Motorhome antenna
 

On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:24:06 -0400, "Steve"
wrote in :

Hello,
I want to put an antenna on a -fiberglass- motorhome (class a) and I'm not
sure about the no gound plane vs the regular mobile antenna choices. I have
a ladder
rack on the back, and a luggage rack on top, but I'm not sure of how much
ground I can get from that.

I have a 102" whip laying around and I thought about mounting that to the
back bumber with a homemade plastic 'standoff' at the top of the motorhome
to keep it from swinging.

Good idea, or no? (tree pruner is not what i want) but from the bumper I can
use most of that 9' before it clears the roof on a fiberglass body.

Strange combo.


Try an electric fence standoff/insulator. They even come in different
lengths.

Motorhome antenna
 

"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:24:06 -0400, "Steve"
wrote in :

Hello,
I want to put an antenna on a -fiberglass- motorhome (class a) and I'm
not
sure about the no gound plane vs the regular mobile antenna choices. I
have
a ladder
rack on the back, and a luggage rack on top, but I'm not sure of how much
ground I can get from that.

I have a 102" whip laying around and I thought about mounting that to
the
back bumber with a homemade plastic 'standoff' at the top of the motorhome
to keep it from swinging.

Good idea, or no? (tree pruner is not what i want) but from the bumper I
can
use most of that 9' before it clears the roof on a fiberglass body.

Strange combo.


Try an electric fence standoff/insulator. They even come in different
lengths.


Hello Frank, yeah something like that would work or something a bit more
flexable for when it bangs off of tree branches and such.
It will be late winter/early spring before I install it so I have time to
ponder on it, I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Do you like the 102" whip, or the 'no ground' antenna mounted to the ladder
for my application?

73
Steve.

Motorhome antenna
 

On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:56:48 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:24:06 -0400, "Steve"
wrote in :

Hello,
I want to put an antenna on a -fiberglass- motorhome (class a) and I'm
not
sure about the no gound plane vs the regular mobile antenna choices. I
have
a ladder
rack on the back, and a luggage rack on top, but I'm not sure of how much
ground I can get from that.

I have a 102" whip laying around and I thought about mounting that to
the
back bumber with a homemade plastic 'standoff' at the top of the motorhome
to keep it from swinging.

Good idea, or no? (tree pruner is not what i want) but from the bumper I
can
use most of that 9' before it clears the roof on a fiberglass body.

Strange combo.


Try an electric fence standoff/insulator. They even come in different
lengths.


Hello Frank, yeah something like that would work or something a bit more
flexable for when it bangs off of tree branches and such.
It will be late winter/early spring before I install it so I have time to
ponder on it, I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Do you like the 102" whip, or the 'no ground' antenna mounted to the ladder
for my application?


Beats me. The few 9' whips I've seen on RVs were bolted to the front
bumper. But anything you mount is going to hit something eventually.
And almost anything will work for local chatter under a mile, which
covers the vast majority of CB usage on the road. Once you park you
can screw on any stick that can be carried inside the RV and you don't
have to worry about hitting power lines. So it seems to me that a
whip-swapping system would give you the most bang for your buck. Heck,
if I had a two-piece 9' whip I could keep it stashed behind the seat
of my truck..... hmmm.....

Motorhome antenna
 

"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:56:48 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :
-snip-
Beats me. The few 9' whips I've seen on RVs were bolted to the front
bumper. But anything you mount is going to hit something eventually.
And almost anything will work for local chatter under a mile, which
covers the vast majority of CB usage on the road. Once you park you
can screw on any stick that can be carried inside the RV and you don't
have to worry about hitting power lines. So it seems to me that a
whip-swapping system would give you the most bang for your buck. Heck,
if I had a two-piece 9' whip I could keep it stashed behind the seat
of my truck..... hmmm.....


Hello Frank, you just gave me an idea. The motorhome already has a short CB
antenna on it (sucks) for portable comms so I might try an A-99 mounted to
the ladder rack just for 'parked at the site' comms. They're three sections
so I could store the top two sections inside the home when not in use. Like
you say...hmmm..

Thanks for your input, Frank.

73
Steve.

Motorhome antenna
 

On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:39:44 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:56:48 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :
-snip-
Beats me. The few 9' whips I've seen on RVs were bolted to the front
bumper. But anything you mount is going to hit something eventually.
And almost anything will work for local chatter under a mile, which
covers the vast majority of CB usage on the road. Once you park you
can screw on any stick that can be carried inside the RV and you don't
have to worry about hitting power lines. So it seems to me that a
whip-swapping system would give you the most bang for your buck. Heck,
if I had a two-piece 9' whip I could keep it stashed behind the seat
of my truck..... hmmm.....


Hello Frank, you just gave me an idea. The motorhome already has a short CB
antenna on it (sucks) for portable comms so I might try an A-99 mounted to
the ladder rack just for 'parked at the site' comms. They're three sections
so I could store the top two sections inside the home when not in use. Like
you say...hmmm..

Thanks for your input, Frank.


Heck of an idea. Kinda wish I had thought of it myself. Just don't
forget that the A99 is a half-wave, so don't expect it to tune like it
does on the roof. You might have to spin those rings quite a ways
before you get a decent match.

Motorhome antenna
 

"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:39:44 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 6 Nov 2009 18:56:48 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :
-snip-
Beats me. The few 9' whips I've seen on RVs were bolted to the front
bumper. But anything you mount is going to hit something eventually.
And almost anything will work for local chatter under a mile, which
covers the vast majority of CB usage on the road. Once you park you
can screw on any stick that can be carried inside the RV and you don't
have to worry about hitting power lines. So it seems to me that a
whip-swapping system would give you the most bang for your buck. Heck,
if I had a two-piece 9' whip I could keep it stashed behind the seat
of my truck..... hmmm.....


Hello Frank, you just gave me an idea. The motorhome already has a short
CB
antenna on it (sucks) for portable comms so I might try an A-99 mounted to
the ladder rack just for 'parked at the site' comms. They're three
sections
so I could store the top two sections inside the home when not in use.
Like
you say...hmmm..

Thanks for your input, Frank.


Heck of an idea. Kinda wish I had thought of it myself. Just don't
forget that the A99 is a half-wave, so don't expect it to tune like it
does on the roof. You might have to spin those rings quite a ways
before you get a decent match.


Yes sir I'm not sure how well it will match up but I can always add a tuner
if need be, I'll let you know if it works ok next spring.

The ladder mount plus the 18 feet will put me up in the breeze quite a bit
at the campsites I travel.

Hey if I have a tuner on board I should prolly have some disposable wire
and a wrist rocket on board too eh? hehe

73
Steve.

Motorhome antenna
 

On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:22:03 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :

snip

Hey if I have a tuner on board I should prolly have some disposable wire
and a wrist rocket on board too eh? hehe


Don't laugh -- I have a crossbow. It works. I had to custom make a
special bolt for the job, and drilled the stock to attach a spin-cast
reel, but it works.

Motorhome antenna
 

"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:22:03 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :

snip

Hey if I have a tuner on board I should prolly have some disposable wire
and a wrist rocket on board too eh? hehe


Don't laugh -- I have a crossbow. It works. I had to custom make a
special bolt for the job, and drilled the stock to attach a spin-cast
reel, but it works.


Great adaption there Frank, which tuner are you using?

Motorhome antenna
 

On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:27:54 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:22:03 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :

snip

Hey if I have a tuner on board I should prolly have some disposable wire
and a wrist rocket on board too eh? hehe


Don't laugh -- I have a crossbow. It works. I had to custom make a
special bolt for the job, and drilled the stock to attach a spin-cast
reel, but it works.


Great adaption there Frank, which tuner are you using?


Homebrew. Built it inside a small, waterproof mil-spec box. My
original plan was to launch a dipole and use the tuner at the ground
junction between the coax and the twinlead. But that turned out to be
more trouble than it was worth so I pulled the balun and swapped a
couple parts. Now it's a long-wire tuner. Works great with barbed-wire
fences if you can hook it up at the gate or on a corner; doesn't work
so well tapped in the middle of a long, straight run.

Motorhome antenna
 

"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:27:54 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :


"Frank Gilliland" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:22:03 -0500, "Steve"
wrote in :

snip

Hey if I have a tuner on board I should prolly have some disposable
wire
and a wrist rocket on board too eh? hehe


Don't laugh -- I have a crossbow. It works. I had to custom make a
special bolt for the job, and drilled the stock to attach a spin-cast
reel, but it works.


Great adaption there Frank, which tuner are you using?


Homebrew. Built it inside a small, waterproof mil-spec box. My
original plan was to launch a dipole and use the tuner at the ground
junction between the coax and the twinlead. But that turned out to be
more trouble than it was worth so I pulled the balun and swapped a
couple parts. Now it's a long-wire tuner. Works great with barbed-wire
fences if you can hook it up at the gate or on a corner; doesn't work
so well tapped in the middle of a long, straight run.


I heard that Frank, go to go with the homebrew. Ok man I guess this ends the
motorhome antenna topic and I sure do appreciate your input on the deal!

73
Steve.