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Confused about ground planes

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frijid

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First off, for a handheld cb (or any radio for that matter) what is used as the ground plane?

My other question

say you take a 2x4 that is several feet tall, plant it in the ground vertically. at the top install a fiberglass antenna and run the coax inside. If hooked up to a cb that is used for receiving only, would not having a ground plane damage anything? Note, that at this time i am not talking about a grounding rod in the ground going to the antenna. i'm talking about the lack of a ground plane since it's connected to wood. I'm not worried about poor performance, i'm just worried about damage to the radio. I know a ground plane is important for TX, since a poor ground plane can lead to poor transmission and can raise the SWR, but what about not having a ground plane for just receiving. I'm not worried about poor performance, i am mostly worried about damage to the radio, due to lack of a ground plane?

i also planned on using the same antenna with the adapter as a scanner antenna. like when done with the cb, install the adapter, and hook it up to the scanner. will the scanner be damaged by receiving without a ground plane?
 

mrweather

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Dec 19, 2002
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For handheld CB radios the ground plane is often the user. Radio Shack used to promote a "range extender" feature on their CB handhelds which was basically metal strips on either side of the case that connected to the ground of the radio and which the user's hand would contact while holding the radio.

For receive purposes a lack of a ground plane won't damage your radio. The performance may suffer a little because a properly tuned antenna (including any required ground plane) while being necessary for transmitting also helps on receiving too.
 

JayMojave

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Mojave Ca
Hello frijid: Ok good question.

NO it will not damage the CB or Scanner radios. I used a 102 inch whip antenna, insulated and mounted on a 10 Feet pipe with no ground plane, as I was a kid and didn't know about ground planes, antennas, radios, or anything else at a young age. The radio a Gonset G-11 received just fine, hearing all the locals and skip long distant DX Stations.

Yes the performance will suffer but 3 or 4 ground radials (just wires) 9 Ft long, connected to the Coax shield, and run off from the coax to antenna connection will serve as a ground plane, at a 45 degree angle. The Scanner Radio will hear some radio stations, but its performance will suffer.

A scanner ground plane antenna can be made from coat hanger wire or welding rod, or even small pipe. Make the vertical element and ground plane radials 18 inches long, this will allow most VHF stations to be heard, and some UHF stations. Good Luck.

Jay in the Great Mojave Desert.... just down the road ah ways from the fillin station
 

frijid

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Oct 2, 2014
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awesome, thanks so much for the replies.

I have one more question, if that's alright.

Say the rubber duck antenna for my handheld scanner breaks. will it hurt anything to use the rubber duck antenna from my handheld cb, and put it on the scanner? or vice versa, put the rubber duck scanner antenna on the handheld, as long as i don't transmit.


again, sorry for the "dumb" questions. as someone with OCD, i like to cover all the bases, even though my questions may seen a little odd to others.
 

JayMojave

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Hello frijid: No not all there are not any odd or dumb questions, were all here to read and learn.

Yes the CB Rubber Duck Antenna will work on the Scanner, it will not be tuned for the CB frequencies but will receive some local stations, mostly in the VHF Band 118 to 179 MHz. The Scanner Rubber Duck Antenna will allow the CB to receive some what, but transmit will ne limited.

Replacement Rubber Duck Antennas are sold all over the internet, and most are a upgrade from the supplied factory antennas.

The Rubber Duck Antennas are very inefficient and the trade off is allowing a radio to work in the hand held configuration at the cost of some performance loss.
Good luck.

Jay in the Mojave
 
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