CB Coxial cable

I decided on a 3' firestik that I found locally for $18.95 + tax. On the packaging it says to use 18' of coxial cable when installing? :?

I checked on their website and found the following in the FAQ section:

I haven't found any reasoning for the 18' spec. I'm tempted to try using a shorter length since I'm not going for optimum performance just trail use. Can anyone here shed some light on this?

 

Ray, I got it from Truckin Stuff on Magnolia in El Cajon. I plan on getting an SWR meter so I can tune it myself and periodically check it.

 

Ray's comment was they will tune it after it's installed. Your're right that you can't bench tune an antenna all you could do tune it to a specific frequency. I'm planing to tune it after it's installed.

 

Ok I've been following Don's posts on CB's w/ interest because it's next on the list for the 6 ,one thing I havn't seen is a optimum location for the antenna mount....what's best?

 

My excess coax is zig zagged clipped to the bottom of the cowl, under the dash.... Or, actually, above the dash....
I used a "mirror mount" bracket, attached to the RR of the tire carrier..3Ft. Firestik.

 

Any pics of the antenna mounts? I'm thinking rear corner on top of the wheel well as far back as I can or on the tire carrier.

 

I just cut it to length and installed a new end. Works well w/ an 8" stainless whip.
Mounted on the rear bumber w/ a conical spring. I keep the end tied down on like
military antennas.

 

The 18 ft requirement is a myth... again Stu Olson comes through with the info...

http://www.stu-offroad.com/misc/myth-1.htm

However it is usually convenient to buy it prepackaged that way, so the info about leaving the excess as loose as possible is accurate.

 

Nice! Thanx

 

New bumper and set up. Cable not hooked up yet.




Old bumper and set up.

 

As long as the shield of the coax is properly attached to a good sized hunk of metal at the antenna base (say, for example, a Jeep ) the length of the coax is immaterial. If it isn't (it should be!) just fer fun even the 18 ft , or as in the Olsen article, 11 ft. length is problematic as your are now depending on the outside surface of the coax shield to act as the "ground" and routing this around things or next to metal things will have the effect of changing it's "electrical" length. So to get your antenna to work properly you would have to start experimenting with where the coax cable would be run & changing it's physical length to get the best (Good? So-So?) performance. Due to the wavelength size compared to the size of most vehicles these days it can be tough enough as it is to get a good match on a CB antenna, I put one on my Durango a few years ago & just opening a door was enough to send the VSWR crazy.

H.

 

Doors? What are these doors you speak of? Open doors won't be a problem