A few words on my Bandi mount antenna selection:
I originally started off with a Wilson 2' fiberglass antenna on my Bandi for the purpose of being able to leave it on when pulling in my garage. With all the CB's I've owned over the years (and still own!) I should have known better, but I guess I overlooked this for general laziness.
Here was the problem: I kept getting a high SWR (2+ on any channel) with the Wilson, no matter what I did to it. Tried tuning shorter, longer, reallllly short, reallllly long and still couldn't get the SWR to come down to anything reasonable. Took it to the local CB shop because I needed a PA speaker anyway and talked with the guy about it. He came out and took a look at it, suggesting I try the feature on the Wilson antennas of the impedance-matching lead. He also suggested that if it didn't do much, try it not installed -- but hanging down freely, taped up against the antenna (as suggested by the manufacturer if not to be used), or even cut off if it's not helping any. He mentioned that any of the above solutions have worked in certain cases that he had seen. Tried all of the above, but of course there was no bringing the SWR's down.
I thought I needed a longer antenna...
Trip 2 to the CB shop: I specifically headed down to diagnose the problem and see what the guy could give me for advice now. I was pretty confident it was the length of the antenna combined with the placement on the vehicle that was causing the issue. The original guy and another older guy came out this time and brought a handful of antennas; various types, lengths and manufacturers. I agreed to let him try whatever he thought would be the best on the rig. He started with a 2' K40 and when that did nothing, continued with a 3' Firestick and 3' K40, neither of which was much better either. The next stop was a 4' K40 which finally brought everything in check. Instantly after tuning, the SWR's were down to like 1.1~1.3 on channels 1 and 40, with the needle pegging as much as it can below 1 on my meter on channel 19.
Why? The general consensus at the CB shop was that the roof rack was reflecting the signal on transmission and causing the high SWR's. I spoke with another person who deals with amateur radio and they agreed, saying it may have been better just the little bit of height without the roof rack even.
Just sharing what I found in the hope that it helps others if they're having a similar situation. I'm not saying a 2' antenna won't work on your vehicle, I'm just sharing my findings...
-2J
