Jeep Wrangler antenna issues

[KD8PAV]

I need some diagnostic help with my CB antenna. I drive a soft top Wrangler and currently use a commercially available mount that bolts to the body tub behind the driver side tail light. I have a 4' Firestick II that gives me a good SWR reading, but due to the height of my vehicle, the mounting location and my garage door, I am about 6" too tall and even with a HD spring it still eats up the plastic isolation bushing in a few weeks. Due to the soft top, getting the top of the antenna up and over the roofline generally is not too big of a deal, and a 3' Firestick would fit better in the garage. Trouble is, my 3' 'Stick II will not tune below 2.5 SWR. Just experimenting with other antennas I have lying around, my 5' Firestick II and 4' Firestick (not tunable) also give me terrible SWR. A simple mag mount from WalMart stuck on the front cowl works great...go figure.

I'm missing something here just not sure what?

Plan B would probably be to swap to a steel whip antenna (my 2m antenna doesn't mind a regular bend in and out of the garage), but since we are often in tight quarters off road Firesticks or equivalent are viewed as safer since they are flailing around less than a whip would.

 

[Robb]

Personally, I never did like or see a 3 ft antenna that either worked well or gave a decent SWR across the 40 Cb channels. Even though have a couple of 4 ft Wilson Silver loads, i never use them either.

If it was my Jeep, I would run a 5 ft Firestick or the steel whip. Use a securing tab (homebrew) to keep the whip down low before you garage the Jeep. A taller antenna will out-perform a shorter one every time. Only the portion of the antenna that is above all of the vehicle's metal will be the portion that will be truly effective - anyway. Forget about the 3 ft antenna; it is a waste of time!

 

[mr_fx]

or do what I did...

102 whip for daily driving and a 4 ft firestik (Firefly) that I install when I am going to hit the trail

 

[prerunner1982]

If you had a way to mount the Firestick (one that you are having problems tuning) to the hood area and see if it works any better there. I suspect it maybe the lack of metal top that is causing the issue.

 

[rabbiporkchop]

wrangler problems

I need some diagnostic help with my CB antenna. I drive a soft top Wrangler and currently use a commercially available mount that bolts to the body tub behind the driver side tail light. I have a 4' Firestick II that gives me a good SWR reading, but due to the height of my vehicle, the mounting location and my garage door, I am about 6" too tall and even with a HD spring it still eats up the plastic isolation bushing in a few weeks. Due to the soft top, getting the top of the antenna up and over the roofline generally is not too big of a deal, and a 3' Firestick would fit better in the garage. Trouble is, my 3' 'Stick II will not tune below 2.5 SWR. Just experimenting with other antennas I have lying around, my 5' Firestick II and 4' Firestick (not tunable) also give me terrible SWR. A simple mag mount from WalMart stuck on the front cowl works great...go figure.

I'm missing something here just not sure what?

Plan B would probably be to swap to a steel whip antenna (my 2m antenna doesn't mind a regular bend in and out of the garage), but since we are often in tight quarters off road Firesticks or equivalent are viewed as safer since they are flailing around less than a whip would.

Hook up a jumper cable to the negative battery post, then using an ohmmeter measure impedance between your mounting bracket and the jumper cable. If you see more than 1 or 2 ohms, figure out where the ground loss is happening.On my Chevy Tahoe the fenders are insulated from the cab. I just had to put a short ground strap between the firewall and the passenger fender. It fixed my swr problem.