Antenna Recommendation
 

I just leased a brand new 07 pickup truck, and I have a Mirage 6600 radio
converted for
use as a CB.

I have some limitations on antenna choices, such as I park in a parking
garage every day
for work. Not to mention that I don't want to scratch the paint with a
Magnet Mount
and sonce it's a lease, a permanent roof mount is out. I was thinking of
either a 108"
steel whip attached to the trailor hitch, or 2 fiberglass whips on each
front side of the
bed.

I might get an amp later, so performace means alot also.

Thanks for your advice!

Antenna Recommendation
 

"Robert A. Turpin" wrote:
I just leased a brand new 07 pickup truck, and I have a Mirage 6600 radio
converted for
use as a CB.

I have some limitations on antenna choices, such as I park in a parking
garage every day
for work. Not to mention that I don't want to scratch the paint with a
Magnet Mount
and sonce it's a lease, a permanent roof mount is out. I was thinking of
either a 108"
steel whip attached to the trailor hitch, or 2 fiberglass whips on each
front side of the
bed.

I might get an amp later, so performace means alot also.

Thanks for your advice!

Mirror mount?

--
http://NewsReader.Com/

Antenna Recommendation
 

On Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:05:29 -0400, "Robert A. Turpin"
wrote in
:

I just leased a brand new 07 pickup truck, and I have a Mirage 6600 radio
converted for
use as a CB.

I have some limitations on antenna choices, such as I park in a parking
garage every day
for work. Not to mention that I don't want to scratch the paint with a
Magnet Mount
and sonce it's a lease, a permanent roof mount is out.


I've done literally dozens of roof installs on lease vehicles. The
dealerships usually don't mind as long as it's done by a competent
tech. Give them a call. Either they will have their own tech do it or
outsource it to a local shop.


I was thinking of
either a 108"
steel whip attached to the trailor hitch, or 2 fiberglass whips on each
front side of the
bed.


I would say the roof. You can put a shorty on there while commuting to
work, and keep a firestick or ss whip behind the seat when you hit the
highway or find a nice hill.


I might get an amp later, so performace means alot also.


Aw, that's cheating!

Antenna Recommendation
 

Hello Robert:

Robert A. Turpin wrote:

I just leased a brand new 07 pickup truck, and I have a Mirage 6600 radio
converted for
use as a CB.

I have some limitations on antenna choices, such as I park in a parking
garage every day
for work. Not to mention that I don't want to scratch the paint with a
Magnet Mount
and sonce it's a lease, a permanent roof mount is out. I was thinking of
either a 108"
steel whip attached to the trailor hitch, or 2 fiberglass whips on each
front side of the
bed.

I'll bet a Wilson 1000 or 5000 will work just great.


I might get an amp later, so performace means alot also.

Thanks for your advice!

The Wilson 1000 or 5000 will take a little heat, it will help you get
out better. A 100 watts or so will work fine.

Jay in the Mojave

Antenna Recommendation
 

Good thought, but the mirrors on new trucks are completely covered by a
black plastic piece.

"Steveo" wrote in message
...
"Robert A. Turpin" wrote:
I just leased a brand new 07 pickup truck, and I have a Mirage 6600 radio
converted for
use as a CB.

I have some limitations on antenna choices, such as I park in a parking
garage every day
for work. Not to mention that I don't want to scratch the paint with a
Magnet Mount
and sonce it's a lease, a permanent roof mount is out. I was thinking of
either a 108"
steel whip attached to the trailor hitch, or 2 fiberglass whips on each
front side of the
bed.

I might get an amp later, so performace means alot also.

Thanks for your advice!

Mirror mount?

--
http://NewsReader.Com/

Antenna Recommendation
 

I would say the roof. You can put a shorty on there while commuting to
work, and keep a firestick or ss whip behind the seat when you hit the
highway or find a nice hill.

If I'm going with the roof, what's to gain with a permanent mount vs. a
Wilson magnet mount?

"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 21 Apr 2007 00:05:29 -0400, "Robert A. Turpin"
wrote in
:

I just leased a brand new 07 pickup truck, and I have a Mirage 6600 radio
converted for
use as a CB.

I have some limitations on antenna choices, such as I park in a parking
garage every day
for work. Not to mention that I don't want to scratch the paint with a
Magnet Mount
and sonce it's a lease, a permanent roof mount is out.


I've done literally dozens of roof installs on lease vehicles. The
dealerships usually don't mind as long as it's done by a competent
tech. Give them a call. Either they will have their own tech do it or
outsource it to a local shop.


I was thinking of
either a 108"
steel whip attached to the trailor hitch, or 2 fiberglass whips on each
front side of the
bed.


I would say the roof. You can put a shorty on there while commuting to
work, and keep a firestick or ss whip behind the seat when you hit the
highway or find a nice hill.


I might get an amp later, so performace means alot also.


Aw, that's cheating!

Antenna Recommendation
 

"Jay in the Mojave" wrote in message
...

I'll bet a Wilson 1000 or 5000 will work just great.

The only problem with a Wilson (I ran one one my old truck when I first
started this job), is that I must stop every day before entering and after
exiting to remove or replace the whip. This procedure gets really old very
quickly, and god forbid if I should forget to put it back on and fire up a
conversation...

The Wilson 1000 or 5000 will take a little heat, it will help you get out
better. A 100 watts or so will work fine.

I don't really know much about amps, other than you're not supposed to use
them for cb's. Do they do anything besides making your signal travel out
further?

Antenna Recommendation
 

Check out the Skipshooter fiberglass antennas. I've had one for years on
top of my aluminum camper shell and it gets out great barefoot but will take
up to 1500 Watts of power. They come in several lengths with the shortest
one around 2 or 3 feet and they are the strongest fiberglass antenna made
and have a tunable tip. I have mine mounted on a ball and spring mount but
I'm sure you could find a mount you like. On your rooftop it should really
work great.

Scorpio
"Robert A. Turpin" wrote in message
m...
"Jay in the Mojave" wrote in message
...

I'll bet a Wilson 1000 or 5000 will work just great.

The only problem with a Wilson (I ran one one my old truck when I first
started this job), is that I must stop every day before entering and after
exiting to remove or replace the whip. This procedure gets really old very
quickly, and god forbid if I should forget to put it back on and fire up a
conversation...

The Wilson 1000 or 5000 will take a little heat, it will help you get
out
better. A 100 watts or so will work fine.

I don't really know much about amps, other than you're not supposed to use
them for cb's. Do they do anything besides making your signal travel out
further?

Antenna Recommendation
 

"Robert A. Turpin" wrote:
Good thought, but the mirrors on new trucks are completely covered by a
black plastic piece.

"Steveo" wrote in message
...
"Robert A. Turpin" wrote:
I just leased a brand new 07 pickup truck, and I have a Mirage 6600
radio converted for
use as a CB.

I have some limitations on antenna choices, such as I park in a
parking garage every day
for work. Not to mention that I don't want to scratch the paint with a
Magnet Mount
and sonce it's a lease, a permanent roof mount is out. I was thinking
of either a 108"
steel whip attached to the trailor hitch, or 2 fiberglass whips on
each front side of the
bed.

I might get an amp later, so performace means alot also.

Thanks for your advice!

Mirror mount?

--
http://NewsReader.Com/

Front fender mount?

--
http://NewsReader.Com/

Antenna Recommendation
 

"Robert A. Turpin" wrote:
I would say the roof. You can put a shorty on there while commuting to
work, and keep a firestick or ss whip behind the seat when you hit the
highway or find a nice hill.

If I'm going with the roof, what's to gain with a permanent mount vs. a
Wilson magnet mount?

Easier coax run and better ground, no scratchy the paint too.

--
http://NewsReader.Com/

Antenna Recommendation
 

On Sat, 21 Apr 2007 11:04:01 -0400, "Robert A. Turpin"
wrote in
:

I would say the roof. You can put a shorty on there while commuting to
work, and keep a firestick or ss whip behind the seat when you hit the
highway or find a nice hill.

If I'm going with the roof, what's to gain with a permanent mount vs. a
Wilson magnet mount?


Versatility. You can put any standard 3/8-24 threaded whip on there,
whether it's super short or the big 9' whip. All you need is a 25 cent
wrench in the glove compartment to get them on or off. It's also
cheaper in the long run since mag mounts often get stolen, and whips
are both cheap and plentiful (especially at garage sales). And no
mag-mount will outperform a 9' whip -- period.

The reason for mounting it on the roof is to get the bottom of the
antenna (the part that radiates the most) above all the metal of the
vehicle. Mounting the whip to the bumper or trailer hitch and your
rear clip will absorb and/or scatter part of your signal, and will
affect reception by the same amount.

I see from your other post that you aren't familiar with amps. Just so
you know, CB amps are illegal. If you get caught the FCC will either
send you a letter telling you to stop, or ask to inspect your station
to confiscate your amp. If you ignore the letter, or refuse to let
them take your amp, you will get slapped with a fine of several
thousand dollars (yes, -thousand-). If you're ok with that, here's the
dope on amps:

Your standard 40-channel CB puts out 4 watts of RF. In order to double
your range you need to quadruple your power. But as you increase your
range you will step on other CBers in the area you are covering, so
you need to use the amp with respect to other CBers. At some power
level you will no longer get any more range (law of diminishing
returns) which usually happens around 100 watts or so, depending on
your terrain. Any more power and you are basically in an RF drag race
with big dummies with big amps to see who can stomp on everyone else's
signal.

If you DX then you may find that power doesn't matter much, skip is
either there or it isn't, regardless of how much power you use. In
fact, at least one person on this group has DXed half the planet
without an amp at all.

If you haven't purchased your amp yet, be warned: most of them are
junk. They may claim that they are "linear" but are not, and will put
harmonics all over the spectrum, including the neighbor's television.
A low-pass filter will help but not completely. Just like everything
else, you get what you pay for.

Also, if an amp is rated for 100 watts, don't expect to get more than
25 watts carrier (dead-key). The reason is that most amps are rated
for 'peak' power which is fine if you are running SSB, but the
majority of CB is done with AM. In that mode, peak power is four times
the carrier, so you must reduce the amp's input until the carrier is
one fourth of the rating of the amp.

Hope that helps.

Antenna Recommendation
 

I think that a permanent roof mount will work, IF I can find a good Short
antenna so that I won't have to remove it every day. I will let you know how
much clearence my truck has on Monday when I get to the parking garage.

Thanks to you all for the honest straight shootin advice!

Byt he way, I haven't cb'd for over 10-15 years. How are the airways,
people, etc.... these days. Are there still a lot of non-truckers (not that
I dislike truckers) out there?