CB antenna questions

[5rvkids]

Hello all,
I just bought a Cobra CB radio and I'm looking to purchase a Firestik "No Ground Plane" antenna. It's the 14" high model that looks like an old cell phone antenna.

If anyone has any feedback or suggests I'd appreciate it.

Steve

[GaryKD]

Hi Stave,
I have no experience with the antenna you are going to use. I have purchased Firestik antenna kits for a long time. They have all been no ground plane, top loaded, 3 or 4 ft in length. I do know these antenna kits perform outstandingly.

You're on the right track with the no-ground plane kit. Gut feel, I'm a little concerned with the 14" antenna height. When it comes to CB antennas, size matters. Make sure at least 2/3 of the antenna height is above the roof line. Make sure you are not near any of the usual RV roof accessories. Get the SWR checked, so the antenna can be tuned.

[RVThere]

The Firestik website has some great articles regarding antennae on RV's. Gary is right with the 2/3rds rule as you have to clear all the other obstuctions on top of your roof to get a good transmission.

Here are some of their rules:

There are, however, a few rules that need to be followed with "no ground plane" antennas. They are:

1. Do not mix the antenna or coax from one manufacture with those of another manufacturer. They are matched sets.
2. Do not use "no ground plane" antennas with conventional (existing) coax cables or conventional antennas with "no ground plane" coax.
3. Do not shorten the length of the coaxial cable. It is very critical. The frequency shifts when as little as 1/2" is removed.
4. If required, you can increase the cables length by adding standard RG-58A/U or RG-8X cable between the radio and existing NGP cable. We recommend that you use high quality cables in nine foot multiples (9, 18, 27 etc.)with PL-259's on both ends. A common barrel connector, such as our AR-4, will be required to join the cables together.
5. Do keep at least two-thirds of the antenna above the roof line.
6. Do use an SWR meter to tune the antenna in its final mounting locationon the the vehicle.

[Ol'Joe]

Hi 5RVkids,

I just recently mounted the antenna your interested in. The install was a replacement for the OEM antenna that Winnie mounted and was never worth a dang. It mounted fine and tuned up nicely but..... I believe it's range is very limited. I get good clear signals in what I believe is about a 1 mile range. Beyond that it's suspect. I'd reccomend the 3-4' stick with the two thirds exposure mentioned before. Hope this helps and good roads to Ya.

[TXiceman]

Two things that help the radio performance are;
Get it as high as possibel.
make the antenna as long as possible.

A 3' antenna monted so that 2/3 of it is above the roof will provide good range fro a 5 watt CB. Use a spring mount on it to keep it from being ripped off.

Ken

[Bagger97]

I just put a 2' NGP Firestick on the roof and got a 1.2 SWR on ch 19. Antenna is more important than the radio.

[Jack R]

5rvkiid

Just had a 3' ngp fire stick installed yesterday. have about 2 1/2 feet above the top of RV. Ran power to vehicle battery and ground under dash. Shorter ground helps stop vehicle noise in radio. After installation installer did swr check, had 1/2 watt on channel 1 and 1 watt on channel 40. Channels 1 and 40 are the channels used to set proper swr for radio and antenna.

[TXiceman]

Jack, you want to check the SWR, not the power. If you are getting only 1/2 and 1 Watt, you may have a problem.

Actually you want the SWR to be under 2.0 on channel 1 and 40. On 19 it should be much lower.

Ken

[Jack R]

Ken

Your right. forget the swr term (senior moment) I had 5 watts power on each of 1 & 40 and 1/2 and 1 of the other. thanks for getting this right.