CB Radio --What is best antenna

PaGlenn

Well-known Member
Buying a CB radio for my prepper gear. Buying one for $40-$50. Not used everyday. Just for emergency. It will be a car unit operated outside vehicle. What would be a good antenna to hook up to it? Looking for midrange price. Thanx
 
To answer your Subject line "Whats the best Antenna?" I would recommend a full 1/4 wave whip (108") with a good ground plane, similar to what the old Hiway Patrol cars used.
DX Antenna
 
Agreed the whip is the best make sure you get a spring for it or it won't last long. mount it on something steel. If you want to go with something smaller wilson probably has the best you will want to get a tuneable one though.
 
Yeah, the ground plane is the trick to these, and nearly everybody ignores it. Ideally the whip should be mounted in the middle of a large piece of sheet metal that's level. The car roof is probably not large enough to be ideal but it's probably the best available. In the '70s people mounted these on pickup rear bumpers and wondered why they couldn't get 1/2 mile range. A 36" center-load on the roof worked much better. Spring a few more bucks on a cheap SWR meter and tune it, too.
 
Remember that If you do use a standard 6" spring, the whip length should be 102" for a total length of 108". I agree that the VSWR should be checked but at 108" it will be close IFFFFFF you use RG 58 or RG 8 or any good quality 50 ohm cable and no shorts or opens in the cable and the antenna is not near any reflective structures.
 
The best set up I ever had was a whip mounted on the front of the bed and behind the cab of my old 70 Ford 1/2 ton. It was a tiny bit directional to the back but it worked great. gm
 


for a base application,, a super maggie,, or a 5/8s wave will give you a 3db gain over a 1/4 wave.

For mobil, a 102 inch 1/4 wave whip will do ok, but will need a ground counter poise,, meaning its meant to be mounted on a car, or metal structure to work correctly.
 
Borrow a friends set FM radios. I've used them foryears, deer hunting, fishing boat to boat, any large outdoor gathering where there isn't an phone service. Text feature of phones is best for hunting.
You can buy a pretty good set for $60. Built in antennae. Fits in your pocket.
 
sotxbill is correct in his comments with a couple exceptions. There are/were marine antennae that did not need a ground plane and a dipole doesn't need one. You might take a look at this 5 watt handheld if you're wanting to use it away from a vehicle or building. https://www.amazon.com/Cobra-HHROADTRIP-40-Channel-CB-Radio/dp/B000069DOV

Look up cb dipole, or 11 meter dipole, or 27 mhz dipole, or coaxial dipole on youtube.

You should also get a ham tech license and get a BaoFeng transceiver on Amazon (they're really cheap). For the tech lic. all you need to do is memorize some answers and take a test. You don't have to understand electronics, just memorize answers from a study guide. (I know it's not what ham radio is suppose to be about but 2 meter is the new CB arena.)

Good luck prepping for the end of the world.
 

Well, I'm not prepping for the end of the world, but I am prepping for tougher times. The current system isn't sustainable. Anyway, can someone recommend a basic beginners type site for CB/amateur radio? I don't necessarily want to be a Ham type, but I hate burning up minutes on a cell phone when radio is "free". I need to get a basic understanding of why and how antennas work, trouble shooting, etc. I still have a couple of CBs laying around in the attic and some Family band hand helds that work pretty fair for the cost.
 
You can't get a basic understanding of antennae without a basic understanding of physics, in particular electromagnetic wave theory. You can find forums for ham and/or CB where people will discuss what worked for them.
 

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