New to CB and New to the Forum...

[K6GBW]

Cycle 25 should peak in about a year. Then we'll go on a long slow slide back down to sanity.

 

[slowmover]

Cycle 25 should peak in about a year. Then we'll go on a long slow slide back down to sanity.

The corollary being, strike the SNR iron while conditions are hot.

The radio rig having undergone trial-by-fire will be somewhat stunning after Skip declines.

.

 

[K6GBW]

With the solar storm raging, I'm on Channel 17 AM right now and it's sounding great! Nice round table conversation with about five people streched across the county. Reminds of the way it used to be thirty years ago!

 

[jcrmadden]

With clean power and a proper antenna, the only thing you can really do next is to get a better radio.

I've done some perusing and I really like the President McKinley. The Tacoma is nice, but space is limited and so are mounting options; even for a relatively compact radio. The only decent place to put it has a built in wireless charger under it. Just seems like it could be problematic.

I'm still at a loss on the antenna situation too. I would put it inside the bedrail, but I haul a lot of gear and tools, and I have to have a bed cover. A roof mount will inevitably result in a broken antenna at best. Even if I drill the hole, if I snag a solid mount on something in the woods I imagine it could really F up the roof of the truck. I'd definitely have some serious explaining to do. Do they make break away mounts? Just thinking worst case scenario.

I've kicked around the idea of getting an adjustable ball mount with spring and attaching it to the rear lip of the hood right in the middle. I could keep a 9' whip tied down over the top of the truck and unleash it when needed. Seems like it would be useless when horizontal and inconvenient to deploy repeatedly. I know it's not ideal to mount at the rear either, but I do have a light mount hole at the end of each bedrail. If I ran duals I would be projecting forward, but the majority of my comms are forward facing anyway. A pair of springs and 4' firestiks would leave half the antenna or more above the cab. Is there enough "play" in the tunable ones to make up for the spring? I'm sure there are things I'm not considering. Any thoughts on the hypothetical setup?

 

[mmckenna]

A roof mount will inevitably result in a broken antenna at best. Even if I drill the hole, if I snag a solid mount on something in the woods I imagine it could really F up the roof of the truck. I'd definitely have some serious explaining to do. Do they make break away mounts? Just thinking worst case scenario.

I've been running permanent mount antennas on not only my own personal trucks, but all our stuff at work for a very long time and never had an issue with it. Key is to use the right parts, tools and follow the directions. No break away mounts needed.

Two way radio industry standard is the NMO mount. Add an antenna like a Larsen NMO-27 dead center of the truck roof and you won't have issues.

A pair of springs and 4' firestiks would leave half the antenna or more above the cab. Is there enough "play" in the tunable ones to make up for the spring? I'm sure there are things I'm not considering. Any thoughts on the hypothetical setup?

Not sure I'd personally trust the fiberglass antennas in an application where they'll take a lot of hits.

 

[slowmover]

McK doesn’t have NRC. It was a Best Choice up until 2022. Not now.

Understood about space problem. Don’t pull trigger just yet.

 

[KI4ZNG]

I ran a 102" steel whip for many years on a old dodge then on a s-10 pick up and it was put through a living hell on both vehicles. From forgetting about clearances most of the time! Sometimes the best compromise is the best solution.

 

[niceguy71]

I'm going to pick up a firestik today and some bonding strap if I can find it. I don't know of a radio shop anywhere around anymore.

just me personally.... but I absolutely hate the firesticks... never seen one get more than a couple miles,
.... back in the 80's .... 90's I tried a lot of antennas and the firestick was the worst..... they are dirt cheap, so everyone buys them and has them.... doesn't mean they work.... and funny how some people that have them, will tell you how awesome they are???

.... I have a few friends in an off road club and they use CB's ... my friends always tell me of the guys showing up with a 2 or 3 foot firestick and they can just barely do a mile... a mile is all they need so it does work for them...... then they tell all the new people to get a firestick??? I guess if all you ever had a was a firestick and it talked to the guy a mile from you and that's all they needed ... I guess they would think it was great......

most new CB people seem to get the Uniden 510xl or the 505XL and I have never heard anyone getting good results with either that radio or a firestick.... I was in a few different forums and I saw someone buying the Uniden 510XL daily.... so they sell a ton of them??? must be the price???..

some guys say they have good luck with firestick antenna's, but I've yet to talk on the radio with anyone that has one.
I talk to a lot of truckers that have all kinds of tall whips... I've talked to quite a few people with the Wilson 1000..... the stainless steel 108" whip... procoms and presidents, and siro's and hustlers and Strykers.... but I have yet to talk to a Firestick... as I don't think they can reach me.... the LiL Wilson and the K-30 both get 3 to 4 miles and that's not terrible.... but if you're going to have a CB I'd like to get more than that.


sorry I can't suggest anything as I see your going down roads with not much height... my Tram 3500 is very whippy.... and bends easily if I'm going slow... .. it's whacked a few branches and bridges... no damage... ... but I'm mostly on regular roads.... if I slow down that whip will bend a lot and the magnet is pretty strong.. this is a picture of my 6 foot tall pick-up going into the 7 foot tall garage.

budget friendly????... I found out the hard way... this is a pretty expensive hobby.... better to spend the money once and get a good CB and a good antenna and be done... but I also understand company truck.

the guys here are super smart and super helpful... they helped me so very much, and I'll always be appreciative,,,,,, I'm sure they will help you too.
good luck.

Robot or human?

 

[niceguy71]

just me personally.... but I absolutely hate the firesticks... never seen one get more than a couple miles,
.... back in the 80's .... 90's I tried a lot of antennas and the firestick was the worst..... they are dirt cheap, so everyone buys them and has them.... doesn't mean they work.... and funny how some people that have them, will tell you how awesome they are???

.... I have a few friends in an off road club and they use CB's ... my friends always tell me of the guys showing up with a 2 or 3 foot firestick and they can just barely do a mile... a mile is all they need so it does work for them...... then they tell all the new people to get a firestick??? I guess if all you ever had a was a firestick and it talked to the guy a mile from you and that's all they needed ... I guess they would think it was great......

most new CB people seem to get the Uniden 510xl or the 505XL and I have never heard anyone getting good results with either that radio or a firestick.... I was in a few different forums and I saw someone buying the Uniden 510XL daily.... so they sell a ton of them??? must be the price???..

some guys say they have good luck with firestick antenna's, but I've yet to talk on the radio with anyone that has one.
I talk to a lot of truckers that have all kinds of tall whips... I've talked to quite a few people with the Wilson 1000..... the stainless steel 108" whip... procoms and presidents, and siro's and hustlers and Strykers.... but I have yet to talk to a Firestick... as I don't think they can reach me.... the LiL Wilson and the K-30 both get 3 to 4 miles and that's not terrible.... but if you're going to have a CB I'd like to get more than that.


sorry I can't suggest anything as I see your going down roads with not much height... my Tram 3500 is very whippy.... and bends easily if I'm going slow... .. it's whacked a few branches and bridges... no damage... ... but I'm mostly on regular roads.... if I slow down that whip will bend a lot and the magnet is pretty strong.. this is a picture of my 6 foot tall pick-up going into the 7 foot tall garage.

budget friendly????... I found out the hard way... this is a pretty expensive hobby.... better to spend the money once and get a good CB and a good antenna and be done... but I also understand company truck.

the guys here are super smart and super helpful... they helped me so very much, and I'll always be appreciative,,,,,, I'm sure they will help you too.
good luck.

Robot or human?

it say's human or robot but that's the link to a walmart Tram 3500 that works pretty well for me.

Robot or human?

 

[jcrmadden]

I don't know anyone running a firestik specifically. I was looking at them because they're top loaded and tunable. I'm not set on it, or anything else for that matter.

I'm probably overthinking most of this. I got a CB for a very specific need. That's talking to our loggers before we're in their AO and telling the rock hauler where to make that last turn. Honestly it's almost good enough. A little more antenna and bonding will probably take care of it.

BUT now that I've had it for a while (and cleaned it up a bit) I have this weird itch I need to scratch...

 

[K6GBW]

I've run a Firestik on my Jeep and they work okay. They are just a helically would antenna and work about like any other helically wound atnena. Better question here is what do you actually want to do with this radio? If you don't need SSB then you can look at the new Cobra 75 All Road. The radio has NRC built in, it is tiny and can fit under the seat, the microphone has all the controls and the microphone can be plugged into the radio body OR be plugged into the cig lighter for power and attach via bluetooth. There are a great many reviews on it and it seems to be a very made little radio.

As for antennas..there are really two options for a very well installed antenna. First is to drill a whole in the roof, install an NMO mount and use a base loaded quarter wave like the MNO-27 or one of the other manufacturers antenna that are similar. The second is to put a 3" ball mount on the side of the bed, on the drivers side, near the front of the bed. Yes, these mounts make holes, but they work really good. If you install them right they look fine. I have installed several on my Jeeps and my Colorado and they actually looked kinda bad ass. On my Colorado I used a 4 foot Skip Shooter antenna and it worked amazingly well.

On the newer trucks I've noticed that the metal in the roof is getting very thin. On my Colorado I had a second antena on the roof using an NMO mount. I used a wider NMO mount made by Breedlove mounts to make it more stable.

 

[jcrmadden]

Most of my off roading is in places where sane people would NEVER take a pickup truck. Steep grades, big rocks, washed out places, and LOTS of tree limbs. So we're talking really low speed. It's a really nice truck, but when I get where I'm going it gets used like an oversized side-by-side. I have to have an antenna to survive in that.

I keep coming back to the situation where I pealed the mag mount off. I know this isn't an off-roading forum, but I think the story paints the picture. Headed down a 35-40% grade, loose gravel in my right track, riding a washed out wet seam with my left track. Nowhere else to go, and nothing but a low berm and a prayer separating me from the straight drop off to my left. Low lock, first gear, hill control ON. I saw that there was a small tree that had up rooted from the upper bank, fallen across the "road", and hung in the branches on the lower side. It was almost perfectly horizontal and I realized it was going to hit just above my windshield. I knew my mount didn't stand a change so I was going to stop and cut it out of the way. I was already at a crawl, with an occasional slip, but when I started to brake I just kept sliding. I slowly slid a full truck length and listened as that tree cleaned the top of my truck off. I crawled out the passenger side, fished my mag mount out of the mud behind my drivers side rear tire, and popped it on the back of the cab. It's a crappy antenna, but it survived. I know that was the perfect storm type situation, and hopefully it doesn't ever happen again. But I can't help but think that if it had been bolted to the top of my cab I would probably ripped her open.

Getting that antenna off the roof is a compromise; I know that. But I still want the best I can get even with the limitations.

It doesn't have anything to do with comms, but I know there's probably people wondering what the hell and/or why... If there's good timber left, it's usually because it was hard to get to and even harder to get out. When I'm reconning these places I'm there well in advance of the dozer man and clear roads. Often times I end up walking the last mile anyway. Then I start working a systematic grid across the landscape taking inventory. I drive as far as I can because sometimes I have to put in 5-6 miles on foot across 800 to 1200 feet of elevation change while packing food, water, and gear. Then my dead tired ass has to get back to the truck. It's tough work and I probably sound crazy, but I love it. For the correct perspective: I get paid well to off road and be alone in the woods...

@slowmover if anyone has any interest in this it may be you... London, KY is the center of my region. It's a quant little town and a decent stop on the I75. It also has hwy 80 running E/W through it. Several lumber mills, rock quarries, distribution centers, and industrial parks in that corridor. Plus it carries all the coal from the eastern part of the state to the tipples and rail heads. Lots of freight passing through this area; local and long haul both. Lots of CB antennas around too, especially the E/W folks. I work an area that's roughly a 80 mile radius north and south of London and 120 miles east and west of it. I spend a whole lot of time on those two highways and their assorted connections. Like I mentioned in the post above, I have a CB because of my job. I've only had a taste of it, and I'm probably over romanticizing it... but there's something about telling the coal truck to watch his speed down that grade because there's a bear waiting on him at the bottom of the hill... Or hearing that it's the other way around; that the bear is in the bushes behind him so I know to make a little less steam. Or warning the west bound log hauler that the mobile scales are on the ground at the end of the four lane, 'cause I know damn well that he can't make weight. Or letting the wide load know that there's an ******* coming around that's going to squeeze him at the top of the truck lane. I've always been the guy to roll my window down at the red light to tell granny she's got a flat tire or to let the hotshot know that he has a strap loose. Doing that at distance just tickles my feel goods. My office may be in the woods, but sometimes it's a long commute. All that windshield time just seems a little easier when you're connected to who's around you and know what's going on...

So again, limitations aside, I want a big mouth and bigger ears, especially up and down the road. I can already say that I want NRC, FM, and SSB. Antenna is a need now, radio later.

 

[K6GBW]

Well, given your use case, it may just be that the best antenna that you can do is a big mag mount. It's not the worst thing in the world! You just have to get a good quality one. With the mag mounts try and find the one with whips in the 50-62 inch length. The ones with whips in the 40's don't work as well. If you need SSB then you might want to look at the Anytone AT555N II. Not a small radio though. But there's just no way around the phsysics of things. We all wish there was. We'd all love a 50 watt radio with all modes the size of a deck of cards, but no such mythical beast exists. If you want power, AM/FM/SSB you gotta take what comes with it. Either that...or consider getting your Ham Tech ticket and going to 2 meters, which would work way better and be smaller and easier to live with.

 

[jcrmadden]

consider getting your Ham Tech ticket and going to 2 meters, which would work way better and be smaller and easier to live with.

It's inevitable really...

It's a post for a different thread, but I've had a Baofeng 5RE Plus with a 17" whip for years. I carry it when I'm working in the woods with sketchy cell reception (which is more often than not). I'm not licensed, but if I'm alone and five miles from nowhere with a broken leg I'm not worried about the FCC or the armchair police. My brother is a paramedic and was assistant director of emergency management for our county for a while. They went digital years ago, but they kept their Boafengs around as backup. Before he left he programmed every EMT, Fire, and police frequency in the region into my radio. It may be false hope, but it's comforting to think that I can get out to someone somewhere if I need to. It has spent most of it's life listening to FM radio honestly.

We also have a farm where there's no cell service at the barn or at the road, but I do on the ridge (where I hunt hairy brown things). I don't know if it's GMRS or FRS, but we have a decent set of handhelds we keep on 462.725. If I'm on the ridge working I can listen to my wife and boys chatting from time to time and she can tell me when it's time to call it a day.

I'll still have the CB. Industry needs alone demand it. Plus, there's still a lot of channel 19 traffic here. Most of it useful.

 

[niceguy71]

I know you can't Drill a hole so as K6GBW said a good mag mount is the way to go..... you can put the mag on the hood when you're in the woods now you can see it and it's out of danger.... then when you're on regular roads you can slap it back on the roof ( mark the spot as it will change the SWR a little) .... just so you know... you may go to all this trouble and find the skip loader or logging trucks... I forget what you're trying to reach.... but I see a lot of loaders with cheap radio's that can only do a couple miles... and that's fine as they only want to talk to the truck pulling into the yard a mile away... anything more is a waste and will get people bothering them with foolish questions and radio checks..... so you may do all this and find the people you want to talk to can only talk a few miles even if you can do 5 or 6 miles
I would change the radio too as W6GBW mentioned... I was surprised the Cobra 75 has the noise reduction... Digital Noise Cancellation – Transmit and receive communication with ultra-clear sound quality with DSP (Digital Signal Processing). big surprise... I'm sure it would work fine. I've heard many good things about it.

but if it was me... for $85 bucks this weekend at Amazon the Radiodditty C-S 47 is on sale for $85 bucks,,,, it's a tini tiny radio ( normally $95 bucks) it DOES HAVE the noise reduction technology.... it also has a simple modification that lets it put out 8 watts AM and 15 watts FM ... it will also allow you to go into the ham bands... so you will get another 400 or so channels... it has HUGE heat sinks in the back to get rid of all that heat when using all the extra power.... it's made for USA and overseas.... overseas they can have more power and channels... so all you have to do is move a pin ( jumper) lift it off mover it over and put it back.
that radio Radiodditty CS-47and a good magnet mount and you should be able to do just what you want. ...

for the price of the Tram 3500 it works extremely well..... 67 bucks at Walmart... you will have to order it on line and have it delivered to your local Walmart.... but like anything that works well... Tram stopped making them!
when they first stopped making them last year, they sold their inventory to discount houses that were practically giving them away. I got a couple spares for $31 bucks each with free shipping... then people that use them heard they were discontinued started buying spares and the prices keep climbing.

if you buy it... move the jumper and get the 8 watts..... but don't cut the white wire... cutting the wire opens more of the ham channels and I think it may put it into the UK mode and their 40 channels are little different..... would be a pain in the neck to find out 40 AM channels UK are a different... but I am still playing with mine and have not cut the wire yet... I may when I get my Ham license.
just YOUTUBE CS-47 modification when you're ready to get the 8/ 15 watts

watch these two videos I think you will like this radio and get a tall 60" antenna that you can put on the hood while off road and you're done!

I just bought one of these radio's myself and will range test it one of these days to compare it to my mobile CB

​

 

[slowmover]

Most of my off roading is in places where sane people would NEVER take a pickup truck. Steep grades, big rocks, washed out places, and LOTS of tree limbs. So we're talking really low speed. It's a really nice truck, but when I get where I'm going it gets used like an oversized side-by-side. I have to have an antenna to survive in that.

I keep coming back to the situation where I pealed the mag mount off. I know this isn't an off-roading forum, but I think the story paints the picture. Headed down a 35-40% grade, loose gravel in my right track, riding a washed out wet seam with my left track. Nowhere else to go, and nothing but a low berm and a prayer separating me from the straight drop off to my left. Low lock, first gear, hill control ON. I saw that there was a small tree that had up rooted from the upper bank, fallen across the "road", and hung in the branches on the lower side. It was almost perfectly horizontal and I realized it was going to hit just above my windshield. I knew my mount didn't stand a change so I was going to stop and cut it out of the way. I was already at a crawl, with an occasional slip, but when I started to brake I just kept sliding. I slowly slid a full truck length and listened as that tree cleaned the top of my truck off. I crawled out the passenger side, fished my mag mount out of the mud behind my drivers side rear tire, and popped it on the back of the cab. It's a crappy antenna, but it survived. I know that was the perfect storm type situation, and hopefully it doesn't ever happen again. But I can't help but think that if it had been bolted to the top of my cab I would probably ripped her open.

Getting that antenna off the roof is a compromise; I know that. But I still want the best I can get even with the limitations.

It doesn't have anything to do with comms, but I know there's probably people wondering what the hell and/or why... If there's good timber left, it's usually because it was hard to get to and even harder to get out. When I'm reconning these places I'm there well in advance of the dozer man and clear roads. Often times I end up walking the last mile anyway. Then I start working a systematic grid across the landscape taking inventory. I drive as far as I can because sometimes I have to put in 5-6 miles on foot across 800 to 1200 feet of elevation change while packing food, water, and gear. Then my dead tired ass has to get back to the truck. It's tough work and I probably sound crazy, but I love it. For the correct perspective: I get paid well to off road and be alone in the woods...

@slowmover if anyone has any interest in this it may be you... London, KY is the center of my region. It's a quant little town and a decent stop on the I75. It also has hwy 80 running E/W through it. Several lumber mills, rock quarries, distribution centers, and industrial parks in that corridor. Plus it carries all the coal from the eastern part of the state to the tipples and rail heads. Lots of freight passing through this area; local and long haul both. Lots of CB antennas around too, especially the E/W folks. I work an area that's roughly a 80 mile radius north and south of London and 120 miles east and west of it. I spend a whole lot of time on those two highways and their assorted connections. Like I mentioned in the post above, I have a CB because of my job. I've only had a taste of it, and I'm probably over romanticizing it... but there's something about telling the coal truck to watch his speed down that grade because there's a bear waiting on him at the bottom of the hill... Or hearing that it's the other way around; that the bear is in the bushes behind him so I know to make a little less steam. Or warning the west bound log hauler that the mobile scales are on the ground at the end of the four lane, 'cause I know damn well that he can't make weight. Or letting the wide load know that there's an ******* coming around that's going to squeeze him at the top of the truck lane. I've always been the guy to roll my window down at the red light to tell granny she's got a flat tire or to let the hotshot know that he has a strap loose. Doing that at distance just tickles my feel goods. My office may be in the woods, but sometimes it's a long commute. All that windshield time just seems a little easier when you're connected to who's around you and know what's going on...

So again, limitations aside, I want a big mouth and bigger ears, especially up and down the road. I can already say that I want NRC, FM, and SSB. Antenna is a need now, radio later.

Sure, I know London, KY as a truck driver. London Travel Center. A surviving example of the good old days, but I haven’t been past but a couple of times since circa 2016.

Closest I’ve gotten in recent years is regular runs on 23S from Chillicothe, OH down to IH-64 in order to run The West Virginia Roller Coaster down to North Carolina.

I’m happily on the Great Plains, now.


“ . . and I'm probably romanticizing it... but there's something about telling the coal truck to watch his speed down that grade because there's a bear waiting on him at the bottom of the hill...

Or hearing that it's the other way around; that the bear is in the bushes behind him so I know to make a little less steam.

Or warning the west bound log hauler that the mobile scales are on the ground at the end of the four lane, 'cause I know damn well that he can't make weight.

Or letting the wide load know that there's an ******* coming around that's going to squeeze him at the top of the truck lane.

I've always been the guy to roll my window down at the red light to tell granny she's got a flat tire or to let the hotshot know that he has a strap loose. Doing that at distance just tickles my feel goods.

My office may be in the woods, but sometimes it's a long commute. All that windshield time just seems a little easier when you're connected to who's around you and know what's going on...


Beautifully put. That’s the America in which I grew up. That still exists, though today’s men don’t quite understand that CB isn’t a passive tool. You want a reaction, speak up early. Universe needs to know that this is important. Once that silver thread connection is made, I have to live up to my end of it, too, even when I’m tired or out-of-sorts.

The world’s gotten weird-er, faster, of late. Some of its a good thing, as folks intuition seems to be picking up. Confidence behind the mic is maybe more important than content-specifics. A man like you knowing he’s in the right place (right job, right life) is an anchorage in a storm.

I say that because that’s been my experience. I’ve done my part to this higher standard and watched whole waves of movement take place after I’ve helped define & solve road problems with others. Who have average or below-average radio rigs. But who could clearly hear me relay info from a greater distance than they could achieve.

— Greatest RX/TX combined distance is what an NRC-equipped export radio plus HQ external speaker offers. Clarity. That’s what busts the Skip pile-ups for those around us.

Best possible antenna per job conditions is Number One.

A QT60 or AT-5555N2 (same radio) won’t be outmatched by best possible antenna. But it can’t overcome compromises that were unnecessary.

RADIODDITY QT60 10 METER RADIO. FM /AM /SSB with TX/RX NOISE REDUCTION | Scott's Radios

Stock optionRadios will ship in 10-Meter only.No video is supplied with the stock option. A short video will be supplied via YouTube when time allows when purchasing with Alignment option.As of 2/22/24 videos are not being offered due to them causing delays in processing orders.More info 👇See...

www.scottsradios.com

.

 

[slowmover]

@prcguy has ideas/advice about using the truck bed interior wall to ball-mount a 102” whip. To me that looks better than roof mount in your job. It’d be a 48” base on my pickup, so the last few get to 13’ TTL gives some leeway.

As he’s also a 4-whlr and present/past truck owner, I’m hoping he’ll show up given his interesting & long history with on/off road HF.

But only you know what is best as to clearances.

In the big truck I go to 14’ with 7’ antennas. I might get off-pavement, but I sure don’t get off-road. Same with my pickup. And I’m careful about clearances. I don’t sweat highway 13’-5” clearances marked.



Top choice:

CB Ball Mount with Ring Terminal on 4 1/2 inch plates # 110

CB Ball Mount with Ring Terminal on 4 1/2 inch plates The ball has a 3/8 -24 thread for the antenna ring terminal connection for the wire 1'' face on the ball comes with two plates solid rubber gasket ground screw on back plate

breedlovemounts.com

Mine is a roof-mount. Shown because it’s a sturdy-as-hell BREEDLOVE. But I wouldn’t have it in roof if I went off-road. Getting a little above my 35’ travel trailer with a more rigid 7’ is important. A 7’ puts me right at 13’ with a flexible whip, and it’s a couple feet above trailer (minimum).

I can run most any antenna, and, stationary, pop in a 102” to hit 15’ with no-compromise mobile performance.

 

[KANE4109]

Thanks mmckenna!

I'm tied into the "accessory" fuse. So, basically every other electronic devise in my truck. I'll get that hard wired to the battery today.

The antenna issue is especially challenging. Logging trails and forest roads are inhospitable places for antennas. My mag mount was pealed off by a low limb within a couple days (where I subsequently ran over it). It's also a company truck, and drilling holes is highly discouraged. I've been reading all morning about ground plane and losses and I've gathered that the top of the cab is the best location. It is also a death sentence for a fiberglass antenna.

If you do.... please be sure to put a fuse close to the battery.... JUST FOR your radio power line.

If anything happened that pinched that wire to the frame.... or other ground...... you will now have a 14 GA short from the battery to ground... . and it won't end well.

Please don't overlook this!

 

[jcrmadden]

Company is having a camper shell/bed topper installed on the truck. It's a RSI SmartCap EVOa. It's modular and made out of steel. Other than proper bonding what else do I need to consider with adding this chunk of metal to my setup? I think my bed floor is composite so it may be an advantage, really not sure.

I understand that having two antennas changes the pattern of the signal. Maybe it's a stupid question, but do they change the shape of the ground plane too? Do they share more of the ground plane that exists between them? If there's less signal going out laterally it seems like there would be less return laterally as well. Am I completely off base here? It's asked with honest ignorance

 

[jcrmadden]

I forgot to mention that I pulled the trigger on a qt60 with tune and alignment from Scott's Radio. Should be here later this week. Also, that topper has an angled recess at the front of it where it meets the cab. I think it would be a safe place to mount a 3" ball and spring where the mount itself wont get snagged. And unlike the truck roof, I can drill the hole in that topper without the fleet manager losing his $#!7. Leaning toward a pair of 5' whips for better range up and down the highway.