap to the body, 12 inches.. and daisy chained that same bolt with another strap to the frame 12 inches…. I put the RF bonding straps on all four corners of the Jeep tub I put two near the corners of the jeep hood. two on the firewall to the frame. I put RF Grounding straps on the exhaust pipe and put straps on the fenders to the firewall…. This Jeep now has HUGE RF Bonding straps from body to frame all over it… including hood fenders and exhaust….. Hell I’d do the drive shaft if I could figure out how.
I also used #4 grounding wire ( battery cable size ) from the floor to the frame to the exhaust.
We installed a fuse on the battery and then #12 wire to a relay under the hood that worked with the ignition switch… I mounted a workman Bandit NF 40 noise suppression filter under the passenger seat.
I also installed a Palomar Engineers Coax Noise filter under the seat too
I had to install a 3 foot coax extension and barrel connection to make it reach the passenger seat….. and also to use the Palomar Engineers Coax Noise filter I had to use ANOTHER 3 foot extension...... so I think we have an 18 foot of coax and two 3 foot coax jumpers... making the coax 24 feet
I also put 5 Ferrite Ring Core EMI Noise Suppressor Cable Clips on the coax near the antenna
I also used a hose clamp on the coax on the back of the CB and a #12 ground wire under the hose clamp, grounded to the floor ( 5/16” bolt through the floor all paint grinded off with a ring terminal under the bolt with star washers…. and a battery cable grounded to the frame and exhaust under the floor)
We installed a Radioddity CS-47 on a board and placed it under the passenger seat…. I bought a 5’ long, Cat 6 RJ45 extension cable plugged it into the CB and ran it under the console and had the female end poking out of the front of the console.
We put the mic clip on a after market storage tray on the top of the dash board… we hung the mic ( it has a GREAT DISPLAY and all the controls and speaker on the mic) …. The coiled mic cord dropped right down to where the Cat 6 RJ 45 extension cord was! ( perfect) so now the beautiful display and speaker were right in front of the drivers eyes and speaker was at ear level… driving the Jeep you could easily see the beautiful signal strength meter and all info on the display…. I played with that CS-47 this week and got used to the controls after about 20 minutes and I LOVE THIS RADIO! I was talking skip all over the country. ( 8 watts on AM and 15 watts on FM ) people say you can tune in the UK FM channels and talk Skip to the UK…. I didn’t try it…
Being able to hold the mic in your hand allows you to hear the speaker clearly and it’s so easy to see the display when you're holding the mic….. easy to see what signal strength I’m receiving… it even has NRC!!!
again I love this radio!
I found the cigarette lighter plug on the jeep only had #16 wire if not smaller!! … it was as thin as your hair!!!! I used it to trigger the relay that would then send the #12 wire from battery to the Workman noise filter and then to the CB under the seat….
I can’t imagine a powerful CB getting the right power from a cigarette plug… that was a learning experience… I always thought those plugs were good for 30 amps, NO WAY
So after 14 hours…. 9 AM to 11PM we were done…. I went to the middle of a field and checked the SWR on the NEW 6 foot tall Taurus Red Warrior Mobile Cb Antenna ( I removed the first antenna that I had cut 4 inches off ) and it was 3.1 SWR on channel 01 and 2.2 on channel 40 so it needed to be lengthened….
I added a spring… it did nothing!
I checked the continuity from jeep bumper and frame and body to the bottom of the CB mount and tail light CB bracket… it was fine… I checked it to the top where the antenna goes in and got nothing so it seems good????
I also checked the coax end at the radio and it was not shorted out
I put the 3 foot firestick back on and could not get that lower than 2.6…..
We were both tired and had worked far too long… so I said damn it we will just put the Stryker SAR-10 on the hood and if that works well,…… we will put a Larsen CB27 in the same spot later… so we hooked up the Stryker antenna… GREAT SWR without any adjustment…
He went home and I talked to him on my base station
This is the results… the Stryker worked great.. he was deep into a national forest and we were talking clear as a bell.
1.5 miles........ S 40 on my base
3.13 miles ….. S 9 on my base
3.52 miles …..S 8-9 on my base
6.51 miles …….S 7-8 on my base
9 miles ……….S 5-7 on my base
10.75 miles ......S 5 on my base
11.93 miles ......S 4 on my base
14.90 miles S 4.8 on my base ( just under 5 )
I could not hear him after this.
That Stryker looks ridiculous on the jeep hood!!!! His school teacher wife that has to drive the jeep to school a few times a week … said NO WAY that’s not staying .. she actually had a few other words.
So I would like to get the tail light mount to work….. anyone got any idea’s????
Maybe I should just give up on the tail light mount… but millions of jeeps use them… so how are they doing it????
What did I do wrong????
Thank you in advance… anyone that read all that.. THANK YOU!
I didn’t want to start a new thread.
I am listing all the info… but sorry it’s a book… feel free to skip it, as life is too short to read all this!
I finished the Jeep install this weekend, and will do a range test video soon.
I had planned to do EVERY TRICK IN THE BOOK on this jeep and show it all on a YouTube video. I was hoping if I did everything right and FAR beyond what most people would do on an install, that I would get really good range and my video would help a lot of Jeep owners.
We worked on it in the summer trying to get his yard sale CB and the antenna and taillight CB bracket to work.
It didn’t work very well and I finally learned he didn’t bond the tail light cb bracket to the jeep ….. he only used the 3 small screws that hold the tail light to the jeep tub and didn’t sand off the powder coating. This made it impossible to adjust the SWR…. His 3 foot firestick got a 1.5 SWR but only worked about one mile range and depending on what direction he was going he could not hear my 60 watt base station.
So it truly wasn’t working correctly even though the Firestick said it had a good SWR
Before I grinded the paint off the tail light bracket…I bought a 6 foot tall Taurus Red Warrior Mobile Cb Antenna that seems to work great in the UK… I put it on and could not lower the SWR….. I started at 1.6 SWR and cut and cut and cut the antenna…1/4 inch at a time…. after 4 inches worth, it would not lower the SWR??? In fact it went up to 1.9 SWR and yet again it wasn’t working correctly
So we gave up last summer and my friend came back the last two weekends to try again.
The tail light bracket has a large ½” hole that your supposed to drill a hole into the Jeep tub and use a large bolt to make the RF Bond… I watched a bunch of videos and nobody drills that hole.
I wasn’t going to drill that hole either… I grinded off all the powder coating under the antenna mount hole, and that large grounding hole… in that hole I used a huge carriage bolt and a 1 ¼” wide strap… I ran the strap to the body, 12 inches.. and daisy chained that same bolt with another strap to the frame 12 inches…. I put the RF bonding straps on all four corners of the Jeep tub I put two near the corners of the jeep hood. two on the firewall to the frame. I put RF Grounding straps on the exhaust pipe and put straps on the fenders to the firewall…. This Jeep now has HUGE RF Bonding straps from body to frame all over it… including hood fenders and exhaust….. Hell I’d do the drive shaft if I could figure out how.
I also used #4 grounding wire ( battery cable size ) from the floor to the frame to the exhaust.
We installed a fuse on the battery and then #12 wire to a relay under the hood that worked with the ignition switch… I mounted a workman Bandit NF 40 noise suppression filter under the passenger seat.
I also installed a Palomar Engineers Coax Noise filter under the seat too
I had to install a 3 foot coax extension and barrel connection to make it reach the passenger seat….. and also to use the Palomar Engineers Coax Noise filter I had to use ANOTHER 3 foot extension...... so I think we have an 18 foot of coax and two 3 foot coax jumpers... making the coax 24 feet
I also put 5 Ferrite Ring Core EMI Noise Suppressor Cable Clips on the coax near the antenna
I also used a hose clamp on the coax on the back of the CB and a #12 ground wire under the hose clamp, grounded to the floor ( 5/16” bolt through the floor all paint grinded off with a ring terminal under the bolt with star washers…. and a battery cable grounded to the frame and exhaust under the floor)
We installed a Radioddity CS-47 on a board and placed it under the passenger seat…. I bought a 5’ long, Cat 6 RJ45 extension cable plugged it into the CB and ran it under the console and had the female end poking out of the front of the console.
We put the mic clip on a after market storage tray on the top of the dash board… we hung the mic ( it has a GREAT DISPLAY and all the controls and speaker on the mic) …. The coiled mic cord dropped right down to where the Cat 6 RJ 45 extension cord was! ( perfect) so now the beautiful display and speaker were right in front of the drivers eyes and speaker was at ear level… driving the Jeep you could easily see the beautiful signal strength meter and all info on the display…. I played with that CS-47 this week and got used to the controls after about 20 minutes and I LOVE THIS RADIO! I was talking skip all over the country. ( 8 watts on AM and 15 watts on FM ) people say you can tune in the UK FM channels and talk Skip to the UK…. I didn’t try it…
Being able to hold the mic in your hand allows you to hear the speaker clearly and it’s so easy to see the display when you're holding the mic….. easy to see what signal strength I’m receiving… it even has NRC!!!
again I love this radio!
I found the cigarette lighter plug on the jeep only had #16 wire if not smaller!! … it was as thin as your hair!!!! I used it to trigger the relay that would then send the #12 wire from battery to the Workman noise filter and then to the CB under the seat….
I can’t imagine a powerful CB getting the right power from a cigarette plug… that was a learning experience… I always thought those plugs were good for 30 amps, NO WAY
So after 14 hours…. 9 AM to 11PM we were done…. I went to the middle of a field and checked the SWR on the NEW 6 foot tall Taurus Red Warrior Mobile Cb Antenna ( I removed the first antenna that I had cut 4 inches off ) and it was 3.1 SWR on channel 01 and 2.2 on channel 40 so it needed to be lengthened….
I added a spring… it did nothing!
I checked the continuity from jeep bumper and frame and body to the bottom of the CB mount and tail light CB bracket… it was fine… I checked it to the top where the antenna goes in and got nothing so it seems good????
I also checked the coax end at the radio and it was not shorted out
I put the 3 foot firestick back on and could not get that lower than 2.6…..
We were both tired and had worked far too long… so I said damn it we will just put the Stryker SAR-10 on the hood and if that works well,…… we will put a Larsen CB27 in the same spot later… so we hooked up the Stryker antenna… GREAT SWR without any adjustment…
He went home and I talked to him on my base station
This is the results… the Stryker worked great.. he was deep into a national forest and we were talking clear as a bell.
1.5 miles........ S 40 on my base
3.13 miles ….. S 9 on my base
3.52 miles …..S 8-9 on my base
6.51 miles …….S 7-8 on my base
9 miles ……….S 5-7 on my base
10.75 miles ......S 5 on my base
11.93 miles ......S 4 on my base
14.90 miles S 4.8 on my base ( just under 5 )
I could not hear him after this.
That Stryker looks ridiculous on the jeep hood!!!! His school teacher wife that has to drive the jeep to school a few times a week … said NO WAY that’s not staying .. she actually had a few other words.
So I would like to get the tail light mount to work….. anyone got any idea’s????
Maybe I should just give up on the tail light mount… but millions of jeeps use them… so how are they doing it????
What did I do wrong????
Thank you in advance… anyone that read all that.. THANK YOU!
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niceguy71
Active Member
Have you tried a different style of antenna on that mount? It would be interesting to see if a steel whip or center-loaded antenna would tune up better.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
So, as I'm sure you know, low SWR just means the RF is either being radiated or absorbed somewhere and not getting reflected back.
Try eliminating this and see if it improves. Sectionalize the fault until you narrow it down to specific components.
There comes a time when being able to fabricate your own coaxial cables makes a lot of sense.
24 feet seems excessive for a Jeep, but that's probably not your issue.
I would bypass the noise filter and try swapping extensions cables around.
90º adapters have given me headaches enough times that I no longer trust them. I'd try eliminating those just for giggles.
Yep, that's why we tell people over and over and over and over and over and over…. Not to use cigarette lighters for radio installations. Often that small gauge wire is bundled in with CAN buss stuff and other fun noise makers.
Did you check continuity end to end on the coax? Did you try that with all the adapters/extensions/barrels, etc in place?
I've noticed over the years that people will buy all the hardware, connect it together and then drive on down the road. Rarely checking SWR. They key up the radio and can talk to their buddy in his jeep 100 feet away and call it good.
Very glad I don't own a Jeep at this point.
niceguy71
Active Member
I tried the fire stick and the two other antennas... Adding the spring made no difference at all on the swr so I'm thinking it is not finding a ground plane
If I touch the antenna it goes to 6 or 7 swr... But adding a spring or lengthening the whip does nothing to the swr .. something is off
I have an adapter for the Sirio 5000 coming March 31st and will try the sirio in April
Chris155
Member
Wahat about that 90, maybe take that out and recheck. You could also take a jumper straight from antenna to analyzer and check it, rule out everything in the vehicle that way.
