Whip antenna for CB on a Suburban

[Scruffy49]

10’ stainless whip on a spring mount, attached to a stake pocket. Stuff the end in a different stakepocket when not needed. Radio bracket is mounted to the ashtray face. Radio (vintage Japanese made) came out of a late 60s or early 70s motor coach.
Whip was originally on top of a 40’ base station tower. Late brother in law was a seriuos CB enthusiast back in the day.

 

[Tonimus]

10’ stainless whip on a spring mount, attached to a stake pocket. Stuff the end in a different stakepocket when not needed. Radio bracket is mounted to the ashtray face. Radio (vintage Japanese made) came out of a late 60s or early 70s motor coach.
Whip was originally on top of a 40’ base station tower. Late brother in law was a seriuos CB enthusiast back in the day.

Except that suburbans don't have stake pockets.

 

[Radiohead]

Except that suburbans don't have stake pockets.

Yer just not trying hard enough...

 

[Turbo4whl]

Except that suburbans don't have stake pockets.

@Fight Milk

For the Suburban, get a gutter clip for the whip.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Dad had a 23 channel CB in the 75 Sierra Classic, mounted under the dash over the transmission hump. Don't remember what kind of antenna other than he made a mount for it in the front left corner of the bed. When we got the 78 Sierra shop truck set up, he had something similar on it. We'd use the CB on road trips to swap meets, it was interesting and fun, to listen to the truckers. When we got the 79 Burb, he wanted to run the CB in it, but where to put the antenna??? His solution was a rectangular stainless steel tubing light mount bar, that had legs that clamped onto the drip rails. We had a K40 antenna by that point, with a twist mount so it could be stored in the vehicle when not in use(back then these were frequently stolen). I was in charge of attachment and removal when we went on road trips. Only thing I didn't like about it, was the inside edges of the bar were not rolled over and were sharp...so I had to be very careful when washing the Burb.

 

[Fight Milk]

@Fight Milk

For the Suburban, get a gutter clip for the whip.

You must be registered for see images attach

Thanks! I got one in the mail the other day.

My best guess at avoiding drilling holes in the body is making a bracket off of the receiver hitch to clearance it away from the body a little bit. I'm sure this is still less-than-ideal, but if it doesn't work well, maybe i'll switch to a magnetic mount.

The project kind of snowballed into tightening up the loose steering column, replacing the turn signal switch, shifter return spring thingy, LED dash lights, radio rebuild/aux cord addition, and new shocks. So up next is wiring the CB directly to the battery (this seems to have less of a chance of introducing interference, using the in-line fuse on the power to the CB) and then making the bracket for the whip.

 

[Turbo4whl]

My best guess at avoiding drilling holes in the body is making a bracket off of the receiver hitch to clearance it away from the body a little bit. I'm sure this is still less-than-ideal, but if it doesn't work well, maybe i'll switch to a magnetic mount.

If you don't want to drill holes in the fender, another choice is a bumper mount. This mounted near the end of the bumper will line up and use the side of the Suburban as a ground plain

CLICK HERE

Link fixed

 

[Midnightmoon]

Thanks! I got one in the mail the other day.

My best guess at avoiding drilling holes in the body is making a bracket off of the receiver hitch to clearance it away from the body a little bit. I'm sure this is still less-than-ideal, but if it doesn't work well, maybe i'll switch to a magnetic mount.

The project kind of snowballed into tightening up the loose steering column, replacing the turn signal switch, shifter return spring thingy, LED dash lights, radio rebuild/aux cord addition, and new shocks. So up next is wiring the CB directly to the battery (this seems to have less of a chance of introducing interference, using the in-line fuse on the power to the CB) and then making the bracket for the whip.

Honestly, if you aren't worried about marring the paint, a quality magnetic mount would be a very good choice. Taking advantage of that large ground plane of the roof will provide very good coverage with a good quality antenna.

I've talked literally all over the world using a magnetic mount base and Ham Stick antennas on the Ham bands. Now not necessarily for use in a mobile application, it gives you an idea of how efficient a magnetic mount can be.

 

[HotWheelsBurban]

Thanks! I got one in the mail the other day.

My best guess at avoiding drilling holes in the body is making a bracket off of the receiver hitch to clearance it away from the body a little bit. I'm sure this is still less-than-ideal, but if it doesn't work well, maybe i'll switch to a magnetic mount.

The project kind of snowballed into tightening up the loose steering column, replacing the turn signal switch, shifter return spring thingy, LED dash lights, radio rebuild/aux cord addition, and new shocks. So up next is wiring the CB directly to the battery (this seems to have less of a chance of introducing interference, using the in-line fuse on the power to the CB) and then making the bracket for the whip.

That's how things often go on these old trucks....one thing leads to another....

 

[Scruffy49]

Except that suburbans don't have stake pockets.

SWB doesn’t have enough of them…
The “grandpa cap” is going back on the truck, so will be facing the same mounting issues. Going to be bumper mounted, and use (horror of horrors) a gutter clip.
We had a 64 F250 in college. Twin 4’ Firesticks, over built 35w radio (illegal) and over 700w worth of linear amps. Get up on a butte, point the bed to the south, and talk to South America, Australia and New Zealand.

 

[Tonimus]

I have a GMRS license. Just a fee, no test or anything. Here's a comparison between GMRS and CB. https://www.therangerstation.com/overlanding-and-off-road/cb-radio-vs-gmrs-radio/#gsc.tab=0

 

[Fight Milk]

If you don't want to drill holes in the fender, another choice is a bumper mount. This mounted near the end of the bumper will line up and use the side of the Suburban as a ground plain

CLICK HERE

Link fixed

Thanks! This may be the ticket

 

[Fight Milk]

I have a GMRS license. Just a fee, no test or anything. Here's a comparison between GMRS and CB. https://www.therangerstation.com/overlanding-and-off-road/cb-radio-vs-gmrs-radio/#gsc.tab=0

I've thought about going this route, too. One day, I would like to get a ham license

 

[Turbo4whl]

I have a GMRS license. Just a fee, no test or anything. Here's a comparison between GMRS and CB. https://www.therangerstation.com/overlanding-and-off-road/cb-radio-vs-gmrs-radio/#gsc.tab=0

Some more useless CB info. "Back in the day" when more CBs became more in use, the FCC did require you to have a CB licence. You were also asked to state your call letters when you started transmitting, and sign off when you were done. Not many people did.

Also 1/4 wave is 106.47". So the ball and spring add to the 102" whip. Last, don't cut the ball off the top of the antenna. The wave being transmitted, is just that, a wave. The wave moves out following the antenna, then crosses back right at the tip. The ball or tip allows a clean depart. That is why a full wave antenna will work even better. the signal wave crosses the antenna 3 times before it leaves the antenna.

 

[Tonimus]

I've thought about going this route, too. One day, I would like to get a ham license

I got mine. Remarkably easy. They dropped the morse code requirement.