Recent content by Spidermonkey

Managed to hit some folks in Florida and Georgia yesterday..DX was coming in nice. Also in Spokane Washington.

Yep..with and without real low on 1 and 40...external meter barely reads past 1. Awesome.

I should mention..I checked SWR after hooking up the amp. Both on and off I get an SWR of near zero.....is that correct? I kinda assumed the swr would go up adding the amp....

OK...little update. The 980 is in...and ran a few tests barefoot. Seems that its "OK" for local transmission. I'm not in a great area to test with other CB'ers. Next trip on the trans canada I can give it a test. I did manage to get out and chat with a few folks in Ohio on 38lsb..I'm in south...

I went to the breedlove website. They make a mount for the hitch which is virtually identical of what I did.

Blackcat....I get what your saying. If I hadn't just put a crap ton of money into the body and paint on this thing it would be a no brainer. I'm totally against any holes going into this truck sheet metal. Idea with the 102" whip is that from what I understand they give you the best...

As far as ground plane....this in theory would be worse then what I have now. Also not great for a truck as you can't drop the tailgate.

OK....works been busy but managed to design up what I need for a sheet under the cap. Going with 0.040 thk aluminum. Before I pull the trigger I just have one question regarding group d plane and SWR. I understand that a poor ground plane can cause high SWR....but can you have a good SWR and a...

Agreed. I'll need to come up with something which I'm sure I can. I have a friend who has a lathe and could make me up some sort of spacer to keep the center stud from contacting the plate. I think I'm leaning towards aluminum sheet and not steel. I'll measure it up and get it sheared to size.

I think I can make the plate about 5 feet wide and 6 feet long. Steel vs aluminum...any advantages in this case? As for leaking..if you mean water..no problem. I would put a thin layer of silicon between the 2" metal disc I'll get laser cut and the cap. I can seal it up I'm sure. Infact I could...

I'm thinking the bracket is replaced by the metal plate, the insulator would be the fiberglass cap, and then the small flat washer would be replaced with a 2" diameter laser cut tgin plste/washer on to stop the fiberglass from breaking out, lockwasher and tighten it all up...assuming thickness...

Infact....I'll measure thickness of the glass cap. I may be able to use the stud right through the metal plate, the fiberglass and and say a 3" diameter aluminum thin disc as a washer to spread the load out. I'll have to look at that option maybe? Ps-I am a mechanical engineer by...

Do you think the idea of the metal plate under the fiberglass cap and getting a ball mount secured right through the fiberglass and through the plate so its grounded to that would be better? If I mounted it a bit forward of center and used a barrel spring it might allow my to tie it back during...

:)

No..the worst place was on the frame and coming up between the cab and box. My SWR readings were through the roof. Second worst? Lol