Wondering what sort of ant. you guys have had good luck with on your rigs. im looking for a fairly long fiberglass ant. that works well. any suggestions? thanks, Matt:skull:

I am running a 3' Firestick antenna mounted on my rear tire rack. Works awesome & have never broken it.

A good wheeling antenna (one that can take bumps, tree limbs, etc) would be one with a steel whip. That said, a 3-4 foot firestik will fill the bill nicely, but will NOT be good for transmitting and reception. That is because it has a bad angle of radiation, but you can run it protected by the top.

I had a bull whip antenna and have to replace it. Some places or group run, they don't allow this type of antenna. I plan on buying a 3 or 4 footer K40 antenna. I heard that has a very good signal.

I run a 4ft Firestik (was my Dad's and is about is old as me), with okay results... Seems to pick up signals fine, its just not great when broadcasting forward as only about 1ft is visible from the front of the vehicle.

What I want is one of those really cool 1/2 wave steel whips... They're huge! Though, I'd probably compromise with a 1/4 wave so I don't whack it on every tree on the trail... :D

Whip antennas can be dangerous on the trails and many groups have outlawed them on rides. They fly around SO much that they may hit bystanders. Really, ANY metal whip antenna flies around a great deal.

K40, Firestik, and Wilson all three make good fiberglass antennas. Make sure you get a tunable tip tho. IMO, a 4' antenna with a good quality cable on a well grounded mount will serve you well. Centering the antenna in the vehicle givies you the best ground plane, running on the rear gives you better rear reception (best for trail leaders) and on a front bumper is best for tail-gunners. You want about 2/3's of the antenna above ALL metal on the vehicle for best transmission/reception. Include a stainless coil for the bottom to add flexibility to the mounting.

That being said, most trail rides do not require extensive distance, over 2 miles. You are more likely to have hills in the way to cause problems than anything. IMO, if you need LONG reception and transmission capabilities, add a Ham radio to your arsenal. (licensed, of course)

Is there a good antenna out there that will cover the cb and the radio? My cb ant walked off while in mexico and my radio antenna decided to spend its final days on the side of I20 rather than on my truck. Since I have to replace them both, I was hoping to get a cleaner look using just one antenna.

tom

I use a Wilson 1000 on my DD/Tow rig...
On the trail truck...
Some whoknowswahtitwasfreeanyhowPOS works great for up to a 1/2 mile or so and its all i seem to need.
Grant XL in DD
Whatever $49 thing I have handy in the trail truck.
Tends to get rained/snowed/etc on anyhow.

If you really need distance in a trail rig....
Go Ham.
JMHO

Cory

Hey Woody:flipoff2:

If you mount a rigid antenna like a firestik above the vehicle, what is an effective way of keeping it from breaking mount if you hit an "immovable" object? I would mount mine higher, but I'd snap off the mount in a second on some of the trails around here with low-hanging branches... I see the "spring" mounts for sale, but they are part of the antenna, right?

Any suggestions?

BTW my Firestik is non-tuneable... :(

I guess I have something else to research: Portable HAM... :D (Not SPAM, which is highly portable, but doesn't broadcast very far, I'm certain)

You actually buy the mount and the antenna separately and the spring just inserts between them. Works with mag mounts and solids. Solids tend to offer much better grounding but the mag mount Lil'Wil (Wilson) I run on my minitruck does just fine.

I do not recommend a cb/radio combination antenna. I can tune a coat hanger better...

IMO, Uniden CB's are the most durable out there. My Pro510XL has been on my rollcage in the elements for 5 years and still works fine. (cut modulation - heh heh) I try and find electronics warehouses and pickup the 510's for like $29 or so. Have 3 now....1 in the pickup, one in the cruiser, one as a spare.

I also have a REALLY nice $200 Midland, seek, scan, 4 presets, SSB....POS, IMO. Gonna replace it with a 66 or 76 Uniden one of these days....

oops...edit: :flipoff2: Cory! :p

(BTW: might be headed to Attica March 23rd....working on the kitchen now, cruiser left the garage last night, replaced with $6k in maple kitchen cabinets. If I get garage space mid-next-week, I can finish putting the Cruiser together. Got spring break?!?)

Trw, the am/fm/cb antenna are clean, but they don't do any thing well. Best stick with the stocker am/fm broadcast radio antenna and go with a dedicated cb. I have a Wilson 1000 which has a big magnet. I'd stay away from K-40, I have had 3 break in the same amount of time and abuse as the Wilson.

for the others, I have a ham radio rig (tech license, no Morse code required) I LOVE IT!!!! The antenna is a 1/2 wavelength (3 dB gain), which corresponds to 40 inches. They make no gain antennas that are 19 inches.

I was wheeling with some people, and we lost contact with each other on cb on side band (radios were doing 15 watts). It was line of sight, just a lot of atmospheric statc. I was talking to my buddy next to him on a hand held ham radio (2 meter) no problem. The hand held was putting out 1 watt. It all has to do with the high frequency and the FM mode.

I have got several other wheeling buddies into it. It makes cb look like a freaking toy. The cost of a decent rig is about the same as a Grant XL with work and a wilson antenna. Oh yeah, most mobile 2 meter rigs come with 50 watt output.

Originally posted by woody
Centering the antenna in the vehicle givies you the best ground plane, running on the rear gives you better rear reception (best for trail leaders) and on a front bumper is best for tail-gunners. You want about 2/3's of the antenna above ALL metal on the vehicle for best transmission/reception. Include a stainless coil for the bottom to add flexibility to the mounting.

Actually, you'r directionality analogy is exactly backwards. An antenna centered in the vehicle, front to back and side to side is the optimal setup for balanced (omnidirectional) signal transmission. If the antenna is on the back bumper, it will transmit and receive best towards the front of the vehicle- the direction with the largest ground plane. It will do the exact opposite if mounted on the front bumper. ie transmit and recieve best towards the rear of the vehicle. And for "best" transmission performance you'd have the entire antenna, not just 2/3 above ALL grounded metal surfaces. No exceptions: the higher the antenna the better.

What I want is one of those really cool 1/2 wave steel whips... They're huge! Though, I'd probably compromise with a 1/4 wave so I don't whack it on every tree on the trail...

Actually, for the 11 meter (CB) band a half wave antenna would be roughly 18 feet tall, and aren't made for mobile use. You must be referring to a 1/4 wave whip which in theory would be 108" but are produced in a more common 102" length. Comparatively the full length whips perform better than any condensed whip will. Although they aren't practical for most applications. Again, height = performance. The smaller fiberglass whips are just commonly a 1/4 wave length of wire wrapped around the 'glass pole and covered in shrinkwrap with an adjustable tip soldered to the end of the (usually) copper wire. Height is the primary reason the majority of the length of the wire is wrapped on the top 1/3 of the whip. That way the highest amount of rf energy is concentrated in a lobe radiating from the more densely wrapped section of the whip, ideally above the grounding of the vehicle. Hope this clears up some things.