Want to get the most out of your CB radio? This is the antenna for you. Installed correctly, you can expect significant reliable local range and long distance contacts (when the band is open). Especially with a SSB capable radio, but even a regular old AM or AM/FM CB, the range capability is astounding. I’ve talked to CB stations in the UK in FM mode, US stations in AM, FM and SSB (and all over the world in SSB). Make sure you use a solid mount. A spring is basically required.
Remember that the body of the vehicle is the other half of the antenna. This is a quarter wave antenna. It’s basically a half wave dipole antenna, with slight modifications to make it actually possible to use in vehicles. In other words, it’s the antenna’s “counterpoise” or “ground”. For larger vehicles, this usually isn’t an issue. For smaller vehicles, including Jeeps, you might need to look into ground straps. Connect each part of the vehicle with the part next to it. The big one is the hood. It has a lot of metal but often is not very well connected to the rest of the body (electrically speaking anyway). Adding a pair of ground straps to improve the connection between the hood and the fenders will make a huge difference. If you’re using a sedan, hood + trunk. Truck: hood to fenders. Your SWR should be well below 2.0 across the CB band. It should actually be much closer to 1.0. If the SWR is high, chances are the antenna does not have a proper counterpoise (the metal body of the vehicle is, effectively [electrically], a mirror image of the 102” piece of stainless steel.
I recommend this antenna to anyone who wants to actually get the full capability of their CB radio. Same thing can be said for your vehicle’s regular FM broadcast radio. Did you buy a dinky little “short FM antenna” and remove the factory stock FM antenna? Was the factory stock antenna 26-30 inches long? If you did, do yourself a favor, and put the factory antenna back on. Just like 102” is the length for the impossible to beat CB antenna (27 MHz band), 26-30 inches is the length for the impossible to beat FM broadcast antenna (88-108 MHz band). Sure, the short antenna works, for strong local stations. So would an unfolded paperclip.
I helped a buddy install a 102” whip + heavy duty spring on a ball mount on the side of his Toyota Tacoma pickup bed. We also installed a through-hole VHF/UHF antenna on the roof of the cab. The 102” whip is UNBEATABLE. I have previous experience running a 102 inch whip on a sedan. Even on a car, the 102” whip produces SWR better than 1.2 or 1.3 from 26.5 MHz to 28 MHz. SWR never went above 1.2 over the entire legal 40 CB channels. SWR better than 1.5 from 25.615 MHz up to 30 MHz. Always check SWR with the doors closed and in a clear area. Any sort of objects near the antenna might impact the performance of a given antenna.
For example, on the sedan, the 102” whip was mounted on the center of the roof and on the trunk.
I had ground straps connecting the hood to the front fenders and another set of straps connecting the trunk to the rear side panels, with another heavy gauge wire connecting the trunk directly to the vehicle chassis. That resulted in a pretty significant improvement with CB antennas as well as VHF antennas (2m amateur, MURS, VHF business band) and UHF antennas (GMRS).
Anyway, on the pickup, ground straps weren’t needed. The truck just has more metal. My buddy regularly makes DX contacts in SSB mode, AM and now FM! Plus his setup absolutely kills it locally.
Always, always check your SWR after installing an antenna. It’s a good idea to check it on a regular basis once the installation is completed too.
