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Short Mobile CB Antenna Advice

Capt Crunch

Captain Crunch NJ Mobile
Nov 3, 2015
169
214
73
New Jersey
www.iamawesome.com
I am having to buy a short CB antenna for 11 meters for my vehicle. It is a center roof puck mount. It can be no taller than 3 feet +- an inch. I hate the idea but I need something for this purpose at times when driving. Around 500 watts power handling minimum. The antennas I have looked at so far were the Firestik IIFS 3ft, Skipshooter 3ft, and the Skipshooter Double barrel Base loaded.
Any information on any short antennas that are better or the best to use for the most range at 3ft max for CB channels?
 
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An antenna that short tends to be wound with skinny wire. This imposes a power limit all by itself.

You will also find that the bandwidth is pretty narrow. Even if the SWR is low at the frequency it's tuned for, you may only get ten or 15 channels above and below that frequency before the SWR rises above 2 to 1.

The shorter they get, the more narrow banded an antenna will be.

73
 
Ya I know what you mean. My regular antennas are the 102 SS on a adjuster and a predator 10K 27 inch. I need something decent for areas when I can not use those at times and at 3ft tall max.
See you run Predator 10K's...I'm probably one of Kale's biggest fans when it comes to the 10K...Now you can get a Predator 10K to tune around 3', I did it to use once with a magnet mount on top of a Cargo Van...Worked pretty good, and could handle allot more than just 500w's...

What I did was use either a 9" or 12" lower shaft (forgot now which one it was) then used 2-single Coils, plus the top section to make the antenna...Using two single coils (and a spacer) allowed the antenna to tune very short...

This was back around 2006 or 2007 before I got a Box truck to work out of, so it's been a while...If I recall, SWR was sorta high on the lower channels, but good enough on the rest so I could run a Amp without worrying about burning it up.

Some of the CB Shops that sell the Predators also sell spare parts for them, If you can't find the parts you can always call Kale and have him send them to you. (his number is on the bottom shaft of every Predator 10K)

All you would need is a short lower shaft, two of the regular "single-coils" a spacer to go between the coils, and the top section...everything just screws together...It will be short enough I think, and handle whatever you want to throw at it, just don't expect it to have the range that your 27" shaft 10K has...
 
Jesse , didn't we just go through this w/ an op that had parking garage issues ? This is JMO but hard to get antenna's like that to work right , and wattage ? Like that car insurance commercial where the guy throws his wallet in the harbor . Sorry " shorty's " are tough ! jmo , again .
 
Half breed. Half-n-half.

Workman makes one, H&H I believe is the product code, can’t remember.

Everhardt has one C27-0 but it’s 57” overall but I think they’re good antennas.

ProComm JBC1300 is 3’ and basically covers all the others listed, same style antenna. Available in 3,4,5ft lengths.

I believe they’re all listed as handling 1000w but I wouldn’t attempt it, I think 500w is more reasonable. Probably most easily available and cheapest on Amazon (damn you Amazon) if you’re interested in any of these.
 
See you run Predator 10K's...I'm probably one of Kale's biggest fans when it comes to the 10K...Now you can get a Predator 10K to tune around 3', I did it to use once with a magnet mount on top of a Cargo Van...Worked pretty good, and could handle allot more than just 500w's...

What I did was use either a 9" or 12" lower shaft (forgot now which one it was) then used 2-single Coils, plus the top section to make the antenna...Using two single coils (and a spacer) allowed the antenna to tune very short...

This was back around 2006 or 2007 before I got a Box truck to work out of, so it's been a while...If I recall, SWR was sorta high on the lower channels, but good enough on the rest so I could run a Amp without worrying about burning it up.

Some of the CB Shops that sell the Predators also sell spare parts for them, If you can't find the parts you can always call Kale and have him send them to you. (his number is on the bottom shaft of every Predator 10K)

All you would need is a short lower shaft, two of the regular "single-coils" a spacer to go between the coils, and the top section...everything just screws together...It will be short enough I think, and handle whatever you want to throw at it, just don't expect it to have the range that your 27" shaft 10K has...
Thanks for that idea! Never saw that before. Seen the dual coiled antennas but not as you made. I have 12,17, 27 inch shafts, one coil lol. Might give it a try. Btw I tried the Predator site today. Right now saying domain expired.
 
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Half breed. Half-n-half.

Workman makes one, H&H I believe is the product code, can’t remember.

Everhardt has one C27-0 but it’s 57” overall but I think they’re good antennas.

ProComm JBC1300 is 3’ and basically covers all the others listed, same style antenna. Available in 3,4,5ft lengths.

I believe they’re all listed as handling 1000w but I wouldn’t attempt it, I think 500w is more reasonable. Probably most easily available and cheapest on Amazon (damn you Amazon) if you’re interested in any of these.
Thank you. Just trying to get some opinions on short antennas hoping one might be better than the other in some way.
 
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Well in my opinion, those are good antennas if you want something short and cheap. Why pay around $40 for an antenna you don’t really want or like when you can pay $12-$18 or so? Shipping will get you but it’ll get you on a more expensive antenna too.
 
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Some engineer that specializes in sensory technology needs to come up with the ultimate solution. I’m thinking about an antenna that automatically collapses whenever the vehicle approaches an overhead obstruction. Yea, you’re right, too much dreaming when there’s work to be done.
 
I was gonna build one using a power window motor so I could easily fold down my 10K when going under an asphalt silo. I guess you could adapt that idea with a distance sensor and make your dream come true??

That ProComm will work fine. I don’t think it has to be expensive to be a good antenna.
 
Some engineer that specializes in sensory technology needs to come up with the ultimate solution. I’m thinking about an antenna that automatically collapses whenever the vehicle approaches an overhead obstruction. Yea, you’re right, too much dreaming when there’s work to be done.
It probably can be done with the right money for sure, lol!
 
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My thing is, winter is coming. I usually use a K-1-27 on top of my 2010 Jeep Liberty. Because of some businesses that I use garages and drive through height restrictions running errands during the warmer weather I would just walk in or I have to take the antenna down. I really just want a decent short antenna if thats even possible, for errand running. My Jeep is 6ft high at the top of the mount. Maximum is 9ft. But I do want the better one if that makes sense. Like I believe a coiled stick is better in range than say a wilson trucker type, but as I am now looking for one I am not to sure anymore. I don't even know if those coiled ones come that short. Thats why I was asking here for others' experience while researching. I know they are crap at that length but I want the best crap for range and power i need, lol. Don't need to be expensive. Just looking for the one for better range even for what it is to start with.
 
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Thanks for that idea! Never saw that before. Seen the dual coiled antennas but not as you made. I have 12,17, 27 inch shafts, one coil lol. Might give it a try. Btw I tried the Predator site today. Right now saying domain expired.
That's "Predator 10K Discount" site...Yep, he's no-more...Don't order anything from that site...Best to just call Kale at the number on bottom of your antenna (817-790-6239)...If you already have a couple of the large coils and a 12" shaft, all you need is the spacer that go's between the two coils...

The "Dual Coil" 10K's you see for sale, the top coil is short and only has 2 to 3 turns in it...Those 10K's still tune close to 5'...You can even use two of the "Bad to the Bone" coils and get it to tune even shorter, because those coils have even more turns in them than the regular single coil 10K...

But like I said, they would handle as much wattage as you can throw at it, but the shorter you go, the distance you can talk suffers.
 

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