Should You Be Using No-Ground Equipment?

If you try to use standard ground-based CB equipment with a vehicle that needs a "no ground plane" antenna, you'll experience both high SWR levels and extremely poor performance. Vehicles that require NGP equipment:

• Have a fiberglass shell or coating over much or all of the vehicle
• Have little or no metallic chassis for the antenna to be grounded to

Vehicles that should use NGP equipment include:

• Motor homes and large fiberglass coaches
• Camper shells where the antenna is mounted directly to the fiberglass (instead of the vehicle)
• Boats
• Motorcycles with little or no ground plane

In these circumstances and with these vehicles, NGP equipment should be used. Please note that NGP installations require a special NGP coax and antenna. Using either a ground-based coax cable OR a ground-base antenna will cause problems. While NGP antennas and coax cables can be purchased separately, they're usually sold as part of a complete NGP kit.

For more information, please refer to our No Ground Plane CB Antennas.

Pat Haggerty

About the Author

As the owner and operator of Right Channel Radios, Pat Haggerty has been helping customers find the best radio solutions since 2008. He is highly knowledgeable in all mobile radio options and setups, including CB radios, GMRS radios, and HAM radios. His wide library of how-to and help articles is frequently referred to as one of the best resources for CB radio installations and technical support online. When he's not assisting radio enthusiasts online or on the phone, you can find Pat enjoying all that Montana's trails have to offer on his skis, mountain bike or Land Cruiser.