Where to put my CB antenna....

[Jah.]

I have a magnetic mount that has worked great on all my vehicles. . mount on roof and cord routed out/ thru rear door seal .

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[D Janke]

Been using this on my Maverick and it's working out great. It does have very thin coax, but it's only 6.5Ft long so signal loss is very minimal and the 5db gain antenna exceeds the coax loss.
Cable routes really easy too.

 

[Big Kahuna]

I have a magnetic mount that has worked great on all my vehicles. . mount on roof and cord routed out/ thru rear door seal .

As I mentioned a bit earlier - most quality mag mounts are 5" magnets and they don't fit great on the Maverick Cab - also, I don't recommend running coax through doors that are closed, could damage coax, and in turn the radio.

I put Elevate racks on along with the Pro X15 bed cover and had to figure out a new mounting solution. I ended up using a piece of steel and mounted that to the rack using one of the T bolts in the rail. Then routed the coax down the tower and in a small gap at the back near the tailgate. Still have it routed through the bed wheelwell empty space and into the cab through a existing hidden hole in the back of the cab

SWR was 1.12 at the lowest and 1.25 at the highest in the CB band using my Antenna analyzer so other than being a bit directional, works quite well. Talked to Alaska last night and Florida the day before and Australia last week so making some good contacts on SSB on the CB.

 

[Jah.]

Been using the same magnetic antenna for last 20 years . still works well with same CB for same time period . l like it because it is easily removable . l will check hole by back of cab and possibly run cable thru there since l have lockable tonneau to keep antenna in .

 

[jzielbauer]

I've been looking/researching into a CB radio for my 2022 eco-boost AWD. I'm looking for something small enough that doesn't fill up the cab, have wires and co-axe running all over the place and still has a large enough display that 76 year old eyes can make out clearly. I think I've figured out my antenna placement problem, I've installed an "Agricover Low Max folding tonneau cover (hinged aluminum plates with a textured polyurethane finish)I was going to epoxy a very heavy fishing magnet on the underside of the tonneau and use a magnetic mount antenna, That should give me the ability to remove the antenna when I need to use the Mav as a truck. As for the CB itself I'm thinking something with a remote handheld and the base unit mounted behind the back seat. Any thoughts?

 

[Palms]

Have a through the glass on my motor home connected to the Cobra all in one mike with box under dash and plan to repeat for my VHF/UHF mobile if I ever get my Lariat Hybrid.

 

[Big Kahuna]

I've been looking/researching into a CB radio for my 2022 eco-boost AWD. I'm looking for something small enough that doesn't fill up the cab, have wires and co-axe running all over the place and still has a large enough display that 76 year old eyes can make out clearly. I think I've figured out my antenna placement problem, I've installed an "Agricover Low Max folding tonneau cover (hinged aluminum plates with a textured polyurethane finish)I was going to epoxy a very heavy fishing magnet on the underside of the tonneau and use a magnetic mount antenna, That should give me the ability to remove the antenna when I need to use the Mav as a truck. As for the CB itself I'm thinking something with a remote handheld and the base unit mounted behind the back seat. Any thoughts?

That won’t provide and adequate ground plane for your antenna. You need to put that the mag mount on the body of the truck somewhere or do a hard mount. Otherwise the antenna won’t be effective and will likely have a high swr.

As for a small radio you need to determine you needs. Is it just for listening on road trips, do you intend to talk daily, monthly, etc. If you rarely will be talking you could simply get a walkie talkie hand held and not worry about the external antenna.

If you want to be able to talk any distance you need a good antenna setup first and a good radio to go along with it. The hide away systems (Cobra75)are ok but don’t work great.

The President McKinley is an excellent AM and SSB CB and very compact. It fits in the front tray area. That’s the radio I suggest for people who want to talk DX/skip. If you mostly want to listen cobra and Uniden will be releasing a wireless cb soon that is very small and easily hidden.

 

[desmobob]

Watching this thread as I'm considering what to do with my VHF/UHF radio.

I currently use it with a small/short Diamond magnetic mount with the coax run through the rear hatch on my Subaru Forster. This is not ideal as water tends to seep through with the coax and ends up in the spare tire well. I'm using an Alinco DR735T radio with a detachable head. Finding a good mounting location might also be a challenge.

Bob
KD2TTM

 

[Big Kahuna]

Watching this thread as I'm considering what to do with my VHF/UHF radio.

I currently use it with a small/short Diamond magnetic mount with the coax run through the rear hatch on my Subaru Forster. This is not ideal as water tends to seep through with the coax and ends up in the spare tire well. I'm using an Alinco DR735T radio with a detachable head. Finding a good mounting location might also be a challenge.

Bob
KD2TTM

The best entry points to the cab will be through the 3rd brake light on the back of the cab or via one of the entry holes either in the bed open space or underneath. I think the one I found worked pretty well.

For 2 meters I would probably just go with the 3rd brake light mount from larsen.

https://www.larsonelectronics.com/p...SU4DOvLI8CaM8G7TpjYF_3GD4yhEhyqBoCrVIQAvD_BwE

 

[Spook]

Maybe something like I did in this ignored posting might help:
https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/forum/threads/no-drill-ham-radio-and-antenna-installation.23636/

 

[desmobob]

The best entry points to the cab will be through the 3rd brake light on the back of the cab or via one of the entry holes either in the bed open space or underneath. I think the one I found worked pretty well.

For 2 meters I would probably just go with the 3rd brake light mount from larsen.

https://www.larsonelectronics.com/p...SU4DOvLI8CaM8G7TpjYF_3GD4yhEhyqBoCrVIQAvD_BwE

Thanks... that looks like a very clean, no-drill option. But isn't it very important to center the antenna on the roof to get the counterpoise? Or will a certain antenna type eliminate that need?

 

[nikorasu]

Lets be clear. No mag mount provides an adequate ground, and I do mean RF and electrical ground.

You should, in an ideal world, be bonding the antenna to the vehicle. Right now you have half of a dipole. Do yourself a big favor and get some ground braid and run it from the mount down to the truck bed.

For my VHF/UHF use I ended up with a Tram glass mount on the rear window. Works well enough for repeaters within 25 miles give or take but I won't push more than 25 watts through it. It just kisses the garage door when pulling in so perfect height.

 

[nikorasu]

Watching this thread as I'm considering what to do with my VHF/UHF radio.

I currently use it with a small/short Diamond magnetic mount with the coax run through the rear hatch on my Subaru Forster. This is not ideal as water tends to seep through with the coax and ends up in the spare tire well. I'm using an Alinco DR735T radio with a detachable head. Finding a good mounting location might also be a challenge.

Bob
KD2TTM

Bob do you have any sort of bed topper? If not the best thing would be to make use the the DYI Threaded Bed Holes (F). Look below for location. I would still run ground strap to the bed tie down D ring bolts for proper bonding.

Plenty of room under the rear seat for mounting the radio and even a battery isolator and 35ah battery if wanted.

I have a Lariat First Edition so it has the tri fold cover, so I was forced to use the glass option.

I think there is room and space enough for me to build a rack with the 2x4 pockets to made a 144/222/432 mast for rovering. Of course the cover would have to come off for that.

73s

 

[Big Kahuna]

Bob do you have any sort of bed topper? If not the best thing would be to make use the the DYI Threaded Bed Holes (F). Look below for location. I would still run ground strap to the bed tie down D ring bolts for proper bonding.

Plenty of room under the rear seat for mounting the radio and even a battery isolator and 35ah battery if wanted.

I have a Lariat First Edition so it has the tri fold cover, so I was forced to use the glass option.

I think there is room and space enough for me to build a rack with the 2x4 pockets to made a 144/222/432 mast for rovering. Of course the cover would have to come off for that.

73s

Good idea, I think I was projecting that everyone had a tonneau cover like me Bed mount could work well just needs to be away from the cab.

 

[desmobob]

I do have a hard folding tonneau.

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