• You can now help support WorldwideDX when you shop on Amazon at no additional cost to you! Simply follow this Shop on Amazon link first and a portion of any purchase is sent to WorldwideDX to help with site costs.
  • Click here to find out how to win free radios from Retevis!

So I'd like a mobile CB, but I don't want no stinkin' antenna

I was holding back on saying this but...

The antenna is the most important part of a CB system. You simply cannot have cb radio without an antenna.

One option is no radio, and if you are really that worried about looks this is the way to go. If you are truly that worried about looks, when are you going to remove that am/fm radio antenna that screw up the look of the car as much as some CB antennas and put on one of those that stick to your windshield if any at all?

Another option is kits that let you use the built in am/fm antenna and have at best a third rate setup that will reach as far as a walkie talkie used from inside the car (as was mentioned above) or perhaps one or two cars further... (ok ok a little more than that, but I still maintain they are just as useless).

You can try and find an antenna that will match the existing antenna and put it on the other side of the car to go for a consistent look.

You can realize that there are antennas out there that, as they come, or with maybe a little bit of paint on the base, won't look that bad on your car roof/trunk, and actually may enhance the looks of the car.

Have you actually tried putting an antenna on your car and seeing how it looks? Perhaps you are worried about nothing. Perhaps if you put an antenna in the right place it will actually make the car look even better. Have you even considered that a possibility?

Look, in the end it is your car, do with it what you will, or not.


The DB
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3 people
you could go this route...

Firestik AR1A - CB Antenna to AM/FM Splitter CB Radios, Stryker Radios, CB Radio Antennas and Accessories - Experienced CB Technicians at WalcottCB.com

so you're using the stereo antenna as a cb antenna.
plugs into the cb and stereo and the factory antenna plugs into it.
looks like for this one you will also need a pl259/uhf to motorola female plug adapter, to use since the antenna output is an so239, so the factory antenna will mate up.
or you could just cut the factory end off and solder on a pl259

I've never used one but a few people years back did and they seem to work fairly decent for local work.
no way would i try to run power on one.


Take a REALLY good look at that link again. It is NOT about using the factory AM/FM antenna for CB but rather about using the CB antenna for AM/FM radio as well. Completely different thing.


Firestik AR1A - CB Antenna to AM/FM Splitter

The Match Maker is the perfect accessory for people who want to use their Firestik CB antenna for their CB and AM/FM radio. Although there are some matchers that allow you to use your AM/FM antenna for CB, be forewarned that your CB performance will be at best, very poor. The AR1A does not allow you to use your AM/FM antenna for CB.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person
There are a few ways you can go..

one has suggested you do
This ==>> Firestik AR1A - CB Antenna to AM/FM Splitter CB Radios, Stryker Radios, CB Radio Antennas and Accessories - Experienced CB Technicians at WalcottCB.com

will work likely so so
(it is a cb antenna first but only a so so one at that)

or maybe this
Here ==>> Midland 18 258 Radio Antenna Car CB 18 258 | eBay

that too is so so at best (looks like a glass mount cel antenna but is for cb)

Why Not simply Bite the bullet..
Get a Mag mount (say K40 or Wilson 1000) or a Trunk mount.

Regardless of the radio you use..
It is The ANTENNA that makes the biggest difference.

I Know you said you are not going to run power..
Still the antenna makes a huge difference..

I used to put a 5 ft tall antenna on the roof of my mustang.
However that got out extremely well.

It may not be what most expect to see on a car.
However if you want the cb to work well...Get the best equipment for it you can ( like the Predator 10K mobile antenna) ..

Like this ==>>> http://www.premiere-electronics.net/store/predator10k.html

Hope that helps
 
Here's your inexpensive & reasonably low-profile (36") answer: Astatic Half Breed CB Radio Antenna Kit Coax Cable and Mount Base Loaded Coil | eBay

Just add a thru-fender mounting kit in your left-rear fender for a balanced look, and a Texas Star 250/350 amplifier, and you'll get out real well and have great receive, especially with the receive preamp, which you might not even need.

Another of similar design, though a foot longer: Solarcon TRX 1011B 4' Base Loaded Stainless Steel 1 4 Wave CB Antenna 500 Watt | eBay
 
The Bandit's Trans Am was a Pontiac and it looked good with a CB antenna. :biggrin:

For asthetics, on that car, I'd run a K30 or Lil Will on the roof. For performance, put a Sirio Performer 5000 on the roof.

73,
RT307
 
DONT WANT NO STINKIN ATTENNA ON MY CAR

When did antennas start to stink?? New one on me. Personally I'D go for a Sirio Performer 5000.Use with a magmount or drill a hole in the metal. Looks way to good for that kinda car but who knows !!!! Of course that Sirio might get you out too far--- perhaps you only want to get out to maybe two or three cars in front of you. Perhaps M U R S is the route that you need to take. Whatever way you go .......Have fun an be safe...
 
No need to be assholes guys, I may end up just getting a k40 trunk lip because it has the quick release mount.

Anyways, thanks for the help.
 
No need to be assholes guys, I may end up just getting a k40 trunk lip because it has the quick release mount.

Anyways, thanks for the help.

I doubt anyone was trying to be an asshole. Smartasses yes but assholes no. These guys gave you the best advice they can from their many years of experience.

The simple fact is this, a cb needs a minimum of 1/4 wave antenna. That's 108 inches give or take an inch. 9 feet tall. That's impractical for most folks so antenna makers shorten them by coiling the antenna. That makes them less efficient. The shorter the antenna, the less efficient.

It really comes down to you making a decision. Do you want an effective cb, or do you want a car with no antenna? In all practicality, you can't have both.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 people
Form follows function

I would put a 102" stainless steel whip on the roof of my mini SUV but I think I would be hitting all of the low tree branches and some low bridges we have so I got the next best thing. A K40 base loaded 57.75" mag mount antenna. I would prefer the 102" whip. I could put a mount for one on my car roof and use a quick disconnect for when I park and talk. You might could have a cb/radio antenna for everyday running around and have a big gun antenna for the times you really want to get out. :D
 
No need to be assholes guys, I may end up just getting a k40 trunk lip because it has the quick release mount.

Anyways, thanks for the help.


:cursing: There is a big difference between being a smart ass and an ass hole. :angry: Wanting to have a CB but not an antenna is like saying you are feeding the starving by driving down the street waving food in front of them. It is just not realistic. A radio of any type NEEDS an antenna so your choice is not IF you want an antenna but rather what kind of antenna you will choose to have. Your options start with the kind of mount you want. you have magnetic, hard mount where you drill a hole, trunk lip mount or thru-glass. Thru hole means you drill a hole in the roof and mount the antenna. trunk lip mounts on the edge of the trunk lip and usually will scratch the underside of the metal as there are set screws to hold it in place and ground it. A magnetic mount is the least obtrusive as it can be removed and put out of sight when you do not want to use the radio.That's why I suggested it since you think an antenna on your car would look silly. To be honest the reasons you got some of the responses you did was because of the comment about how silly an antenna would look and that your car looked like the one pictured except it had "prettier wheels". It's an average car not a Rolls or Bentley as I said in which case it really WOULD look silly to have a CB antenna on it. I am sure you have had comments from Dodge or Ford lovers in jest before about your choice of car and I am quite sure you have probably made your own comments about those products. If not than you are in the VAST minority of the public and and if you have taken offense to it then you have a lot of maturing to do if you are going to make it through this rough and tough unfriendly world.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 person

dxChat
Help Users
  • No one is chatting at the moment.
  • @ Crawdad:
    One of the few times my tiny station gets heard on 6m!:D
  • @ Galanary:
    anyone out here familiar with the Icom IC-7300 mods
  • @ Crawdad:
    7300 very nice radio, what's to hack?
  • @ kopcicle:
    The mobile version of this site just pisses me off
  • @ unit_399:
    better to be pissed off than pissed on.