I'm looking at getting one for my truck and wasn't sure who to go with. I heard Cobra is one of the best companies out there. Anywho, post what ya got! Where ya mounted it, what kind, and your whip. I'm looking at getting a 5 or 6 footer.

 

I have a Cobra 29 LTD CB and a Wilson 5 foot whip with a magnet base mounted on my roof. I found that is the best place on these trucks. Ford is notorious for having interference so I had to run my antenna wire from front to back. I mounted my CB on the roof and have the antenna running along the roof inside, down to a drain hole in the back corner of the cab, then up to the outside roof. I have about a 10 mile signal and on good days with atmospheric skip I can listen in to Georgia (from Ohio).

You can mount the antenna on your mirrors or whatever as well but like I said, the best place I found was the roof. I use a wire whip instead of one of those fiberglass ones you can buy. Big rigs are set up for it and they sit higher so it makes more sense in their case. If need be the Wilson antenna unscrews from the base so when you need to get into parking garages or something low, it takes a couple of seconds to remove the whip and it fits nicely along the back of the cab behind the seat.

I also got my CB at a truck stop as they usually sell stuff drivers may have turned in. The stuff works but it has been used. With some drivers there is this amazing power hunger and they always needs bigger and better. Personally for myself if I can hit a 5 mile span im good. I work on and drive trucks myself so I kinda know how it goes from both sides of it.

 

Around where I live, I see ALOT of people mount them on the front of their toolbox. That was my first thought but I may do the roof instead in that case. What's the significant difference between a wire and fiberglass whip? Do the majority of people use wire?

 

Actually the toolbox works but I actually use mine and I bought the clamp and everything for it and tried opening the box... Oops.. So I needed to move it. (I have the rail on my box so I didnt drill into the side of it)

Majority of people use the fiberglass whip which is fiberglass with a wire wound up around it and coated in a plastic. The wire antenna is a thin piece of stainless that uses an allen screw to set it in place. It basically picks up the signal in the base. Wilson sells 2 kinds: one with a rod you screw in with an allen as a lock and the only way to remove it is with the allen and one like I have where the base actually has a cap with the antenna that unscrews (more expensive)

Fiberglass: http://www.roadproonthego.com/store/...es/RPPS-3R.jpg
Wire: http://im3.ebidst.com/upload_big/4/5...31321-6105.jpg

Big rigs usually have the fiberglass but I like the Wire. But as I said, its all preference.

 

I have a 4ft firestick II, this is a fiberglass antenna with a tunable tip on the end of it. I use a cobra 19 (its a smaller version of the 19) and I can reach for probably 15 miles or if I can skip I can pick up stuff from maine (im in n). Course I used a SWR meter and tuned mine properly as well. The antenna is on the side of my toolbox.

 

Firestick is real good, Wilson has alot of options for size, wattage, etc. K-40 isn't a bad deal, either. I'm looking to get a Wilson when I put my Cobra 29LTD Classic in place. (I had a CB doctor 'tune' it for me at the truck-stop I work at...)

 

Awesome, I'll have to look into all of them! Does anyone have pics of their rig?

 

Look up Sparkys CB. I've done business with them for a good while now and they will treat you right. The Cobra 29 is a pretty good radio. The Galaxy line of radios is pretty good too. The lil wil is a good antenna. Get the magmount version and put it dead center on the roof of your truck. You won't be disappointed with the performance.

Regardless of how cool it looks, stay away from a co-phased two antenna set up. Co-phased antennas need to be at least 1/4 wave apart, which is 9 feet on 11 meters, the CB band. Truckers can get away with that kind of set up because the trucks are wide enough with the mirrors they use. A production pick up won't be wide enough and performance will go down with a co-phased set up.

 

Cobra's are a good cb but keep in mind that all cb's are legally required to be sold with no more than four watts output. Most cb's can be internally tuned to put out about 25w which will greatly increase your range.

 

The 4 watts requirement is on the carrier. PEP you are allowed 12. There are swing kits you can buy to boost PEP up to the 25 watts range, but there are no internal adjustments that will up the carrier to 25 watts. PEP is the power the radio puts out when you talk into the mike. The carrier power is what the rig puts out when you key the mike. If someone is telling you that he can get 25 watts out on key down from a stock CB he's feeding you a line of bull hockey. In fact, one of the things that happens with those swing kits is that the carrier output is turned down to around 1-2 watts.

BTW, you don't want to get caught with a modded CB by the FCC. Yes, the chances of getting busted are pretty slim, but the fines start at $4000 and go up from there.

 

I'm actually pumping out about a 100w on my mobile unit I have a linear and when I key it it will peg my charge gauge on my car lol.

 

If you are putting out 100 watts on key down then you don't have a regular CB. You probably have one of the export models that has been outlawed by the FCC. I wouldn't go bragging about how many watts you are running on a public forum. Ya never know who's watching. As I said, the chances of getting caught are slim, but the fines start at $4000 and go up from there.

 

Yeah I know it's sad but true and no my stuff is very old and modified and this will be last I say about it .

 

I ended up in a so called Cb War, where everyone wanted to walk on each other, show off, pretty much be idiots. Some actually would ride around town, antagonizing, and when the signal zero'ed in an antenna, they would rip it down. It got ugly. I finally said the hell with it, took my antron 99 down, never set up a home station again.
It was fun there for awhile, seeing how far you can reach out, but then they wanted to doctor thier systems and slam everyone with echo and BS.

 

I'm not crazy about the mic I have on it. Too bulky. Nice radio, though.