My communications set up

[urbantank]

since you guys already went off topic the worse internet gangsters are on xboxlive o man that is terible

But back on topic i am looking for a good cb and antenna fro trail riding mostly you got any suggetions mudderoy

on the antenna i dont want to cut a hole in my rig mount on the bumper would be fine but no hole cutting. some type of whip i can pin down kind of like yours but with out the hole in my quater pannel

and thank you for the site i am very much a nood to the xj world and have been sponging off this site for about a 3 weeks now

[Mudderoy]

Originally Posted by urbantank

since you guys already went off topic the worse internet gangsters are on xboxlive o man that is terible

But back on topic i am looking for a good cb and antenna fro trail riding mostly you got any suggetions mudderoy

on the antenna i dont want to cut a hole in my rig mount on the bumper would be fine but no hole cutting. some type of whip i can pin down kind of like yours but with out the hole in my quater pannel

and thank you for the site i am very much a nood to the xj world and have been sponging off this site for about a 3 weeks now

We appreciate you using and posting on the site, that's not being a sponge.

Well like most things there are no easy answers. A full quarter wave antenna is going to out perform a shorter antenna. So what you have to ask yourself is what is the main purpose of your CB. If it is talking to other people on the trail then a shorter antenna is perfectly acceptable. If you are trying to get maxium range then a quarter wave in the middle of your roof would be best. A 102" whip in the middle of your roof is a little impractical though.

Many XJ'ers use a 4 foot whip and attack it to a spare tire carrier, or place an antenna mount just behind one of the tail lights. You drill a couple of holes but at least no one can see them behind the tail light.

Years back they used to make a 102" whip bumper mount. It consisted of a couple of brackets and some chains. With this configuration you could still ben the whip over and hook it to the clip on the rain gutter.

If you had a sun roof I'd recommend a K40 antenna mounted near the center of your roof. You could reach out the sun roof and a quarter turn remove it and bring it inside. Like when going through the drive through.

I did something like this on my 1983 Chevy short well base 4x4. With a 4" lift and 36" tires I would just reach out the sliding back glass and take the K40 off and sit it next to me until I got my order.

It worked out really slick. Best of both worlds.

[urbantank]

what are the ones i see that look like they have a tube on the bottom about 2 feet up then a whip sticking out the tube

[prerunner1982]

Do you mean like this?

That is a mobile 2 meter ham antenna.

[Mudderoy]

Originally Posted by prerunner1982

Do you mean like this?

That is a mobile 2 meter ham antenna.

I can't see it real clear but that antenna appears to be far to close to the metal of the back of the Jeep. This causes RF (Radio Frequency) energy to be reflected back into the antenna. This is the same as having a poorly tuned antenna connected to your transmitter. SWR (Standing Wave Ratio) is a calculation of the amount of RF power going out and the amount of RF power coming back in. The lower the SWR the more RF energy goes out. The higher the SWR the more energy comes back in. This heats up your final output transistors and can cause them to fail. Most, if not all, modern day radios have a sensing circuit to reduce the amount of RF power output to protect the final output transistors. Of course this means the radio should be ok, but instead of putting out full power you have a reduced power out and therefore reduced range.

As always I just tell you what I know, or think I know. If anyone has better information please jump in. Hell even if you don't!

[prerunner1982]

I didn't say that was a good example... haha. It is actually mounted on the back of a truck with a utility service type bed.