CB Mount Location Ideas for 2017 Ford F-250

[KANE4109]

Thank you very much for your thoughts on this. I have had my eye on that Larsen antenna for some time. Do I like a 102" whip? Yes...but to be honest most of my needs would be filled by that Larsen antenna... and I do tend to like the NMO mount idea.

Thanks again!
Bob

NMO rain cap: https://www.theantennafarm.com/cata...=product_info&cPath=481_1026&products_id=3810

If you really want to remove the mount, you can install one of these snap in plugs:

https://www.theantennafarm.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=481_1026&products_id=4142

Personally, I think the plug looks worse than just leaving the NMO in place and putting the rain cap on. At least that way someone could reuse it.

 

[ForestRunner98]

That plate should provide the required support. Is it just the antenna mounting bolt assembly holding it into place, or does it require an adhesive as well?

Very sturdy! It’s 14ga stainless steel. No adhesive. Just the bolt holding it down.

 

[mmckenna]

Thank you very much for your thoughts on this. I have had my eye on that Larsen antenna for some time. Do I like a 102" whip? Yes...but to be honest most of my needs would be filled by that Larsen antenna... and I do tend to like the NMO mount idea.

The Larsen NMO-27 I've been using is about 30 years old. Before I was able to get others in the family to get their ham licenses, we used CB for most of our communications. I probably have close to a million miles on that antenna, and it still works and sweeps as good as new. That includes hitting a lot of low tree branches, parking garages and bugs of various sizes at highway speed. A basic CB always worked well for us, and we always had permanent NMO mounts installed in the center of the vehicle roof. Never had any issues with that setup, and at the time, it gave us the range we needed.

I'd love to put a 102" whip on top of a vehicle and use that, but just too tall for my tastes and comes with the "birth control antenna" factor. But then again, I'm not the SSB Channel 38, Superbowl, linear amplifier, golden screwdriver, more 'swing'. "aaaaauuuuuuuddddddiiooooooo", gimmick antenna, echo box, roger beep kind of CB radio user. Never was, never will be.

Your milage and usage styles may vary. Void where prohibited. No deposit, no return. Tax and license not included.

 

[slowmover]

The Larsen NMO-27 I've been using is about 30 years old. Before I was able to get others in the family to get their ham licenses, we used CB for most of our communications. I probably have close to a million miles on that antenna, and it still works and sweeps as good as new. That includes hitting a lot of low tree branches, parking garages and bugs of various sizes at highway speed. A basic CB always worked well for us, and we always had permanent NMO mounts installed in the center of the vehicle roof. Never had any issues with that setup, and at the time, it gave us the range we needed.

I'd love to put a 102" whip on top of a vehicle and use that, but just too tall for my tastes and comes with the "birth control antenna" factor. But then again, I'm not the SSB Channel 38, Superbowl, linear amplifier, golden screwdriver, more 'swing'. "aaaaauuuuuuuddddddiiooooooo", gimmick antenna, echo box, roger beep kind of CB radio user. Never was, never will be.

Your milage and usage styles may vary. Void where prohibited. No deposit, no return. Tax and license not included.

You sure don’t do yourself any favors by distancing yourself with your cartoon characterization of CB. Takes away from ostensible competence otherwise on display.

No, let’s be clear: you don’t much care about CB performance. Only a minimum.

For others, the minimum isn’t acceptable.

There are many folks — not all truck drivers by any means — for whom CITIZEN BAND means just that.

Running around the same metro region gives some the impression they know and understand how the roads work. This is can be a grave mistake transposed to other regions when being on-time is at stake. Similar is not the same as identical.

Maybe more important when in a climate not that of ones home.

An amp, a quality radio and — IMO — DSP audio, aren’t minimums with a quality installation. Too many others have minimal radio rigs like yours: can’t receive or transmit very far.

Maybe the guy you think is rude, profane and a goofball on-air is also the guy knows the best route around a hazard. So if I can reach him, all’s the best. I may know what he needs to know, also.

Come on down to western Oklahoma or the Panhandle sometime. Especially during tornado season.

Would you buy a mobile phone only worked in the city? Not across state lines?

Try a new perspective and dump the Hollyweird mischaracterization. Proves only thatvone is a student of TV, and not of life itself.

Don’t pander.

.

 

[mmckenna]

You sure don’t do yourself any favors by distancing yourself with your cartoon characterization of CB. Takes away from ostensible competence otherwise on display.

No, let’s be clear: you don’t much care about CB performance. Only a minimum.

For others, the minimum isn’t acceptable.

If you look at any situation but only use your own personal filter to pass judgement, you are doing yourself a disservice. One of the beauties of participating on a forum like this is that it gives all of us a chance to see that there are other radio users out there doing things a bit different from us. That opens up our eyes to see that there are many aspects to this that we may not be personally aware of. It's not uncommon to run across others that have different needs and experiences than our own, and a wise person uses that as a learning experience. Keeping ones eyes open to the world will show us that everyone is a bit different. There is no 'one' way to approach things, everyone has different experiences, different approaches and different outcomes. That difference is what makes life interesting. If we all did things exactly the same, this would be an awfully boring world.

CB is a tool. It's a good tool. Back when I was actively using CB, my expectations and needs were to get several miles of reliable range out of our setup. We didn't expect 50 miles of range, and we honestly didn't need it. We were using this for short range communications, and the setup we had met those needs just fine. I had zero interest in talking to random strangers, that's why we often used channels away from the common 17, 19, 11, etc. We rarely used it for traffic info, but it was handy for that on a very few occasions. Our setup gave us 100% of what we needed; reliable short range communications between family, no one else. Even 20+ years ago when we were doing this, I had better tools at my disposal. CB has it's place, but there are other ways of communicating and getting local information. I had tools at my disposal that easily gave me 100+ miles of reliable range that didn't rely on atmospheric conditions or running non-compliant radios.

As a professional radio guy, I have certain FCC licenses that I've earned over the years that are required as part of my job. While I'm not one of those that believe the FCC is out there roaming around looking for scofflaws, I do hold myself to a certain higher standard, and I abide by the FCC rules since the risk of losing those FCC issued licenses would impact my career. I don't use CB amplifiers. Like I said, I have better tools for those communications needs that meet requirements and don't put my licenses at risk.

The 'cartoon characterization' is accurate for what I personally experienced. You have had your own personal experiences that obviously do not match mine. Every single other CB user has developed their own personal image of what they think CB is, and none of ours are going to match up 100%. And I'm glad for that. If we were all required to have the same experience and come to the exact same conclusion about every single event in the world, well, the world would be a really boring place.

I'm glad to hear your own personal experiences have been different than my own. That's not unexpected, but we are two different people in two different careers in different parts of the country. Expecting my needs for CB to match your own is not based in any sort of reality. Maybe someday if I ditch this engineer job and decide to become an over the road driver (something I wanted to do as a kid) my own experience with CB might become more aligned with your own. On the flip side, if you ever decide to become a professional communications engineer, you may start seeing the radio world a bit more similar to my own views, but never exactly the same...

 

[slowmover]

Whoopee.

I come from a family of men who trained as pilots (war) where risk is the understood emphasis, then or later in peacetime. 1931 or 2021. Settlers before that. Self-reliance.

You need the historical lessons, too? For which I have the credentials you don’t. (And, so what? They give them them to anyone today, yours too).

Tax parasites . . are a bad mode of reckoning what’s important and what isn’t. Radio does not belong to government. (Grow up) That’s just more Hollyweird. Fills your rice bowl, good on ye. But it’s all you can claim.

The OP may or may not want highest CB performance.

Your denigration of that by mischaracterization — with which you have with either ZERO or out-dated experience — makes you a troll on the subject.

I’m not the one going to sub-forums where my limited and/or outdated experience causes me to back swipe what users are up to TODAY.

You write fine posts. But don’t presume on that for which you’ve no call.

Is the OP going to go wrong with what you wrote re CB install? Hardly. But is he going to leave significant performance on the table and walk away? He sure as hell is.





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[mmckenna]

Is the OP going to go wrong with what you wrote re CB install? Hardly. But is he going to leave significant performance on the table and walk away? He sure as hell is.

It's up to each individual to make the choices that best suit their needs. No one is required to run an amplifier on CB. I'm sure it's a great solution for some, and all the more power to them. Personally, I choose not to.

If short range communications is the goal, spending money on equipment that is not needed to meet that goal is a waste of money. For some it's a hobby, and that's cool. Run all the power you reasonably need.

But in this case, it's not up to me, it's up to the OP. I'm sure they will make the correct decision.

 

[drew1985]

If you look at any situation but only use your own personal filter to pass judgement, you are doing yourself a disservice. One of the beauties of participating on a forum like this is that it gives all of us a chance to see that there are other radio users out there doing things a bit different from us. That opens up our eyes to see that there are many aspects to this that we may not be personally aware of. It's not uncommon to run across others that have different needs and experiences than our own, and a wise person uses that as a learning experience. Keeping ones eyes open to the world will show us that everyone is a bit different. There is no 'one' way to approach things, everyone has different experiences, different approaches and different outcomes. That difference is what makes life interesting. If we all did things exactly the same, this would be an awfully boring world.

CB is a tool. It's a good tool. Back when I was actively using CB, my expectations and needs were to get several miles of reliable range out of our setup. We didn't expect 50 miles of range, and we honestly didn't need it. We were using this for short range communications, and the setup we had met those needs just fine. I had zero interest in talking to random strangers, that's why we often used channels away from the common 17, 19, 11, etc. We rarely used it for traffic info, but it was handy for that on a very few occasions. Our setup gave us 100% of what we needed; reliable short range communications between family, no one else. Even 20+ years ago when we were doing this, I had better tools at my disposal. CB has it's place, but there are other ways of communicating and getting local information. I had tools at my disposal that easily gave me 100+ miles of reliable range that didn't rely on atmospheric conditions or running non-compliant radios.

As a professional radio guy, I have certain FCC licenses that I've earned over the years that are required as part of my job. While I'm not one of those that believe the FCC is out there roaming around looking for scofflaws, I do hold myself to a certain higher standard, and I abide by the FCC rules since the risk of losing those FCC issued licenses would impact my career. I don't use CB amplifiers. Like I said, I have better tools for those communications needs that meet requirements and don't put my licenses at risk.

The 'cartoon characterization' is accurate for what I personally experienced. You have had your own personal experiences that obviously do not match mine. Every single other CB user has developed their own personal image of what they think CB is, and none of ours are going to match up 100%. And I'm glad for that. If we were all required to have the same experience and come to the exact same conclusion about every single event in the world, well, the world would be a really boring place.

I'm glad to hear your own personal experiences have been different than my own. That's not unexpected, but we are two different people in two different careers in different parts of the country. Expecting my needs for CB to match your own is not based in any sort of reality. Maybe someday if I ditch this engineer job and decide to become an over the road driver (something I wanted to do as a kid) my own experience with CB might become more aligned with your own. On the flip side, if you ever decide to become a professional communications engineer, you may start seeing the radio world a bit more similar to my own views, but never exactly the same...

Well said

 

[drew1985]

Whoopee.

I come from a family of men who trained as pilots (war) where risk is the understood emphasis, then or later in peacetime. 1931 or 2021. Settlers before that. Self-reliance.

You need the historical lessons, too? For which I have the credentials you don’t. (And, so what? They give them them to anyone today, yours too).

Tax parasites . . are a bad mode of reckoning what’s important and what isn’t. Radio does not belong to government. (Grow up) That’s just more Hollyweird. Fills your rice bowl, good on ye. But it’s all you can claim.

The OP may or may not want highest CB performance.

Your denigration of that by mischaracterization — with which you have with either ZERO or out-dated experience — makes you a troll on the subject.

I’m not the one going to sub-forums where my limited and/or outdated experience causes me to back swipe what users are up to TODAY.

You write fine posts. But don’t presume on that for which you’ve no call.

Is the OP going to go wrong with what you wrote re CB install? Hardly. But is he going to leave significant performance on the table and walk away? He sure as hell is.





.

I'm not sure what your deal is but relax man. I'm the OP and my post was about how to mount a radio in a very clustered environment. I expressed my concerns about the location options and my full sunroof that leaves me with no "center of the roof option". Mmckenna and others have been very helpful about my specific question. I never asked about performance or range. I didn't make this post to get input on the highest quality cb setup in the world. It was about fitment/mounting in a very nice truck that I didn't want to destroy or make it look like crap. You seem to only give your thoughts on pure performance and blast anyone who doesn't look at things from your perspective.

Everyone has their own needs and concerns so be a little more respectful when you get on here and basically ignore the reason why I posted originally. I'm sure you are accurate with everything you stated regarding performance but that's not what this thread is about. You post very long replies that go completely off topic. We are all going to have different circumstances so just realize that and relax.