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Apologies to the OP for the brief detour!
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NMO34 with the W640 (64" whip) vs NMO-27 vs CWB-27
- Thread starter RFI-EMI-GUY
- Start date
Apologies to the OP for the brief detour!Chris155
Member
Pictured above is the post that comes up when I click the link in the post pictured below. Thread title is 64 but my post slowmover linked in that thread refers to the 30 and an external meter.
Right. I saw it referred to the NMO 30, and honestly am not surprised it was somewhat better than the one you had that was "falling apart"? I think it said? thanks for the clarification however. I am honestly wanting to try the NMO 34 with the longer whip just to see what happens.
I think by now, we've ascertained the NMO 30 with the longer whip will work and work well in the CB band, I'd just like a little more. It may be I settle for the MNO 30 and 64 inch slightly tuned up higher for how I want to actually use it. If I thought 2 inches would do it, Wilson makes (or did make) a longer I think 66" whip, but I think it's gonna take a little more to get the NMO 34 down in frequency than that. I dunno maybe a 66 inch and a spring? I'll have to ponder on this some and see what I decide to do.
I can easily solve this by using an older Wilson 1K or 5 K and just use a UHF mount but I'm trying to make it look not like a CB antenna and frankly have had Larsen's for ham stuff for years on 2 meters and 70cm. Actually I need to see if they make a 1.25 meter antenna also, I've never looked.
Again thank you for the info! Glad you got yours working.
slowmover
Active Member
Our discussion here — like the links from WWDX and discussion by Ontario CB Club — both have the problem of just what are we discussing.
11M only (NMO30)
Or, wideband [sic] from there. (NMO34)
.
11M only (NMO30)
Or, wideband [sic] from there. (NMO34)
.
N4GEX
Member
Yes, I sunk it all the way down to the stop. It’ll get no shorter unless I cut it, but I’m not making any drastic changes until I test on the permanent mount.
Right I wouldn't either. Sorry I miss-read it the first time. It's really looking like the NMO 30 is gonna be the way to go with the 64 inch whip. I'm not sure how much would be gained bandwidth wise by going to the NMO 34 and a longer whip. Wilson has a 66" replacement whip that I've been able to locate but even at that, I'm not sure the NMO 34 will make it down to where I want it to be. (or most hams wanting 10 meter and some 11 meter coverage). It looks though like what you tested will come pretty close. I'm not so much worried about the top end of 10 meters I don't do a lot up that way usually but I do like a little DX when the bands are open, and honestly a group of us still do some 10 meter SSB locally here.
Thank you for posting your plot on the VNA, that's the kind of info we need here to help make informed decisions. It's a shame that CW 27 isn't still available, that would be just the ticket. Please keep us posted when you get the permanent mount in, I'll be curious to see how much it changes and which way it goes.
73-Greg
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
The long whips like you guys are talking about are quite flexible. I had NMO-27's mounted on top of full size trucks/SUV's and never felt the need to add the spring. That included tree branch strikes and parking garages.
But it's useful to add a good 2 1/4 inches or so to a whip that's a bit too short.
Ok, thank you. Ya that's what I'm after is length. I've beat up all kinds of whips in my lifetime including 102's on top of Vans. (ya we were nuts in the 70's).
I'm still up in the air about trying some stuff on the NMO 34, looks like the NMO 30 on a permanent mount would honesty be the ticket but it's always good to know what will do what.
mmckenna
I ♥ Ø
One of our PD dispatchers has an old VW van, painted multiple colors, with a 102" whip dead center on the roof. When it gets whipping around, you start to wonder why the van doesn't just tip over. Narrow tires, rotten sheet metal, etc….
I'd be really surprised if anyone had an issue with one of these antennas without a spring.
If I ever did this, I'd do the NMO30 and the longer whip and call it good. My experience with CB is that the other guy is usually the problem. A few more inches of whip isn't going to make up for some jackwagon with a 18" mag mount antenna on his hatchback and a crappy install.
CB whips always work better after the stop lights beat them into a question mark shape...
And this is exactly where I think I'm going with it. I've given it some thought and truthfully, I don't think that much bandwidth will be gained, and what little (if any) performance difference there is probably isn't work mentioning.
I may end up running a tri-band ham antenna for 2, 1.25 and 70cm before it's over, I'm not sure I want to go thru the trouble of mounting 3 antennas up there for that, but for 10-11 I think the NMO 30 and longer whip will have to do. If I need more, there's other ways to accomplish that.
Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.
I'll have to try and snap a pic of my Diamond SG-7900 dual band ham antenna on the hood of my work truck. Trees do some interesting stuff too. For a 20 year old plus antenna, it's still putting along however.
slowmover
Active Member
Family Man
A 5th Gen Honda Odyssey is 5’ 8.5”.
An excellent representative family road vehicle.
If the NMO30 + Spring + W640 comes in at 63” (@Chris155) then easy clearance is 11’ before contact.
I avoid drive-thru simply because my pickup truck is all-around too big — and burning fuel for no good reason is contraindicated — so I don’t find its’ 13’ clearance to be any sort of barrier.
What I have — and what’s proposed here — are antennas which both have a decent amount of flex with 60” minimum. Top two feet flexes easily?
Height = Time & Distance. I lose a couple of miles changing to 60” from 84” on my way up to the Interstate. That eliminates some re-route choices as it’s not suburban, but rural. The quality of other mans radio rig isn’t yet in play.
Health
— I’ve avoided possibly killing, and definitely seriously injuring pedestrians out on the road while in the big truck whom I couldn’t see because I was the only one who could hear the other mans crappy radio rig.
I wouldn’t have been at fault.
But who would care about that?
Wealth
— I once re-routed myself (7) times in the big truck coming across Dallas/Ft Worth where originally I was going to be 45-minutes early to the receiver and still made it to under 5-minutes past appointment (15” window) as a major wreck spawned accessory wrecks on alternate routes as the maroons scattered.
A traffic backup as experienced would have me off the hook. But ruined the pre-planned week.
Knowing how to best use it becomes the learning curve.
60” tall just gets the job done . . and when coupled to what is part of a HQ (best) radio rig?
Best radio rig is coupled to the desire to become good in its use.
A). Always ready for use.
B). No serious performance compromise (short antenna, lack of SSB, and low power are all unacceptable).
Becoming good in use is understanding that one contributes on-air as co-operation is bedrock to traffic law. Everyone has a morale problem on long days. Some of the funniest things I’ve heard in this lifetime came across that radio.
There’s a place for every personality. The better the radio rig the easier this is to accomplish.
The roads today are nothing what they were like as recently as the late 1990s.
Driving a metro doesn’t equate to highway experience. Takes awhile for those blinders to slip off. CB is good way to learn some of that.
.
A 5th Gen Honda Odyssey is 5’ 8.5”.
An excellent representative family road vehicle.
If the NMO30 + Spring + W640 comes in at 63” (@Chris155) then easy clearance is 11’ before contact.
I avoid drive-thru simply because my pickup truck is all-around too big — and burning fuel for no good reason is contraindicated — so I don’t find its’ 13’ clearance to be any sort of barrier.
What I have — and what’s proposed here — are antennas which both have a decent amount of flex with 60” minimum. Top two feet flexes easily?
Height = Time & Distance. I lose a couple of miles changing to 60” from 84” on my way up to the Interstate. That eliminates some re-route choices as it’s not suburban, but rural. The quality of other mans radio rig isn’t yet in play.
Health
— I’ve avoided possibly killing, and definitely seriously injuring pedestrians out on the road while in the big truck whom I couldn’t see because I was the only one who could hear the other mans crappy radio rig.
I wouldn’t have been at fault.
But who would care about that?
Wealth
— I once re-routed myself (7) times in the big truck coming across Dallas/Ft Worth where originally I was going to be 45-minutes early to the receiver and still made it to under 5-minutes past appointment (15” window) as a major wreck spawned accessory wrecks on alternate routes as the maroons scattered.
A traffic backup as experienced would have me off the hook. But ruined the pre-planned week.
Knowing how to best use it becomes the learning curve.
60” tall just gets the job done . . and when coupled to what is part of a HQ (best) radio rig?
Best radio rig is coupled to the desire to become good in its use.
A). Always ready for use.
B). No serious performance compromise (short antenna, lack of SSB, and low power are all unacceptable).
Becoming good in use is understanding that one contributes on-air as co-operation is bedrock to traffic law. Everyone has a morale problem on long days. Some of the funniest things I’ve heard in this lifetime came across that radio.
There’s a place for every personality. The better the radio rig the easier this is to accomplish.
The roads today are nothing what they were like as recently as the late 1990s.
Driving a metro doesn’t equate to highway experience. Takes awhile for those blinders to slip off. CB is good way to learn some of that.
.
Last edited:
N4GEX
Member
The plot thickens. Today I installed a permanent NMO mount in the roof on my truck (1997 Chevy C1500). I attached the NMO30 / W64 antenna, swept it with the analyzer, and... well:
Crikey! I expected the SWR to drop, but I didn't expect the curve to shift left by nearly 2MHz! I stopped there for the day to think about this a bit before chopping the whip down. Seems like a lot of material would have to be removed to bring it into resonance in the CB band.
Crikey! I expected the SWR to drop, but I didn't expect the curve to shift left by nearly 2MHz! I stopped there for the day to think about this a bit before chopping the whip down. Seems like a lot of material would have to be removed to bring it into resonance in the CB band.
That's interesting...did you get the just the antenna coil or did you get it with the 49" whip? Man I didn't expect it to drop that low even with that 64" whip on it.
N4GEX
Member
I have only this 64" whip. I'm working on a way to figure out exactly how long the whip needs to be before doing any cutting- possible by using some wire and a bamboo pole to provide support.
Chris155
Member
I’m following along here to see the results using better equipment than I had when ended up at 62.5” roof to tip. My ground plane area is much bigger than the roof of a pickup so I’d expect your final measurement to be a bit different.
Do you have the spring on yours, or just the whip?
N4GEX
Member
No spring- whip only.
