Good afternoon gentlemen, & ladies I suppose. 
So Fodendaf, so you are on top of a mountain? You said it worked well. Well I believe it should at that elevation. It's so nice up in the mountains.
Yes guys, you guessed it, I'm at work again, watching the beautiful sunset in the clear blue sky. Thinking of all the DXing & skip I'm missing out on. Sigh......... Yep, working 2nd shift sucks when it comes to being on the air. Instead, I have to stay here in the Engine room with 9 semi-hermetic ammonia compressors whining, & drowning out my ears. I envy all of you who can sit there in the mid evenings at home manning your radios & talking cross-country. ( me? :bored.
But as I sit here 9.5 hours each evening, (Last night 12.5 hrs), I am busy on the net looking for more tips, more answers, more reasons to keep my enthusiasm from going down the toilet. On a brighter note, in my mind, I am planning the construction of this 1.5' X 4" PVC RF Air Choke Balun. I'm getting ready to order better Coax. The best there is. I am planning on Isolating my IMAGE 2000 & I'm going to buy a Ground Plane Kit probably all before the night is through. 
Yes L.C., found my house in the fall of 2007. It was built in 1905. But it was in fair condition. But don't get me wrong here, as you mentioned, I do have my fair share of home improvements. But most of the wiring downstairs is newer. But the attic is spider'd with old BX 2 conductor wiring. Most of it in fair condition surprisingly. No room to work in the attic. I barely was able to get in there to mount my IMAX. Yes, my studs did not match the tri-pod except for one stud. So I had to use 2X4 blocks from the underneath for strength. Getting back down from the attic is not something I want to do anytime soon.
If I ever re-wire the upstairs, I will have an electrician run a 2" pipe drop up the side of the house to the upper level. I want to upgrade my Circuit Box too one of these days. But for now, The house & the mains are in pretty fair shape.
I was reading on another post to use Teflon as an isolator for the antenna. How about a Nylon 5/8" or 1/2" thick block? Drill the holes and Wallah! I think that would be even better. Yeah, I will try mounting the ground to either location. But we'll see if there's a difference.
It's just that darned interference. The receive comes in actually quite well, but could be a bit better I believe. Heck! last Labor Day, The skip was going wild! I was hearing guys from Jacksonville Florida, Mobile Alabama, & the everglades. A good 1500 miles or more from my house. I live in the very north east part of Illinois you can get, so that's pretty good for my cheap Fiberglass IFART I suppose.
Oh how I wished I had my simple 1/4 wave Astroplane that I had back in 75. The receive was so crystal clear back then. And when I pressed the Mic button, believe me, I could walk over a lot of people. Back then, no computers, no cell phones, no noisy home security systems except for the rich perhaps. Sigh, yes, (PARADISE).
Well, Off I go now to order my ground plane kit, & the best coax I can find. That will be my start. When it comes, I will install the 4" Diameter Balun & Isolate the antenna.
Oh yeah, you hit the nail on the head! Actually, I have been to the ARRL site & E-Ham Universe and have been dreaming of getting my beginner's Ham License. But for now, I felt that getting back into CBs would prep me up with some know how before I plunged big bucks down on a Radio. Remember now, I'm just a punk A_S green horn here. lol! I gots to take it Slooooow! ;-)
Well, Time for me to do the walk & stop the talk. First I'm going to get up on the roof here at work & watch the sun disappear. Such a fantastic view at 40 or 50 ft or so. Then I'm buying my goodies. Oh yeah, I will get those anthenol connectors you spoke of. Do they work any good? I've read they are like a spark gap thingy. Well, gotta fly!
C'mon bak ya'll
We gone!
