Search results

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

I was reading that earlier today. My options are limited. There is no way I'm mounting it on the cab roof. Whip would be way to high. The other option would have been the middle of the cap. Its fiberglass. I suppose I could have attached a metal plate say 3' x 5' x .040 thk under the cap and...

Still need to paint the bracket, put some black wire loom over the cable as protection, and change to black zip ties. Looks "OK" but works well. Pay no attention to my junk and mastercraft under the knife. :)

Overview of the bracket.

Shot of the radio installed

Thanks for the input guys. I'll shoot some pics when Its all done. What's the free picture hosting site of choice these days?