jack frost (cb antenna mounts)

[93 saturn sl2 10+ year member]

is this a good mount for my wilson sw-2000 I won't have it on my car all the time just during trips.

tri mag mount

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[JAZN 5,000+ posts]

Pm?

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

I probably would have replied to it faster if he had PM'ed me //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

But I might as well reply here...

Magnetic mounts like that will stick your antenna on the car, but what they won't do is provide a good RF ground (and therefore **** in performance). Antennas are a little like amplifiers - they need a "counterpoise" (fancy term for a ground) to work against.

I assume from your username you drive a Saturn; in that case, congrats, you drive one of the most difficult vehicles to install radio gear in. Their plastic body panels do you no favors, because you can't use them to ground your antenna, and when you're dealing with frequencies under 30MHz, you need all the ground plane you can get. IIRC, the only metal panel on a Saturn is the trunk lid, but I very well could be wrong. A DMM is the only way to know for sure.

Even if you could find a metal panel to stick your mag mount on, there's another problem. At frequencies below 50MHz or so, the magnets alone don't provide enough coupling to ground, like they do at higher frequencies. So you need to run an external ground lead (like a small wire) from the grounded part of the mount to a chassis ground. If you are willing to do this, a mag mount like you suggested will work for you. Just be careful taking it on and off, as they can scratch the clearcoat if you're not careful.

I don't like mag mounts for a number of reasons...but of course, I've taken a hole saw to my vehicle in pursuit of ultimate antenna grounding //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

I'm also not really a fan of those "trucker style" short whip antennas, unless you're actually mounting it on the mirror of a truck and have no room to put it elsewhere. Ideally, you should have at least a 6ft antenna for CB - I'm running a full size quarter wave vertical (108", nine feet if you include the shock spring) but I realize that's not practical for everyone and requires a permanent mount.

Something like a Wilson 5000, mounted on a trunk lip mount (which will get you better grounding than a mag mount) IMO would be a better choice.

Antennas are a whole 'nother topic, I could write for days on the subject, and not even begin to cover it in detail //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

J Frost is cool

 

[93 saturn sl2 10+ year member]

thanks for the help I wouldn't have a problem running a ground cable to ground the antenna more. Where would I attach it to the antenna (where the antenna screws onto the mount), and what gauge should I use 18 fine? and the saturn has metal trunk roof and hood.

thanks