[cmg1012]

Would I do better with a 4 foot antenna mounted on the rear door hinge or a 2 foot roof rack mounted antenna? I have a 4 foot now that only sticks about a foot max past the RTT. My SWB is 1 to 1.3 depending on the channel. Thinking of switching the setup to get more antenna past the roof line of the RTT but I’m not sure if buying a shorter total length antenna would make for worse reception. Thanks.

 

[longtooth]

Re: CB antenna 4ft or 2ft

I'm running a standard clamp mount with a 3' FireStik - bolted to the lower rack bar dead in the middle in the back. I put a spring on it so if I hit limbs or drag in the drive-thru nothing gets busted. Took it through my creek a few weeks back to test, since my Comet antenna just bent and failed miserably. Passed with flying colors... I got good receive and reach as well.

I mounted a 4' FireStik for my 2m rig using a door-edge clamp mount - the Bandi broke on me in the woods last year. I like this mount because it is BEEFY, and swivels in 3 directions. I leave ot a little loose in case the whip gets in a bind, she will swivel instead of break.

 

[Sanderhawk]

I`m also running a 3 foot firestick mounted to the top hinge of the back door.

 

[One Shot]

I read it’s best to have 40% above the roof line, so I put a 6’er on the Bandi mount.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[cmg1012]

Thanks guys! Going with a 3 foot firefly mounted on the roof rack. May or May not keep the spring mount. That should leave 2 feet past the RTT.

 

[Serenity Now]

Do you wheel in the woods? The taller the antenna, the more abuse it will take from tree branches...

 

[rotorhed1]

I use a magnetic mount on the roof. It only goes on when I am out wheeling. Yes it does contact trees at times, but it will flop over with major contact. I can move the antenna around depending on what else I have on top, like my kayak. For my ham radio I have a motorized mount that I can push a button and it folds down.

 

[SergioK]

5'... that's what I run on my rig. Have a perfect SWR on it. I've found shorter antennas are harder to tune.

 

[cmg1012]

So I moved the mount to the roof and used a 3ft firestik firefly. Much thinner and rated at 100w. It was impossible to tune. Could not get SWR below 5. I then replaced the antenna with my original 4ft firestik 2 rated at 900w and it tunes to swr of 1. Not sure if the problem is the fact that the firefly is a weaker antenna and I have a fiberglass RTT covering the entire roof, regardless, didn’t work for me. I’m going to try a non firefly 3ft that’s also rated high at 650w. Maybe even a 2ft at 300w. My current clearance with mount and spring is 11 feet. Too tall for comfort around town.

I’m not sure how much distance I’ll be sacrificing going with a weaker 2ft or 3ft instead of the 4ft given that I have the thing mounted so high up.

 

[jcfj10]

i am using my K40 i had when i was driving semi on a FireStik Stainless Steel Door jamb Mount. really good set up, end of the antennae is way above the roof, but its a thin whip above the center load, so it is not a problem.

 

[Cholerabob]

You need to clear any obstructions that you may have, like for exemple if mounted on the back door hinge, the antenna needs to have enough clearance above the roof and rack to get an unobstructed signal. It the back door hinge exemple, 4 feet does the job. If you have a tent on the roof, antenna will nee to clear it so it might need to be longer, or mounted in a different place.

 

[Nameuser]

Get the biggest antenna you can use and tune it properly to get the best SWR for CH19. Get a small antenna for off roading and tune it to CH4 (or whatever channel you use mostly for off roading). Lookup Off Center Tuning Your CB Antenna on firestik website. All of this assuming you have a quick disconnect making it easy to change antennas on the fly

 

[Nameuser]

Get the biggest antenna you can use and tune it properly to get the best SWR for CH19. Get a small antenna for off roading and tune it to CH4 (or whatever channel you use mostly for off roading). Lookup Off Center Tuning Your CB Antenna on firestik website. All of this assuming you have a quick disconnect making it easy to change antennas on the fly

You would off center tune the short antenna.