Another question...

[Nick23]

I have been in the CB hobby for 5 or so years now. I have only been improving my mobile setup on my truck. Just now getting started on a base setup. My problem is that I live in a neighborhood that has a terrible HOA. Does anyone else live in an HOA? I need some help on what to do (if I even can) for an antenna. Also, any recommendations on other base equipment?

Thanks for any help guys
Nick

 

[9C1Driver]

You might have to try a dipole antenna either in the attic or back yard somehow. Maybe you could stash an antenna in a tree if you have any. I have seen people make a pvc flag pole and hide an antenna inside. Last up would be some kind of a tilt antenna you put up at night and tilt down when you are done talking.

Picking a radio is up to you depending on what you need, want, and are willing to spend on. Heck any mobile radio on a small power supply would work fine. Given your problem an amplifier is out of the question at this point.

 

[buickid]

I have a Bazooka Dipole that is essentially strung up on the side of my house right now. You could easily hang it under the eave of a roof, or in an attic. Its horizontal on the side of the house facing Australia, but a few days ago the band opened up and I hit Europe, with multiple signal reports of 5x8 and 5x9 into their giant beams. It can certainly work well if you're willing to spend a little bit of time tuning it, and any antenna is better than no antenna. I'm pushing about 300W into it without complaint from the neighbors so far, and they're pretty close by. I bleed my stereo receiver just a little, and the powered subwoofer a lot, but its on the opposite side of the wall that the antenna is on, so I expected that.

 

[Beetle]

What you CAN do is experiment. Study the antenna books, get the theory stuck in your head, and see what works and what doesn't.

 

[space cowboy]

IBA-5 INDOOR CB BASE ANTENNA
not too bad in an attic, but not great either.

 

[Nick23]

I was just looking at my trees and I have one in the backyard that might be a candidate. Problem is I can't even use a 18' Antron 99. So I have narrowed down my list to a dipole or the Maco balcony antenna. Does anyone know the length on the Maco. I think I read that it has two 7' elements(does anyone know the length for sure). Also what range would I be getting approximately?

Thanks
Nick

 

[Turbo T]

Nick,

I sort of live in an HOA. Actually I live in military housing and have my antennas up, they ain't said shit to me yet. Of course I am a licensed ham so I sorta have some protection. Maybe they know better? lol

Anyways, in your case, try building yourself a dipole and maybe putting it in your attic, if you have real assholes for neighbors. It won't be as good as out in the open, but it's better than nothing at all.

You could also get a 15 ft. pole and mount the center of the dipole on it and run it in an inverted vee, then drive the pole in the ground about 5 ft. so the center of the dipole is up 10 feet. Maybe put a birdhouse or something at the top in case your neighbors start getting nosy. Tell them the dipole wires are guy wires for the pole. Mount your wires north and south if you want to hear/talk east and west, and vice versa.

Also remember the higher the better. If you can get the center of the dipole at 20 feet, you're doing better.

One thing I have heard of some hams doing, is they'll use an antenna tuner and use the metal gutters of their house for antennas, and using the tuner to match the impedance up so the radio likes it. I don't know too much about ti, but perhaps if you ask in the ham forum they'll tell you. Just tell them you want to do this on 10 meters, and don't mention it's really for 11 meters.

 

[SuperDave]

Pick up a dipole on eBay for cheap and put it in the attic. Do you live in a two story house? When I was a kid my grandad made me a dipole and put it in my parents attic and I talked skip barefoot more times than I can count.

I don't see why you couldn't run a small amp. I'll be running a Rm Italy 203p soon and I will let u know if the neighbors here me or not. They live extremely close but I do have my dipole facing away from the houses. My dipole is in the attic of out single story home but I haven't been able to get a good base radio set up yet. In about three weeks ill have my sears road talker set up and I'll be trying to shoot some skip then.

 

[Nick23]

Thanks for all your posts guys. Does the dipole cause TV snow(or any other interference)? Would the Maco balcony antenna? No I don't live in a two story house. What I am thinking is getting the Maco and putting it up 9 feet in the tree and use it as a beam(only at night). Also, what power supply should I get? Any other base equipment that is a must? I will be using my mobile 4 watt radio to start then get a 40 or 75 watt mobile to run as a base. Last night I talked to a local with my predator 10k and a 4 watt uniden. Came in with half a s unit. I live north of town and all the locals are 20-35 mile away.

Thanks for the help
Nick

 

[Beetle]

Thanks for all your posts guys. Does the dipole cause TV snow(or any other interference)? Would the Maco balcony antenna? No I don't live in a two story house. What I am thinking is getting the Maco and putting it up 9 feet in the tree and use it as a beam(only at night). Also, what power supply should I get? Any other base equipment that is a must? I will be using my mobile 4 watt radio to start then get a 40 or 75 watt mobile to run as a base. Last night I talked to a local with my predator 10k and a 4 watt uniden. Came in with half a s unit. I live north of town and all the locals are 20-35 mile away.

Thanks for the help
Nick

The only way to know if a given antenna fed by a given transmitter will cause interference to consumer electronics is to actually try it. I doubt that a legal CB station - 4 watts, unmodified - would cause anything noticeable to a nearby TV. Your "40 or 75 watt" station - illegal for CB - might. Again, there's no way to know without actual testing on the air.

By the way, antennas don't "cause" interference.

 

[Turbo T]

I think TV snow is a thing of the past. Although a DVR might be a different story. And no a typical 4 watt radio doesn't cause much interference....unless someone clipped the modulation limiter.

 

[Nick23]

Do base microphones offer better audio than a 636l or telex road king?

 

[9C1Driver]

Do base microphones offer better audio than a 636l or telex road king?

Those are good mobile mics but they do clamp the audio down just a bit. You will want a power desk mic like a D104 chicken choker, Turner plus 2, Turner Super Sidekick, Astatic 1104C, Turner CS-1, or a Turner Plus 3.

 

[W5LZ]

Interference is caused by too much RF too close to whatever is being interfered with. It isn't necessarily caused by any particular part of the antenna system. The biggest source of RFI is from the antenna it's self, not the feed line, for instance. And the best 'cure' for any RFI is distance! Which is also the hardest way of 'curing' RFI, where the #3\\ can you move the antenna to to reduce the RF getting to the interfered with thingy?
A microphone's only 'duty' is to convert whatever it hears (sound) into electrical energy. They don't increase output power by their selves. The best microphone is the one that reproduces your voice just as it is (fidelity). What you do with that electrical output of that microphone is the job of the audio circuitry in the radio. You can probably 'improve' the 'fidelity' of any microphone to some extent, but over-doing that only causes distorted audio. Lot's of 'give-r-take' in that, and what you consider sounds good. The microphone cartridge inside that housing is the mainest difference in mobile/base microphones. And just like speakers, the housing can make a big difference in acoustics(sp). Talk about a can of worms!
- 'Doc

 

[SuperDave]

Thanks for all your posts guys. Does the dipole cause TV snow(or any other interference)? Would the Maco balcony antenna? No I don't live in a two story house. What I am thinking is getting the Maco and putting it up 9 feet in the tree and use it as a beam(only at night). Also, what power supply should I get? Any other base equipment that is a must? I will be using my mobile 4 watt radio to start then get a 40 or 75 watt mobile to run as a base. Last night I talked to a local with my predator 10k and a 4 watt uniden. Came in with half a s unit. I live north of town and all the locals are 20-35 mile away.

Thanks for the help
Nick

I hooked up my Uniden which only swings 20 watts and it does not interfe with the TVs in the house. It's hooked to the Dipole in the attic.