Thanks - I did read your post. Found a guy in Ventura that said he can take a look at my setup on Saturday. If all I need is a new antenna, I can live with that! Maybe I can sell this short one to someone with a Hummer or XTerra ;-)
Thanks - I did read your post. Found a guy in Ventura that said he can take a look at my setup on Saturday. If all I need is a new antenna, I can live with that! Maybe I can sell this short one to someone with a Hummer or XTerra ;-)
Yesterday afternoon I took my FJ to Avenue TV & Communications in Ventura (shameless plug here - if you live near Ventura, this guy knows CB radios....). Owner Bill took a look at my setup, checked all the connections, mounting, etc., and hooked it up to an SWR meter on steroids (way more dials and switches than the $14 job I bought). He checked things out, determined my antenna was actually good, but I needed a better ground. When he looked at the Bandi mount and noticed the nylon lock nut, he asked me to torque the nut down more (with the tight clearances, proximity to the paint and my new vehicle, he wanted no part of that operation!). I torqued the nut - alot - and he rechecked everything. With a couple tweaks to the Firstik, everything came into tolernace, and I'm good to go. Bill said that the nylon insert in the locknut can cause problems because if you don't torque it enough to get metal to metal contact between the nut and the bolt, then your ground is not sufficient. He said if I have trouble after a while because of movement or vibrations, he recommends I drill and tap a small hole in the Bandi mount and insert a small set screw to assure a better ground. (I'll save that for later, if I need it) Bottom line - $12.50 and about a half-hour of Bill's time and I can keep my 3' antenna (and get it into the garage). He di radio checks with us as we drove away from the shop (all the way onto the freeway - maybe four or five miles), and things are working perfectly.
Wanted to say thank to everyone for the information. Especially bigbill25, I must have re-read this post 3 times. Following the same parts list. I just located mine next to the glove box and center mounted the antenna to the roof rack. Great reception. I cheated the mount. Two electrical conduit mounts and a angle bracket nipped with the grinder. Thanks again.
Wanted to say thank to everyone for the information. Especially bigbill25, I must have re-read this post 3 times. Following the same parts list. I just located mine next to the glove box and center mounted the antenna to the roof rack. Great reception. I cheated the mount. Two electrical conduit mounts and a angle bracket nipped with the grinder. Thanks again.
I don't know if the rack is grounded to the chassis. How is your reception and SWR?
edit: My apologies if this is redundant. I haven't read the whole post.
I was on Cooper and I-20 this morning and overheard saying their location was close to 635 and I-35E, so about 20 miles as the crow flies.
I thought that I would have to ground it out, but originally hooked it all up and adjusted the antenna tip. I was getting 1.7 on the meter, so never really grounded it. Could already be grounded from the KC's up front.
Wanted to say thank to everyone for the information. Especially bigbill25, I must have re-read this post 3 times. Following the same parts list. I just located mine next to the glove box and center mounted the antenna to the roof rack. Great reception. I cheated the mount. Two electrical conduit mounts and a angle bracket nipped with the grinder. Thanks again.
Great job X-Wing! Can you post more pix of the mount? A close up or two should do the trick. I know what the conduit mounts look like, but I can't picture the angle bracket in my mind. Thanks!
Mike
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2007 FJ, Voodoo Blue, CP, UP#2, OEM Skid Plate, K&N Drop-in Air Filter, Garmin Nuvi 200, Sirius,
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