CB Antenna Light

[Roger Dodger]

They were doing about 700-900 watts when those pictures were taken almost a year ago. You have to touch the bulbs to the ant. to get them to light up. If I remember correctly I was told that the person in the pictures was able to walk about 35- 40 ft. away from the ant. befor the lights started to fade out. You have to be carefull doing that though, because the lights can get warm and crack.

I have some doubts here:
Lights are going to crack from getting warm? That seems sketchy since the ionization process creates very little heat in a flourescent tube. Insignificant heat is generated by the tiny filament which stabilizes anyway. The real heat comes from an external starter ballast that might not be efficient.
As for the lamps continuing to glow up to 35-40ft away is also under question. I worked in and around KW and MW transmitter sites as well as 2KW ham linears. The 2KW amps would glow a 4' lamp but not at a distance of even 20'. I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule, considering lamp types/specs, rf radiation levels, etc.

 

[bushwacker]

[, I wonder if these little blubs would cause SWR problems ??? Hmm

[/quote]

No swr problems at all-- I found that the bulbs last longer if you add some clear rubber tubing over them-- after awhile it will melt over the shape of the bulb-- they sure last longer and take more of a beating

 

[Cheech]

Neat! 8) Now Im going to put as meny of them on my antenna as possible so then they cant complain about me not having a light on my tower! :shock: J/K

 

[KD0FBK]

A TS 350 will light a 48" tube from about 3-4 feet without ever touching it to the antenna.

 

[mcjim555]

Hey there Guys, I've been into CB Radio for well over twenty years now, but NEW to this Forum. My question is why in the world would you want to put lights on your antennas ? (Serious Question) As I said, I'm new to this forum, so nice to meet everyone and 73. Jim

 

[Switch Kit]

Hey Jim (-: that's a good question dude (-: I suppose the answer might be ,because they can. Welcome to the Forum Jim

 

[mcjim555]

Hey there Switch Kit, thanks for the welcome. I had an idea that there wasn't any "GAIN" brought to the antennas in question, but I thought, "well you never know".....
Anyways 73 Jim

 

[robogator]

Yes,You can make a 4 ft. fluorescent bulb light up and once you get the bulb started you can walk 20 or more feet away from the antenna and it will stay lit untill it gets dim and drops out....it all depends on your antenna and how much power you are puting out.
I have never had one get warm in my hand or crack but I have lit them up many times....I have also seen 6 inch long streaks of fire come off the top of and antenna and every time you modulated you could hear the voice coming out of the flames....That was one hot talking linear.......I built it!

 

[DTB Radio]

I'm looking to make my own LED light for a CB antenna for when I'm transmitting. I know this can easily be done with a neon bulb which runs off the high voltage coming off the antenna. How could this be done with an LED? If you know of sites with information about this or even sites that explain the neon method in detail, please post them. Thanks!



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I've never tried to do this, but here is an idea you might consider. To light an LED, you need to develop a DC voltage of at least 3 or 4 volts, with a decent current capability. In order to generate that from a CB signal, you'd need to set up a coil of wire in close proximity to the antenna's loading coil, or in the case of a 9' whip, near the top of the antenna (voltage node). It would take some experimentation to get the right coil dimensions and turns number, but using a simple rectifier with a resistor inline should generate enough voltage/current (in theory) to light an LED, at least a bit. Keep in mind tha having any kind of coil in close proximity to the antenna will likely affect the SWR of the antenna.