can we just take a second to appreciate the production value of this video. These guys made an exceptionally good looking, well made, well lit, excellent audio quality, tv quality youtube video
tyvm for taking the time to lay out these concepts not covered in so many CB radio videos. I'm new to the CB thing, i inherited my Dad's old CB stuff... and i am trying to figure it all out now in 2022... tyvm for this! Anyway... I was also thinking the "height on antenna" is most important. It may be a no-brainer for most but this video changed my mind on where I will be mounting my antenna on the truck. It will be more work, but hey. It just makes sense.
30 years ago I had a CB radio and found that putting the arial in the middle of the roof gave best all round signal when the arial is off centre it makes the signal directional both in recive and transmit this is because the metal car is the ground plane
Jonathan Willis yes you are absolutely correct, the metal of the car acts as the ground plane and placement on the bodywork directly affects the radiation pattern, to make it even better, drill a hole and mount a propper 3/8 mount that directly gounds to the bare metal, mag mounts are crap as they don't make a actual physical connection
Thought I'd share something a little different my Father has tried with his CB, We bought him a separate speaker because he had trouble hearing due to the position so he mounted it on the car seat, in the gap between the headrest and backrest. Anyway great video and thanks for the tips.
Great work on the video. One point, just because a roof mounted antenna provides the best position for radio performance, doesn't mean it's definitively the best place to mount a radio antenna. That is one factor to consider, but clearly there are others, such as obstacle clearance.
Starting out with CB (in the USA) and then into Amateur Radio I couldn't agree more with your comment on antenna placement. The one thing I learned early on was if you want to get the best all around coverage is to put your antenna at the center of the vehicle. As soon as you move it in one direction or another, the signal will favor the direction where there is the most metal in relation to the antenna, also MAKE SURE the antenna 'sees' a good ground to the vehicle to get the best match (SWR) for the radio, assuming the antenna is adjustable.
If your running 2 UHF radios in the car you can select channels that you don't want to scan so that it doesn't interfere with the other one. I know the GME ones do it by holding down the scan button on the channel that you don't want it to scan. also with the hand held radios you can hook up a larger antenna (as long as their 5watt) to it for use in the car to get better signal obviously and then when you want to use it to spot someone it just unscrews. its definitely a cheaper way to do it with still the same signal strength. Keep up the good work mate!
I agree Ronny. Remember that the antenna on the bull bar, or on the roof for that matter, isan omnidirectional antenna. It means that when you transmit on that antenna, the radio sivnal is send out of that antenna in all directions around you. Just keep in mind that if hou put two antnnas next to each other on the same side of the bull bar, there is a possibility that the non transmitting antenna can act as a reflector, and this can change your omnidirectional antenna into a directional antenna. This means that you will not have strong signal all round, but stronger to the opposite side of the non transmitting antenna. Keep it away from each other as far as you can and you should be fine. If you put it on the bull bar, put one on each side, and you will transmit further and better around your vehicle in all directions. It is also a good thing if you have one on the bull bar and one on the roof, or on a bracket on your roof rack....as high as possible. The antenna plays avery important roll, a d it is very important whe it is mounted, that you make sure it is do e properly. If not, it can even damage your radio. Thanks for a very informative video Ronny. Maybe you can look at a video on different radios and antennas as well to compliment this channel. Thanks for all the interesting videos, I really enjoy watching it
You pretty much nailed it Ronny. The German engineer is right but if you got into all that it would complicate the general message which was 100% correct. Keep antennas apart and keep them high. We should be making more use of the 11 meter/27MHZ CB band here in AUS because it will get you longer distances when travelling outback. Cheers mate.
Thank you for posting these VID's mate! I just inherited my Grandmother's old vehicle mounted, Cobra 40-CH, 4-ft whip antenna with a magnetic base. Fought it was registered in her name, I'm certain Grandfather has not used it since prior to '85.
Some good info there (some not so good as well). Have you torn the antenna off the roof yet? Some of the tracks the brother and I have gone down an antenna on the roof would have been left behind with broken mounts. Never place two antennas together whether the other is active or not as it will stuff up the propagation characteristics. Other than a few nitpicks it is great to see someone do these videos, keep it up.
Ronny, I'm really impressed with the time, cost, and creativity which goes into building these expedition trucks. On that note, how long/ what mileage do you typically keep your vehicle before you think of replacing it?
Can I suggest an extremely important tip with regards to the placement of antennas, people need to check their state legislation with regards to the placement of antennas on front bars whether it be bull or nudge in NSW it is illegal to have an antenna right of center of the bonnet as it is considered an obstruction of the drivers view, I am proof fined by the NSW Highway patrol in Darlington Pount south of Griffith for having a 1m UHF CB antenna on the right hand tab of my bull bar considered to be an obstruction of the drivers vision. If you are going to have your antenna roof mounted you need to know your height from the tip of the antenna to the ground so you dint snap it off on low places like bridges & under ground car parks 2nd you can have 2 antennas ( say a uhf & say a phone, say your cel-fi ) next to each other as long as they are 300mm apart
Waykat Services P/L Melbourne Thats all part of modifying your vehicle. If you are silly enough not to check local regulations before putting things on, then more fool you. In QLD you can run them on the left but you CAN run one on the right if its the only mounting, it can’t be a big fat auto tuner tho. It also depends where you are. Many country police are far more lenient with this kind of thing due to understanding practicality of the remote locations.
Ronny you got it right, Travel the world is specifically talking about the radiation pattern of a 1/4 wave ground plane, very hyper theoretical. and not of any real world relevance. BTW I worked as an instrument fitter for a swiss company dealing in electromechanics and Im an Aussie !!!! You don't need to drop anything. I was also a senior manager with Icom Just get anything on the roof and it will work, my choice RFI Stainless Steel Extended Feed ground independent with a 4.5dB Stainless steel Co-Linear on the roof bar, any position on the bar. Not the Bullbar If you need more signal, then put a 477Mhz capable amplifier in line. If that floats your boat, but IMHO not needed
Another tip: If you do have more than one antenna running different bands or the same band, make sure you don’t let those antenna cables cross (touch) each other. They can cause interference with each other.
+Matt V (Camel51) Make sure it's a good brand one, it's worth spending the extra on something like a GME. Cheap ones are often poorly made and prone to failure. Best of luck
Very good Movie but there is definatly some corrections need to be in Place. I Think some of the things that you mention are derived from CB myths. I did enjoy. Keep the Movies coming. 1. Antenna on Bullbar. Very common in Australia yes. One reason why we do not use it so commonly in other countries is because. A. In many countries it could be seen as obstructing the view and a police can fine you or you will not pass your annual inspection. B. Our vehicles must be made out such that there is no Sharp objects to damage yourself even more on should you get hit by a car. This is for example a reason why Mercedes not have a logo sticking up over the hood anymore. 2. Antother reason why not to mount on the bull bar is ground. All vertical antennas need ground and if you put an antenna on the corner of your bull bar you will have very good transmit and reception in the opposite corner direction but not at all so good in the direction of where the antenna sits. The ground of the vehicle will be longest in the opposite corner direction. This means that the effective wave pattern will be lower in that direction and so will also the losses. 3. Height of antenna is important, I agree. We radio amatuers have a saying that if an antenna does not come down in a storm it is either placed to low or it is too small. Now there is one more Point. Your cabin, roof etc is in the way of the antenna hence you will get losses in that direction. 4. Never trust an antenna manufacturer Db. They are first of all theoretical and there is no reference. If it says Dbi you can trust it somewhat more but it is reference to an isotrop. Real Db for antennas is measured in Dbd (over a dipole) but verticals cant be measured by that. To really know the efficieancy of your antenna you need to know your ground. 5. The chart showing the DB of the antennas is not really correct. Db means how much the antenna gain is. That is, if you send 5W into the antenna, does it act like it sends out 3 or 5,6W? What the charts do show is the 6. Lower Db antennas do not work better in mountaius areas. This is a myth. What it is the wave pattern of the radio wave and also the take-off angle. This also depending on the ground. Since the manufacturer cant really say what ground each and every customer have it is considered quite bogus to even market with that. 7 An antenna does not transmit from the top. It uses the whole whip and with (lenghten) or without coils your antenna should be 1/4 wavelenght times 0,96. 8. Antenna up high is good but it may mean that it is difficult to get under trees and stuff. cheers
In some states it is illegal to have an antenna on the drivers side of the bull bar, NSW I think is a big fine, they class it as obstructed vision, also the whole antenna radiates the signal not just the top
Good video, I agree with most of it, but putting two antennas next to each other is not a good idea. One will interfere with the other kind of like putting it next to any metal object will. If you spaced them the right distance apart it could act like a beam and direct you power and signal mostly in one direction. I have seen Hams put 4 antennas on top of their car to do just that. Lot of work for little reward in my opinion. As you said separation is the best, and putting it on top is the absolute best. Been doing radio as a Ham Operator for about 45 years and worked at a shop and installed and sold a lot of radios. Always wondered about the big tall antennas; broadcast/tunes pretty cool. New van in 92 wife almost had a cow when she saw me on top drilling a hole in it. Don't know why, she should have been use to it by then; and by the way she holds a general ham license. Me an extra. Always wanted to go to Australia to scuba some and off road but a long ways from north west Arkansas, USA.
I have 4 antennas mounting on top of my SUV, at 1/4 length apart at 4 corners. They function as Pseudo Doppler for direction finding. Well, until I forgot to lock out transmitting and blew the diodes up.
A 12 dB antenna would be totally impractical mobile as it would be way too long, (more than 5 metres) The device shown at 3:50 is not a “splitter” it’s a coax switch. Some care needs to be taken with their use, for example never ‘hot switch’ them that is switch them over while transmitting as that will present an open circuit to the radio during change over . It can also cause arcing at the switch contacts which can damage the contacts. For uhf cb I would recommend a switch with N connectors rather than the SO239 connectors shown as they can be a bit lossy at 477 MHz. By the way I disagree on placing antennas close to each other under any circumstance as an antenna that receives also re radiates part of the radio frequency energy it receives so there still be interaction between them which will affect their beam patterns.
As we know higher is better, but placement is just as important, A Mid Roof mounted antenna radiates even, and antenna that is at the Front of a car pushes more power backwards, and vise versa, left mounted sends signal right and vise versa, Most important check that SWR
I think in addition to UHF it would be great if people started to re-populate the old 27mhz band again too. Less nutters hogging repeaters as there generally is no repeaters, the ability to converse interstate or internationally when conditions are favourable (however this is not reliable, just more for enjoyment when it's available) and generally you can acheive a greater distance than simplex UHF.
You mention the scanning radio with a second radio, I see a lot of radios have a memory function, so you may can lock the channel your convoy is on from being scanned using this memory function.
mounting two speakers in front not an issue... left for one... right for the other... the hardest thing is when you've got five different radios to monitor..! I'm ex army radio operator :)
Goodey ronny, id love to see a modified episode on one of the smaller 4wds if you can find one! I'm a massive fan of the sierras and jimny's, but any other smaller rigs would be mint to see. Big fan, loving your work dude
Good video ronny, just one question. What is the type and the brand of the music radio antenna you got mounted on your bullbar. I'm searching for such an antenna cause I want to mounth it on my nissan to.
dBi or dBd? Radiation pattern? It's simple with UHF. Get an antenna with as much genuine gain as possible. Ground independent and as high as possible. I've use a handheld on 0.25 watts >80klms line of sight. If your're really stuck sometimes using a walking up a hill with a $250 5w handheld could save your ass.
Mark, Totally agree, alot of these how to do it sites ( BTW Ronny, I really like yours, so down to earth) just load you with so much theoretical crap, that is meaningless. Power users, will use two antennas, one small 1'/4 wave on the roof bar and a 6 or 9db broomstick on the bull bar or the roof bar, that's the best you will do legally 99% of viewers will have no idea what dbi or dbd is ( I Do) Waste of time. I am a tech and ex commercial sales, great video Ronny , great post Mark
Like your videos, great discovery to stumble on them. On this video, you talk about having antenna at different heights to avoid conflicting signals. Maybe we're looking at different applicatoins, maybe Main and Backup, but I'm thinking from having CB antenna and also a HAM UHF/VHF antenna (two diff units for band coverage). Question (and I'm new to CB, and HAM radio, too, just licensed), if you're only transmitting on one at a time, does it really matter if they're at the same height? Can't think I'd be TX'ing on two units at the same time? Is there conflict if only TX'ing on one at a time... or even RX'ing on say... 10 meters on one, and 2 meters on the other with antenna's mounted equally high on either side of vehicle?
typically I err to use a whip of 7 foot for 27 mhz and i'm inclined to do the same with uhf... with caveat with uhf that on road stick to 80 on bush stick to 40 channel
Hello from the US. Great video. I understand some people use 27Mhz and 477Mhz. But, sometimes I see pictures or videos of vehicles with 3, 4, or 5 antennas. What are those all for?
Hi Chris, In Australia,users do lots with their 4WD;s 2 could be UHF CB antennas, they may have a 27 Mhz antenna, an external AM/FM/DAB antenna, If their Ham radio operators as well they could have more. The most I have ever had has been about 6 antennas, thats a bit of overkill, but all used
We don’t use HAM like most do in the US. In our police vehicles out in remote areas we have a HF auto tune antenna (Codan) for long range Comms. we have UHF for talking to trucks etc. we have another digital band (unsure of hte spec but its encrypted) for normal comms. We have a normal AM/FM antenna. So it can get busy haha.
I herd that running 2 aerials of the same to the one radio increases range. I say again using the same brand model and db aerials for 1 radio. I don't know how true this is though. Herd this from the Queensland Police on their old analog radios.
Or the radios that are a bit smarter and run diversity mode. Receiving signals from the antenna that has the better capture, this happens in milliseconds BTW. I have an Icom that does this
two antenas/same radio changes the shape of the coverage to a narrower area, front and rear. Increased range for the given watts to the front and rear but sacrificing range on the sides. Like rudedogii said, truckers use them for highway coverage..
If you mount the antenna on the roof, where do you enter the vehicle with the cable? Are you suggesting we drill a hole in the roof? Can you do a video on this?
Some radios allow you to skip certain channels when scanning. Pretty nice feature so it wont pick up your groups channel as a scanning one. Also does length have relationship with gain? I wan to put a 9 db on my roof that size of your 3db
There definitely is a relationship between uhf colinear antenna length and gain, in order to get 3dB extra gain requires the antenna length to be doubled, to go from 3dB to 9dB requires the antenna length to be QUADRUPLED!(additional 6dB means doubling for 3dB and doubling again for another 3dB) if anyone offers you a high gain compact mobile antenna they are lying or are ignorant of the facts.
G'day Ronny, great video thanks mate, I have one question that I hope you can answer & that is when you have both a UHF 477MHZ & a 27MHZ CB do the aerials interfere with each other when mounted around 1 meter apart? My thought is that they won't due to the different frequencies (Well that's what I am hoping) Look Forward to hopefully hearing back from you mate, Steve.
+BlindIo42 remember 1500 watts max for amateur band. think of the UHF CB Down under as the FRS band in USA. (10M, 6M, 2M, 432MHz, 1296MHz) 2 meter is their most popular band. and yes they could run a whip folded over (as seen on military hummvee's) for HF bands and tied the antenna back to the rear, ( fold over) will create a NVIS antenna, and that can give multiple hundreds if miles/kilometers range depending on conditions. and Remember for USA Amateur operators, you have to be an Advanced/Extra Class to operate down under sorry Technicians & General license holders, there standards are higher there. As for my SUV, I have VHF & UHF Amateur permanently installed. All others are a go box setup.
+mimixownzall tell that to the many who ran additional power anyways. Back in my chicken band days 70% were running extra power. I got out due to it becoming the tweaked band. Got my ticket to expand above and beyond
Mounting Antennas Higher or lower does not change anything, you need to mount them at least 1/4 wavelength apart from each other to prevent overloading the other radio when transmitting if they are on the same band. Has nothing to do with interference.
Dear Ronny, What type of antenna you show on 2:00, i search such an antenna, do you have a brandmar or type? I want also that antenna and I'm looking to get one here in Holland
For UHF CB you don't need a big antenna a 6" 1/4 wave will be fine if trees are your warry Size always is not a big concern on UHF, just get it on the roof and it may outperform a big stick on a bull bar
Can someone help me. I am looking in putting an antenna like Ronny's for the amfm. It is a ground independent antenna. Does this mean it needs a good ground? Or does it not need one
While it might be the best spot to put the antenna up as high as possible in reality its not the best spot.If i put my antenna up on the roof it wouldn't last the day.
Thanks Ron. I had to move my antenna from the roof because it kept being ripped off from low branches. I mounted it on the spare wheel rack but this has drastically reduced the range due to the small base plate. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
hi great video , i just bought a gme 3500s radio , it cam with a 4.5 db rubber ducky antenna , it also came with a gme ae220 antenna , im a little confused as when i google this antenna it says its a 27mhz antenna can i use this with my cb radio . tia
Ronny, I'm curious about running the antenna cable up to the roof. I suppose your 79 series is a bit unique but what about getting the cable up there for other vehicles?
I guess in some vehicles you will need to go between the roof and roof lining or put the cable and antenna towards the rear and use the body panels to hide the cable popping out near the top. if that makes sense
ive got two handhelds.. one transmits on channel 1 (the motorola) but i cannot hear the transmition on the GME unless its on channel 31 what could be the problem ?
Here in America the 11 meter CB is limited to 5 watts in a hand held and 4 watts for vehicle mounted or a base station, and we cant use repeaters, so very limited range. I now use a 2 meter/70 cm hand held Ham Radio, yes I have my license, and repeaters and I get great range, with 8 watts. Do you know if any one uses 2m/70cm down there?
correction 11m us car setts put out 12watts australia uses the fcc standard when it comes to 11m radios i have spoken on a uniden 980ssb set from albany western australia to hawai
can we just take a second to appreciate the production value of this video. These guys made an exceptionally good looking, well made, well lit, excellent audio quality, tv quality youtube video
Liking this Chanel more all the time. Simple talk, concise info, real world application.
tyvm for taking the time to lay out these concepts not covered in so many CB radio videos. I'm new to the CB thing, i inherited my Dad's old CB stuff... and i am trying to figure it all out now in 2022... tyvm for this! Anyway... I was also thinking the "height on antenna" is most important. It may be a no-brainer for most but this video changed my mind on where I will be mounting my antenna on the truck. It will be more work, but hey. It just makes sense.
Excellent video. Perfect timing too as I am in the middle of installing a CB radio into my jeep. Thanks for the information.
30 years ago I had a CB radio and found that putting the arial in the middle of the roof gave best all round signal
when the arial is off centre it makes the signal directional both in recive and transmit
this is because the metal car is the ground plane
Jonathan Willis
yes you are absolutely correct, the metal of the car acts as the ground plane and placement on the bodywork directly affects the radiation pattern, to make it even better, drill a hole and mount a propper 3/8 mount that directly gounds to the bare metal, mag mounts are crap as they don't make a actual physical connection
I swear I thought you were standing in a green screen, then you grabbed the antenna.
That blew my mind haha. Great video!
Thought I'd share something a little different my Father has tried with his CB, We bought him a separate speaker because he had trouble hearing due to the position so he mounted it on the car seat, in the gap between the headrest and backrest. Anyway great video and thanks for the tips.
Is the speaker wired to the radio?
Great work on the video. One point, just because a roof mounted antenna provides the best position for radio performance, doesn't mean it's definitively the best place to mount a radio antenna. That is one factor to consider, but clearly there are others, such as obstacle clearance.
Starting out with CB (in the USA) and then into Amateur Radio I couldn't agree more with your comment on antenna placement. The one thing I learned early on was if you want to get the best all around coverage is to put your antenna at the center of the vehicle. As soon as you move it in one direction or another, the signal will favor the direction where there is the most metal in relation to the antenna, also MAKE SURE the antenna 'sees' a good ground to the vehicle to get the best match (SWR) for the radio, assuming the antenna is adjustable.
If your running 2 UHF radios in the car you can select channels that you don't want to scan so that it doesn't interfere with the other one. I know the GME ones do it by holding down the scan button on the channel that you don't want it to scan. also with the hand held radios you can hook up a larger antenna (as long as their 5watt) to it for use in the car to get better signal obviously and then when you want to use it to spot someone it just unscrews. its definitely a cheaper way to do it with still the same signal strength. Keep up the good work mate!
I agree Ronny. Remember that the antenna on the bull bar, or on the roof for that matter, isan omnidirectional antenna. It means that when you transmit on that antenna, the radio sivnal is send out of that antenna in all directions around you. Just keep in mind that if hou put two antnnas next to each other on the same side of the bull bar, there is a possibility that the non transmitting antenna can act as a reflector, and this can change your omnidirectional antenna into a directional antenna. This means that you will not have strong signal all round, but stronger to the opposite side of the non transmitting antenna. Keep it away from each other as far as you can and you should be fine. If you put it on the bull bar, put one on each side, and you will transmit further and better around your vehicle in all directions. It is also a good thing if you have one on the bull bar and one on the roof, or on a bracket on your roof rack....as high as possible. The antenna plays avery important roll, a d it is very important whe it is mounted, that you make sure it is do e properly. If not, it can even damage your radio. Thanks for a very informative video Ronny. Maybe you can look at a video on different radios and antennas as well to compliment this channel. Thanks for all the interesting videos, I really enjoy watching it
You pretty much nailed it Ronny. The German engineer is right but if you got into all that it would complicate the general message which was 100% correct. Keep antennas apart and keep them high. We should be making more use of the 11 meter/27MHZ CB band here in AUS because it will get you longer distances when travelling outback. Cheers mate.
Good post, agree on 27, virtually used these days ? 6OP 3TQ
you start getting into "skip" then for longer distances, wow, talk about digging up my CB days back 30 years ago
i use 2 meter boat antennas around town not connected to anything cause im cool
ah, you too? nice!
I use your mum as an antenna around town and she doubles as a horn 😂
Thank you for posting these VID's mate! I just inherited my Grandmother's old vehicle mounted, Cobra 40-CH, 4-ft whip antenna with a magnetic base. Fought it was registered in her name, I'm certain Grandfather has not used it since prior to '85.
I watched a couple of your videos & they're quite informative since I know nothing about C.B.'s. Cheers!
+Bryan Eakins no worries bud 👍
This is really helps me an ideas mate for my UHF and VHF radio antenna.. keep up a good content mate cheers!
Some good info there (some not so good as well). Have you torn the antenna off the roof yet? Some of the tracks the brother and I have gone down an antenna on the roof would have been left behind with broken mounts.
Never place two antennas together whether the other is active or not as it will stuff up the propagation characteristics.
Other than a few nitpicks it is great to see someone do these videos, keep it up.
Ronny, I'm really impressed with the time, cost, and creativity which goes into building these expedition trucks. On that note, how long/ what mileage do you typically keep your vehicle before you think of replacing it?
Excellent video, clears up a lot of confusion
Glad i found this channel. You should do a video on what mods you should start off with for 4wding
Can I suggest an extremely important tip with regards to the placement of antennas, people need to check their state legislation with regards to the placement of antennas on front bars whether it be bull or nudge in NSW it is illegal to have an antenna right of center of the bonnet as it is considered an obstruction of the drivers view, I am proof fined by the NSW Highway patrol in Darlington Pount south of Griffith for having a 1m UHF CB antenna on the right hand tab of my bull bar considered to be an obstruction of the drivers vision.
If you are going to have your antenna roof mounted you need to know your height from the tip of the antenna to the ground so you dint snap it off on low places like bridges & under ground car parks
2nd you can have 2 antennas ( say a uhf & say a phone, say your cel-fi ) next to each other as long as they are 300mm apart
Waykat Services P/L Melbourne Thats all part of modifying your vehicle. If you are silly enough not to check local regulations before putting things on, then more fool you.
In QLD you can run them on the left but you CAN run one on the right if its the only mounting, it can’t be a big fat auto tuner tho.
It also depends where you are. Many country police are far more lenient with this kind of thing due to understanding practicality of the remote locations.
Ronny you got it right, Travel the world is specifically talking about the radiation pattern of a 1/4 wave ground plane, very hyper theoretical. and not of any real world relevance. BTW I worked as an instrument fitter for a swiss company dealing in electromechanics and Im an Aussie !!!! You don't need to drop anything. I was also a senior manager with Icom
Just get anything on the roof and it will work, my choice RFI Stainless Steel Extended Feed ground independent with a 4.5dB Stainless steel Co-Linear on the roof bar, any position on the bar. Not the Bullbar
If you need more signal, then put a 477Mhz capable amplifier in line. If that floats your boat, but IMHO not needed
Another tip: If you do have more than one antenna running different bands or the same band, make sure you don’t let those antenna cables cross (touch) each other. They can cause interference with each other.
two antennas for one radio changes the coverage shape to a longer front/back direction when they are placed side-by-side.
AWESOME. Thank you for this :)
You answered most of my questions.
🤜🏻👍🤛🏻♡♡♡
Fantastic info man. Looking to add a CB/UHF radio on my 4Runner
I came on to see which uhf radios are the BEST please. Sorry cannot find the other video.
Yet another great and informative video, thanks Ronny keep up the great videos. 👍
This is great info. I was planning on purchasing a cb in the near future.
+Matt V (Camel51) Make sure it's a good brand one, it's worth spending the extra on something like a GME. Cheap ones are often poorly made and prone to failure. Best of luck
I love my 27MHz CB Radios from UHF, I have 2 27MHz and UHF in the car and house
Very good Movie but there is definatly some corrections need to be in Place. I Think some of the things that you mention are derived from CB myths.
I did enjoy. Keep the Movies coming.
1. Antenna on Bullbar. Very common in Australia yes. One reason why we do not use it so commonly in other countries is because.
A. In many countries it could be seen as obstructing the view and a police can fine you or you will not pass your annual inspection.
B. Our vehicles must be made out such that there is no Sharp objects to damage yourself even more on should you get hit by a car. This is for example a reason why Mercedes not have a logo sticking up over the hood anymore.
2. Antother reason why not to mount on the bull bar is ground. All vertical antennas need ground and if you put an antenna on the corner of your bull bar you will have very good transmit and reception in the opposite corner direction but not at all so good in the direction of where the antenna sits. The ground of the vehicle will be longest in the opposite corner direction.
This means that the effective wave pattern will be lower in that direction and so will also the losses.
3. Height of antenna is important, I agree. We radio amatuers have a saying that if an antenna does not come down in a storm it is either placed to low or it is too small.
Now there is one more Point. Your cabin, roof etc is in the way of the antenna hence you will get losses in that direction.
4. Never trust an antenna manufacturer Db. They are first of all theoretical and there is no reference. If it says Dbi you can trust it somewhat more but it is reference to an isotrop. Real Db for antennas is measured in Dbd (over a dipole) but verticals cant be measured by that. To really know the efficieancy of your antenna you need to know your ground.
5. The chart showing the DB of the antennas is not really correct. Db means how much the antenna gain is. That is, if you send 5W into the antenna, does it act like it sends out 3 or 5,6W? What the charts do show is the
6. Lower Db antennas do not work better in mountaius areas. This is a myth. What it is the wave pattern of the radio wave and also the take-off angle. This also depending on the ground. Since the manufacturer cant really say what ground each and every customer have it is considered quite bogus to even market with that.
7 An antenna does not transmit from the top. It uses the whole whip and with (lenghten) or without coils your antenna should be 1/4 wavelenght times 0,96.
8. Antenna up high is good but it may mean that it is difficult to get under trees and stuff.
cheers
In some states it is illegal to have an antenna on the drivers side of the bull bar, NSW I think is a big fine, they class it as obstructed vision, also the whole antenna radiates the signal not just the top
Good video, I agree with most of it, but putting two antennas next to each other is not a good idea. One will interfere with the other kind of like putting it next to any metal object will. If you spaced them the right distance apart it could act like a beam and direct you power and signal mostly in one direction. I have seen Hams put 4 antennas on top of their car to do just that. Lot of work for little reward in my opinion. As you said separation is the best, and putting it on top is the absolute best. Been doing radio as a Ham Operator for about 45 years and worked at a shop and installed and sold a lot of radios. Always wondered about the big tall antennas; broadcast/tunes pretty cool.
New van in 92 wife almost had a cow when she saw me on top drilling a hole in it. Don't know why, she should have been use to it by then; and by the way she holds a general ham license. Me an extra.
Always wanted to go to Australia to scuba some and off road but a long ways from north west Arkansas, USA.
I have 4 antennas mounting on top of my SUV, at 1/4 length apart at 4 corners. They function as Pseudo Doppler for direction finding. Well, until I forgot to lock out transmitting and blew the diodes up.
thankyou very much. been wondering about all this for a while.
2:06 When she sees the antenna on your truck and says "That's it?"
had a good laugh at this one
A 12 dB antenna would be totally impractical mobile as it would be way too long, (more than 5 metres)
The device shown at 3:50 is not a “splitter” it’s a coax switch. Some care needs to be taken with their use, for example never ‘hot switch’ them that is switch them over while transmitting as that will present an open circuit to the radio during change over . It can also cause arcing at the switch contacts which can damage the contacts. For uhf cb I would recommend a switch with N connectors rather than the SO239 connectors shown as they can be a bit lossy at 477 MHz. By the way I disagree on placing antennas close to each other under any circumstance as an antenna that receives also re radiates part of the radio frequency energy it receives so there still be interaction between them which will affect their beam patterns.
Like always great information from Ronny.
Thanks Ronny, good information on CB radio's
That was very informative - i didn't even know. Thanks for the tips
Thanks Ronny- this is just what I needed. Cheers-
Thanks Mate!! Great Video
very good advice Ronny, thanks
As we know higher is better, but placement is just as important, A Mid Roof mounted antenna radiates even, and antenna that is at the Front of a car pushes more power backwards, and vise versa, left mounted sends signal right and vise versa, Most important check that SWR
10/4 Ronny another good video. But am waiting impatiently for another big trip video😜
+Shane Faust hahaha got a short on in the editing stage and we just finished filming a big one 👍
I think in addition to UHF it would be great if people started to re-populate the old 27mhz band again too. Less nutters hogging repeaters as there generally is no repeaters, the ability to converse interstate or internationally when conditions are favourable (however this is not reliable, just more for enjoyment when it's available) and generally you can acheive a greater distance than simplex UHF.
You mention the scanning radio with a second radio, I see a lot of radios have a memory function, so you may can lock the channel your convoy is on from being scanned using this memory function.
mounting two speakers in front not an issue... left for one... right for the other... the hardest thing is when you've got five different radios to monitor..! I'm ex army radio operator :)
Good information. Thanks Ronny!
Goodey ronny, id love to see a modified episode on one of the smaller 4wds if you can find one! I'm a massive fan of the sierras and jimny's, but any other smaller rigs would be mint to see. Big fan, loving your work dude
+sparks b You are in luck a few mod episodes from now will feature a Jimny ;)
Wiked! can't wait
Very useful, thanks Ronny - YamahaR1Rider
Hey Ronny. What are your thoughts on solid fibreglass aerials vs. whips?
Nothing beats a 102" whip with spring. Also adding a 2 pill Amp wont hurt.
Oi! Bloody gut video mate! Cheers 🍻
Good video ronny, just one question. What is the type and the brand of the music radio antenna you got mounted on your bullbar. I'm searching for such an antenna cause I want to mounth it on my nissan to.
good vid ronny, great looking rig and setup!!!
any thoughts on 12 v connections under bonnet v cig plug for first timers
dBi or dBd? Radiation pattern? It's simple with UHF. Get an antenna with as much genuine gain as possible. Ground independent and as high as possible. I've use a handheld on 0.25 watts >80klms line of sight. If your're really stuck sometimes using a walking up a hill with a $250 5w handheld could save your ass.
Mark, Totally agree, alot of these how to do it sites ( BTW Ronny, I really like yours, so down to earth) just load you with so much theoretical crap, that is meaningless.
Power users, will use two antennas, one small 1'/4 wave on the roof bar and a 6 or 9db broomstick on the bull bar or the roof bar, that's the best you will do legally
99% of viewers will have no idea what dbi or dbd is ( I Do) Waste of time. I am a tech and ex commercial sales, great video Ronny , great post Mark
Also please take note, your wave patten that radiates out of your antenna does not wave from the top of your antenna,
Very informative. Thank you
One really good question:- is the length of the coax cable between the radio and base of the antenna critical ?
Like your videos, great discovery to stumble on them. On this video, you talk about having antenna at different heights to avoid conflicting signals. Maybe we're looking at different applicatoins, maybe Main and Backup, but I'm thinking from having CB antenna and also a HAM UHF/VHF antenna (two diff units for band coverage). Question (and I'm new to CB, and HAM radio, too, just licensed), if you're only transmitting on one at a time, does it really matter if they're at the same height? Can't think I'd be TX'ing on two units at the same time? Is there conflict if only TX'ing on one at a time... or even RX'ing on say... 10 meters on one, and 2 meters on the other with antenna's mounted equally high on either side of vehicle?
Great video mate, have you got any videos on beach driving coming up?
Another good vid Ronny, but at 3:30 yo misspelt height
awesome more like this please
Try out CB repeater on drone for super UHF coverage and or up in balloon.
nice work mate
Great vid. Really good info
typically I err to use a whip of 7 foot for 27 mhz and i'm inclined to do the same with uhf...
with caveat with uhf that on road stick to 80 on bush stick to 40 channel
Why, still only uses 2 Mhz of bandwidth ???
Thanks again mate
Great vid!!!
Thank you
oh dear. now I need a roof rack!...just to mount the antenna!
Awesome video Ronny! How are those general grabbers performing compared to your previous muddies?
+Rift2891 so far so good but too early to say much more.
Hello from the US. Great video. I understand some people use 27Mhz and 477Mhz. But, sometimes I see pictures or videos of vehicles with 3, 4, or 5 antennas. What are those all for?
Hi Chris, In Australia,users do lots with their 4WD;s 2 could be UHF CB antennas, they may have a 27 Mhz antenna, an external AM/FM/DAB antenna, If their Ham radio operators as well they could have more. The most I have ever had has been about 6 antennas, thats a bit of overkill, but all used
We don’t use HAM like most do in the US.
In our police vehicles out in remote areas we have a HF auto tune antenna (Codan) for long range Comms. we have UHF for talking to trucks etc. we have another digital band (unsure of hte spec but its encrypted) for normal comms. We have a normal AM/FM antenna.
So it can get busy haha.
I herd that running 2 aerials of the same to the one radio increases range. I say again using the same brand model and db aerials for 1 radio. I don't know how true this is though. Herd this from the Queensland Police on their old analog radios.
+Corey Dark Twin truckers. American truckers run them!
Or the radios that are a bit smarter and run diversity mode. Receiving signals from the antenna that has the better capture, this happens in milliseconds BTW.
I have an Icom that does this
two antenas/same radio changes the shape of the coverage to a narrower area, front and rear. Increased range for the given watts to the front and rear but sacrificing range on the sides. Like rudedogii said, truckers use them for highway coverage..
Hi Ronny .. love your videos .. quick question .. what tyres do you have on your truck .. Thanks
They are general grabber m/t's.
Got question about mounting the antenna on a Ute behind cab on the tub but in front of the canopy would that work
Hi Guys - how would an poor earth on aerial mount effect performance
Good work
cool video, like the information lol
If you mount the antenna on the roof, where do you enter the vehicle with the cable? Are you suggesting we drill a hole in the roof? Can you do a video on this?
no drilling, you can run it through the A pillar and exit it through the roof gutters
Kristian Winkel how does that work where is the hole to come out of?
Hey Ronny, was wondering what brand your 3db antenna is and where you got it from. Thanks.
Great vid but, let's get this straight right now, I DO NOT HATE JEFF!!!!!
Does pressing the mic button , while the unit is ON with NO antenna connected , damage the unit?
It's not good for the unit especially if its a 27mhz, I dont recommend it on any radio you could smoke it.
Some radios allow you to skip certain channels when scanning. Pretty nice feature so it wont pick up your groups channel as a scanning one. Also does length have relationship with gain? I wan to put a 9 db on my roof that size of your 3db
There definitely is a relationship between uhf colinear antenna length and gain, in order to get 3dB extra gain requires the antenna length to be doubled, to go from 3dB to 9dB requires the antenna length to be QUADRUPLED!(additional 6dB means doubling for 3dB and doubling again for another 3dB) if anyone offers you a high gain compact mobile antenna they are lying or are ignorant of the facts.
G'day Ronny, great video thanks mate, I have one question that I hope you can answer & that is when you have both a UHF 477MHZ & a 27MHZ CB do the aerials interfere with each other when mounted around 1 meter apart? My thought is that they won't due to the different frequencies (Well that's what I am hoping) Look Forward to hopefully hearing back from you mate, Steve.
1m apart and at a different level (so one on the roof and one on the bar work). But the main thing is 1m+ apart and you should be fine
Wont matter, Frequency seperation is fine.
Is there a max wattage you are allowed to run? I have a 2M radio in my rig here in the US that I can crank up to 75 W.
+BlindIo42 in Australia it's only 5w on CB
+Harry Fisher and 25w for commercial but requires a license and not within the first 80 ch. quite expensive
+BlindIo42 remember 1500 watts max for amateur band. think of the UHF CB Down under as the FRS band in USA. (10M, 6M, 2M, 432MHz, 1296MHz) 2 meter is their most popular band.
and yes they could run a whip folded over (as seen on military hummvee's) for HF bands and tied the antenna back to the rear, ( fold over) will create a NVIS antenna, and that can give multiple hundreds if miles/kilometers range depending on conditions. and Remember for USA Amateur operators, you have to be an Advanced/Extra Class to operate down under sorry Technicians & General license holders, there standards are higher there.
As for my SUV, I have VHF & UHF Amateur permanently installed. All others are a go box setup.
+BlindIo42 Without a license you can't legally go above 4W in the US. Using a single side band you can go up to 12W.
+mimixownzall tell that to the many who ran additional power anyways. Back in my chicken band days 70% were running extra power. I got out due to it becoming the tweaked band. Got my ticket to expand above and beyond
Hey mate I have a CB antenna connected to my UHF will it do any damage or or is it ok to use
Mounting Antennas Higher or lower does not change anything, you need to mount them at least 1/4 wavelength apart from each other to prevent overloading the other radio when transmitting if they are on the same band. Has nothing to do with interference.
Glad if it would ok to program 146.350 in the Philippines?
Dear Ronny,
What type of antenna you show on 2:00, i search such an antenna, do you have a brandmar or type?
I want also that antenna and I'm looking to get one here in Holland
Can you show how you have your Antenna is mounted on the roof rack does it hit tree branches? when they are low
For UHF CB you don't need a big antenna a 6" 1/4 wave will be fine if trees are your warry Size always is not a big concern on UHF, just get it on the roof and it may outperform a big stick on a bull bar
Can someone help me. I am looking in putting an antenna like Ronny's for the amfm. It is a ground independent antenna. Does this mean it needs a good ground? Or does it not need one
What do you think would be better, duel 5' fiberglass on a tool box of a truck or a single 5' fiberglass on the roof?
I was mistaking. Both antennas would be 4'
On the roof mate
What do you use for you editing? And could you do a video on all your camera gear? If not could you tell me what drone you use?
+Liam Steanes this is stuff I will feature on my second channel once I get on top of things
While it might be the best spot to put the antenna up as high as possible in reality its not the best spot.If i put my antenna up on the roof it wouldn't last the day.
bigfella I might mount mine to the roof but I’d add a flip down adapter
after watching the video I have now moved my antenna to my roof from my bull bar let's see what kind of range I get now
did you notice the difference?
Thanks Ron.
I had to move my antenna from the roof because it kept being ripped off from low branches. I mounted it on the spare wheel rack but this has drastically reduced the range due to the small base plate. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
+Maveric Morph get a short antenna like the rubber duckie version. Mine is still on the roof it's seen a lot of branches and bushes.
+Maveric Morph get a short antenna like the rubber duckie version. Mine is still on the roof it's seen a lot of branches and bushes.
Thanks Ron but what range do you get?
hi great video , i just bought a gme 3500s radio , it cam with a 4.5 db rubber ducky antenna , it also came with a gme ae220 antenna , im a little confused as when i google this antenna it says its a 27mhz antenna can i use this with my cb radio . tia
The AE220 is a 27Mhz AM CB Antenna and should never be used with a UHF CB Radio like the TX3500s. Wrong antenna for UHF CB.
Ronny, I'm curious about running the antenna cable up to the roof. I suppose your 79 series is a bit unique but what about getting the cable up there for other vehicles?
I guess in some vehicles you will need to go between the roof and roof lining or put the cable and antenna towards the rear and use the body panels to hide the cable popping out near the top. if that makes sense
Ronny Dahl Hmmm still sounds like drilling a hole in the roof panel might be required.
ive got two handhelds..
one transmits on channel 1 (the motorola) but i cannot hear the transmition on the GME unless its on channel 31 what could be the problem ?
Nateyboy1990 duplex
Here in America the 11 meter CB is limited to 5 watts in a hand held and 4 watts for vehicle mounted or a base station, and we cant use repeaters, so very limited range. I now use a 2 meter/70 cm hand held Ham Radio, yes I have my license, and repeaters and I get great range, with 8 watts. Do you know if any one uses 2m/70cm down there?
correction 11m us car setts put out 12watts australia uses the fcc standard when it comes to 11m radios i have spoken on a uniden 980ssb set from albany western australia to hawai
CLINTON CANN 12 on SSB. 4 on AM
Yes 2m and 70cm are popular with licensed amateur radio operators in Australia.