CB Antennas

[clueless]

I was wondering if installing a TALLER antenna then stock would work?

at Spyderfest my reception on the winding hills when further back in the large pack was spotty to another Spyder. he was using a shortie antenna.

I was able to communicate 2x as far to a Motorolla hand held CB with an external mag antenna on it. So I am thinking I need larger antenna.

thoughts?

 

[Phil]

I was wondering if installing a TALLER antenna then stock would work?

at Spyderfest my reception on the winding hills when further back in the large pack was spotty to another Spyder. he was using a shortie antenna.

I was able to communicate 2x as far to a Motorolla hand held CB with an external mag antenna on it. So I am thinking I need larger antenna.

thoughts?

I'm an RF guy so I'll field this without getting into a lot of tech details.:doorag:

First- all antennas want as much of 'line of sight' as possible to work well. The idea location would be on top of your helmet! Also.... Larger doesn't necessarily mean better in RF (radio frequency) world. Having said that... the IDEAL length for CB frequecies is about 102" long. Now.... assuming no one wants THAT on their beautiful blue RT......

You do want to make sure there is a 'ground plane' under most all CB antennas. This would be the foil or aluminum under the tupperware. It helps act like the roof of a car with a mag mount antenna (hence one reason it talked further and received you better). The shortie antennas 'load' the length of the antenna via the coil at the bottom (it's actually an electrical thing, not a spring). TYPICALLY for CB freqs, they do not work as well.

For reading---
http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/mc-duals.htm
http://www.firestik.com/Tech_Docs/atv-mc.htm

Some options-
http://www.claysradioshop.com/jm_products_antenna_system.html

There is a term I'll help explain that's important in RF of any sort-----
SWR-- Standing Wave Ratio. When you transmit, you want all power to go OUT of the antenna. In practice, some does not make it out the antenna and is 'reflected' back to the radio (your CB) raising the SWR. But you want the SWR to be as low as possible. SWR goes up when connectors get wet, corroded, etc. It also goes up when antennas aren't 'tuned' correctly for what you're trying to do (transmit on your CB).

Bottom line is that to get the max.... get with a CB shop to look at your bike and check SWR and recommend the best antenna for the RT.

 

[clueless]

thanks Phil ... see you in Maggie Valley. too bad you cant find someone who rents Spyders down there...

I saw the GW Trike was running a cb antenna with the coil mounted mid way up the antenna instead. it was longer then the spyder OEM antenna. I still think going slightly longer with less loading will get me higher up for better transmission and reception. I am pretty sure there is a plate in the back under the antenna for the ground plane. I wonder if its enough or maybe better to go with an antenna that doesn't require a ground plane instead.

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