I have a 1976 F-250 Highboy. I am probably going to be getting a CB and an antenna. I was thinking about going with dual 4ft whips on the mirrors but I don't want to go for the look of a Semi Truck. I also don't want to put one on the Roof because it will probably be to tall. Here is a Picture of the Truck Please share your opinions on where I should mount an Antenna and What kind of Antenna.

 

front corner of the bed, thats where im gpoing to put mine. I believe the stock setup is on the front corners of the hood

 

X2 if u don't want twins on the mirrors than just behind the cab is the best location, you could always mount it off the roll bar?...

 

I wad thinkin about the roll bar. But i know that ror better reception and transmitting you should have them above the roof line of the truck. So i dont know about mounting to the bed behind the cab. But thanks for the opinions.

 

The front corners of the bed, bolted to the rail. The only problem with that is reception interferance from the cab.

How tall are you willing to tollerate?

You could mount them on the roll bar, which would give you excellent recieption if you can get a soild ground on the antenna base.

 

When I ran a CB, I mounted my antenna on the top rail of my headache rack. Just weld a piece of 1/4 x 2 flat bar to the top of the roll bar and bore a hole in it to fit the antenna base. I always chamfered the corners with a grinder to eliminate sharp edges, too.

 

Tomorrow im goin to measure how tall my truck is. Because i think the lowest bridge around here is 14ft. So ill have to see how much room i have to play with before my antennas start dragging on the bottom of the bridges.

 

On the light bar's horizontal tube or side tubes so the roof acts as a ground plane (improves reception)... or dual whips atop the West Coast mirror brackets for the same effect.

Nice rig by the way... it looks like a rig Darth Vader would drive.

 

Thamk you. I dont know about the mirror look. I think it will make it look like a semi truck.

 

My truck originally had the CB antenna mounted to the passenger side corner of the rear bumper.

 

Here's an idea: How about an antenna that can rotate to the vertical position that is mounted on the horizontal part of the down tube? Get a linear actuator and fab up a lever system so that it points rearward when not in use.

It would be even more trick if the actuator were keyed to automatically go vertical when ya fire up your rig... Gotta have an override switch for those low clearance situations... TREE!!!!!

 

If CB is anything like VHF/UHF, your best reception will be the center of the roof (gives you a good ground plane). They make antenna's that 'fold' down (you pull it up out of the base slightly and there is a hinge that lets you fold it down, only adding the height of the base to your overall height). A lot of us on the UHF/VHF/HF bands use these as they give us great xmit (since we have a better ground plane) and still let us squeeze into parking garages.

Antenna Fold Over Adapter - 203EZ Walcott CB - CB Radio Super Store and Mobile Electronics Warehouse. at WalcottCB.com

Just a thought.

 

CB antenna?? are you serious?? mount it on your moms '74 Pinto dude.....but only after you remove that cheesy '70's roll bar....christ sakes...

 

Problem is some people want to have something other than cellular to communicate, but folks don't always want to take an FCC amateur class. Those that do often find the nearest licensed operator is well out of their area.

For someone who wants a little more power than FRS/GMRS (underpowered to begin with - add the interference from the cab as you xmit from the driver seat and you'd be better off yelling out the window).

For some specific applications (off roading with your buds or in SMALL towns), CB can be a cheap and useful means to an end.

I'm a ham person myself...but to each his/her own, right?

 

???

My Wilson 1000 is on my roof. You have to tune it to get the best reception for your application. I have a small linear custom built into the CB to boost distance. Yeah, forget the dual mirror mounts, they are for big rigs to get good signal forward and behind the truck.

CBs are absolute necessity for off-roading in a convoy when you have to constantly b/s the guy in front of you, like "ugly duck, your gas tank is on fire, your gas tank is on fire"
But on a serious note, you need to communicate rapidly in rough terrain or bad weather.

Channel 4 is off road designated usually. (i think, it's been a while since I offroaded with a group since my buddy died)

I took an FCC class-it was a joke. The guy didn't expect you to learn anything, just pass a test with a quickie flash 50 or so question thing.

OP: I would put yours in your bed near the rear.