CB Antenna Force HD

[houstonstroker]

I don't think the previous owner ever turned on the CB. We happen to group camp and caravan several times a year and this is what we use for instant communication (i.e. hey you just blew a tire or hey a bike just fell off your rack or hey a box of stuff just blew out of your truck bed).

I noticed that when I keyed the mic the first time the antenna warning light came on. Not good. I knew this was a combination antenna AM/FM/CB. Tore the dash and headliner apart trying to find the coax. Found the combiner box made by RAMI behind the Allsion shift plate. One wire went to the AM/FM radio and the second wire which should have gone to the CB was under the cup holder. Verified this by removing the CB radio. Sure enough the antenna coax was connected to the radio but nowhere else. Just tied in a neat bundle and tucked behind the radio.

So I connected everything together like it was supposed to be done and the antenna warning light was still on. Connected my SWR meter and the reading was in the red zone.

So the first thing I did was install a separate CB antenna on the passenger side mirror. Found the same bracket that was used on the drivers side. Had to drill holes in the mirror, removed door panel and remove the mirror to accomplish this task but got R' done. However same problem the antenna would not tune. Read on the forums known problem with Freightliner trucks due to all the fiberglass.

So back to square 1 and ordered a Firestik no ground plane 4 foot antenna from Amazon. The good news is they leave off the ring terminal so that you can run the coax through small holes on the way to the antenna mount. The coax shielding at the antenna end is terminated, but not grounded. Supposedly this is some kind of circuit. Not what I usually see, but the coax and mount all work as one.

Soldered on the ring terminal added some shrink wrap and brought out the tester. Voila! or walla as some of our forum buddies like to say.

Anyway if you are having problems being heard this may work for you. Not real hard to get everything done. It;s one of those things that after you have done it once the next time takes a quarter of the time.

[FOURWHL]

Interesting. The CB in mine had the built in meter and first thing I did was check. Everything was already tuned, I was quite impressed.

[houstonstroker]

My buddy has a Jayco Seneca 2017 M2 chassis. Same thing I put a meter on his and in the red zone. We installed a no ground plane on the passenger side and it shows 1.2 on channel 13. Probably would have been flat on all channels but he removed the spring because he was afraid it would hit the side of his rig. This effectively made his antenna shorter. He was using a Cobra CB with all controls in handset.

[bclemens]

Originally Posted by FOURWHL

Interesting. The CB in mine had the built in meter and first thing I did was check. Everything was already tuned, I was quite impressed.

Well that was certainly a fluke. I know we don't tune them. That is a stock part that comes in with the chassis so we don't touch it.

[FOURWHL]

I guess even a broken clock is right twice a day. Maybe the dealer did it? Got it from MHSRV

Either way I was impressed you guys would go to that level of detail building it (no offense intended)

[bclemens]

Oh, sorry, you said CB???? oh, then that for sure was us. You're welcome.

(we just don't do that any more for anyone that already stared typing a reply of "well my CB is not....nope, not us. FOURWHL paid more for that feature)

[Jammer151]

So just completed a 2,300 mile trip, had CB on 19 the whole time and only heard 1.5 conversation. One was some guy talking to a cat house and after years of marriages and divorces he should have just paid for it and the other .5 was a guy in a ford pickup cussing out a 18 wheeler for being in the middle lane. The first had to be in about a mile radius and the second was in front of me as I could see the guy in the ford pickup with the mic in his hand. That was all, never picked up or heard any other chatter....really weird. So I don't know if mine is really working well or not. I tuned it per the manual and all signs point toward all setting being correct, but the lack of being able to pickup any chatter has me wondering.

[m35a2]

CB was fairly active during my last trip. Except for Arizona.

[halla]

CB has been somewhat quiet on most of our trips. Did get a semi comment on how sweet the RV was. That was cool

[FOURWHL]

In my experience with CBs, without a giant antenna (think 30' whip or whatever) or an illegal amplifier (the guys who sound like they're echoing) best you're gonna get with a CB is 1-2 miles and that's if the ground is pretty flat and open. CB frequencies really are the crappy ones, cant penetrate anything.

I leave mine on 19 sometimes, but cant stand the constant complaining bickering a lot of time. Definitely handy to get a scoop on any traffic you encounter though.

[m35a2]

Originally Posted by FOURWHL

In my experience with CBs, without a giant antenna (think 30' whip or whatever) or an illegal amplifier (the guys who sound like they're echoing) best you're gonna get with a CB is 1-2 miles and that's if the ground is pretty flat and open. CB frequencies really are the crappy ones, cant penetrate anything.

I leave mine on 19 sometimes, but cant stand the constant complaining bickering a lot of time. Definitely handy to get a scoop on any traffic you encounter though.

The optimal antenna length is 102". The longer the better up to that length.
Mine's a 62 1/2 inch Wilson that I have mounted right in the middle of the cab. Shorter ones are actually 102" also, but part of the antenna is in a coil.
The ground plane is important as is the amount of antenna above the cab. So if you have a 3' antenna mounted on your toolbox where 2/3 of the antenna is below the top of the cab, your radio won't transmit or receive very effectively.
I can send and receive about 7 miles with my setup as best I can tell.

I think the echo you hear on some radios is a mod the operator has done on purpose (don't ask me why, I think it sounds awful.) I never got why people spend $$ on an amplifier either, because while they might be able to transmit a great distance, they can't hear responses from that distance. I just don't get the point.

I go 4x4'ing with a group on occasion and we use the radios a lot then. I also keep a handheld in my truck that the DW uses to tell me if I'm about to run into something while I'm backing. I don't require a lot of other direction but the radio sure is a lot nicer than hand signals. Especially during those times when she needs to be out of my vision to determine if something is going to hit.