Mounting a 102" whip on my F250 question?

[SaltySnaks]

Im currently running a firestik off of a driver side front fender mount of my 1999 Ford F250....decent local strength. My buddy just bought a 102" whip from Radio Shack and we decided to briefly install it where my firestik goes. Bam! I was instantly shooting skip without even trying and I was getting great feedback on local radio checks. Long story short. If I purchase my own 102" whip, I dont want to install it to the front fender of my truck. I would like to install it to the bed of the truck in between the cab of the truck and the bed, right in the middle behind the sliding window. How would this effect my signal strength and match installing it there. I was getting a .5 match on channel 1 and 40 when we briefly installed it to the firestik mount. Thats what I want the SWR to read on the bed location. Before I go out and by a new mount, coax and antenna, I would like some good feedback, no opinions. I will not install in anywheres else on the truck. So if it sounds like a bad idea, I can pass on the whole idea. Thanks

 

[reedeb]

It will actually work better on the OUTSIDE of the bed [on the drivers side] towards the rear. Try to nstay away from inside the bed and away from the engine to keep the sngine noise out of the radio. BTW 102 " steel whip nis bthe most perfect antenna for cb's as well as keeping SWR's low.

 

[KB7MIB]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; U; en-US) Gecko/20081217 Vision-Browser/8.1 301x200 LG VN530)

Putting the antenna that close to the steel of the cab will detune the antenna. At the very least you will not get a low VSWR across the band as you have now, it'll be skewed towards one end or the other. Perhaps even out of the band altogether.

 

[sdeeter19555]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux i686; U; en-US) Gecko/20081217 Vision-Browser/8.1 301x200 LG VN530)

Putting the antenna that close to the steel of the cab will detune the antenna. At the very least you will not get a low VSWR across the band as you have now, it'll be skewed towards one end or the other. Perhaps even out of the band altogether.

I have a 102 placed right where the OP is thinking about, except its a Dodge Ram...my SWR is a flat 1:1, and very wide banded (as tested with an MFJ). As long as the majority of the whip is above the cab, it will not make a significant difference. I have both the 102 mounted on the front bed rail and a Wilson 5000 roof mounted (not magnet mounted, but a hole in the roof) in the same truck...I can swap back and forth between either one and there is almost no difference between the two, both perform very well.

Keep in mind you need a spacer (typically the big spring) in order to make the antenna a true 108...I used a piece of all-thread for a spacer as I didn't want the whip laying back that far when driving down the road. Also keep in mind just how tall the tip will be...I'm sitting right at 12 feet, and hit a lot of overhead.

 

[SaltySnaks]

sdeeter.....are you avoiding wires that are overhead? that is what I am most concerned about. I hit alot with my old wilson 1000, like drive thru's, etc. I just dont wanna knock out power! hehe

how long has your 102" been mounted, and is it still straight after smacking stuff over time?

is it possible you could send me a pick or your vehicle and where it is mounted? email is Jeremyblennon@hotmail.com Thank you for yours and everyone elses feed back.

 

[JayMojave]

Hello SS: I have a Ford F250 4x4 hiboy truck. I have mounted many a antenna on this truck and the 102 inch SS Whip Antenna always worked quit well, as did the fiberglass 96 inch whip antennas. These antennas were mounted on top of the cab in the middle of the top of the cab.

I settled for a 7 foot whip antenna, cut down from a 102 inch Whip SS Antenna, with a matching coil at the base. This has great performance shooting skip and doesn't hit every low lying wire or tree branch.

With the 102 inch whip antenna I hit everything, and it made quit a Kerr Kong sound in the Cab. I never had any problems hitting power wires as I probably didn't hit any, as the low lying TV Cable Coaxes were all over. Usually the power wires are pretty high, and even if you do hit them big deal. This from years of running a 102 inch on my truck.

Good luck

Jay in the Mojave

 

[prcguy]

As someone mentioned you don't want too much of your antenna running vertically a few inches away from metal for very far but the height of the cab with the window cutout may not be too bad.

I have a large screwdriver HF antenna mounted about 1ft behind the cab to the inside driver side of the truck bed and it tunes perfect on 10m and gets out great. Another benefit of installing on the driver side is there will be more clearance for trees and other stuff plus if some kids walking down the sidewalk decide they want to steal your antenna they have to do it from the street side which has more visibility and risk.
prcguy

 

[sdeeter19555]

Here is the mount...keep in mind I sanded the paint off the front of the bed to make sure I had a good connection.

At one point, I had a different toolbox, and had the antenna mounted on a steel winching frame over two feet further rearward (read: farther from the cab)...the spacer was cut for that application and the SWR did not change when moving it towards the cab. My SWR is as close to 1:1 as you could get...the needle doesn't even deflect when reading. I don't think the 102 is affected by the cab because most of the antenna is above the cab...

Here is the entire setup...it touches things, but after four years it doesn't look that worse for wear. I've never hit uninsulated power lines...most anything that close to the ground are going to be insulated. Keep in mind, most OTR trucks are over 12 feet tall, without antennas.

 

[SaltySnaks]

Thank you everyone for all your feedback...the cb world is great, always willing to help the next guy. This is what I am going to do....I have a old wilson 1000 that needs some new coax ran into it. Im going to place that on the roof and attach my buddies 102" whip to my current firestik location on the driver side fender. Send my buddy a couple miles down the road. which every one out performs, then i will dump the money into that antenna. I have shot skip the last couple weeks with the wilson, but I am having issues with it. When i key up the needle pegs the wall to the right of the gauge....when I speek it draws back to the left...my swr is 1.75 to 2.0 on channels 1 and 40. Something is up with it, the guts may be dying, i cant tune it any better. And like I said on the first post, the 102" inch whip that i borrowed from my buddy is .5 swr on 1 and 40...i want the 102" but damn its long! thanks again everyone, hope to hear you guys on the radio one day....listen for SALTY SNAKS, north of seattle WA

 

[SaltySnaks]

Hey Sdeeter, is your whip trimmed down shorter? I cant get below 13 feet from the top of my measurements. My super duty f250 is 4x4, but doesnt seem much shorter from your truck in the picture. Yours is 12 feet to the top correct? Im afraid at 13ft I may be pushing it. My work truck is 12'10" and our OTR are 13'6" I believe, it would be legal but tall. Thanks for your pictures, youve almost convinced me to do it!

 

[sdeeter19555]

No, its a full length Radio Shack 102"...

 

[SaltySnaks]

Ok its done!...whatcha all think?

I might just keep it here. Im going to go with a quick disconnect to remove for going thru drive thru's....it doesn't reach a small bungie mounted on the bed of my truck....have not smacked anything yet!

 

[JayMojave]

Hello Salty Snaks:

That looks great, that should work pretty good.

Jay in the Mojave

 

[Rt169Radio]

How far does it bend when you drive at highway speeds?

 

[SaltySnaks]

Hey guys

It bends just up over the cab....but that is good in my opinion...takes stress off my fender. I have to say, my 4ft firestik caused my fender to flex more than the new 102". And at low speeds thru parking lots and over railroad tracks it stays pretty up and down for the most part. Its not going to hit the cap or anyone too close to the truck. Im getting 1.4 and 1.3 match on channels 1 and 40. My transmit looks correct on the needle. Now all i need left to do is replace my radio shack coax and add that quick disconnect and the match should drop a bit. Ive decided I am keeping it right there. Havent hit anything yet and its been mounted since saturday. Thanks again to everyone for all the help with my decision making. Glad I went with it.

 

[69Z28]

I believe that the internet is full of articles like this one.
The bottom line is that you will get reflections off the cab, because the cab is too close to the antenna.
First thought on putting a long whip is to try to mount it on the roof - if you really want range.
Second thought is the old standby - mounting it on the side of the quarter panel on the passengers side.

The antenna will radiate best in the direction of the most mass.
If there is more body towards the drivers side - it tends to reason that will be the side that has the most significant signal
If the antenna is mounted on the rear - it would radiate best towards the front.

The problem is making the entire body capacitive.
You would need to bond all metallic surfaces together with 1 inch copper strap.
4 straps for the bed, 4 straps for the cab, one for each door, one for the hood, one for the engine block one for the transmission, one for the rear axle.

Even a long time ago, it was difficult trying to make a small vehicle appear larger.
Today with all the plastic in the vehicle it is even harder.

 

[sdeeter19555]

I believe that the internet is full of articles like this one.
The bottom line is that you will get reflections off the cab, because the cab is too close to the antenna.
First thought on putting a long whip is to try to mount it on the roof - if you really want range.
Second thought is the old standby - mounting it on the side of the quarter panel on the passengers side.

The antenna will radiate best in the direction of the most mass.
If there is more body towards the drivers side - it tends to reason that will be the side that has the most significant signal
If the antenna is mounted on the rear - it would radiate best towards the front.

The problem is making the entire body capacitive.
You would need to bond all metallic surfaces together with 1 inch copper strap.
4 straps for the bed, 4 straps for the cab, one for each door, one for the hood, one for the engine block one for the transmission, one for the rear axle.

Even a long time ago, it was difficult trying to make a small vehicle appear larger.
Today with all the plastic in the vehicle it is even harder.

I've done none of the bonding he said, and my set up works just fine. Yes, it might be slightly directional being behind the cab, but unless you have a strength meter, you'll never notice it AND mounting it on the side/rear corner, LOWER than other parts of the body is going to be better how?

SaltySnaks...I would be worried you will eventually break that fender mount from the flexing and that causing the metal to "work harden"...keep an eye on it.

 

[kingriderone]

Left Front Fender

How did you mount this on your fender? I want to do this do you have any pics . and what kind of bracket is it?

 

[freebird63]

Saltysnaks.....I have a 102" SS whip mounted on my F150 in the same place. For me it works as close to perfect as you can get. I can use it on 11 meters, 10 meters and 12 meters. I use to have a headache rack on my truck and had it mounted on that....wished I hadn't got rid of it.
I am also using a real high quality SS spring I got from one of the ham radio outlets. It hardly bends going down the freeway.
The only negative I have with it is I hate using the stud mount, would rather use a PL259.

 

[profiledescent]

I'd get the old (reliable, indestructabe) ball and spring mount. Mount it near the top of the bed, between the wheel well and back end. Your connection will be protected from weather, and the mount won't flex. Think CHP and DoT.

This is my plan for HF, with the tuner mounted inside the bed.