The Wilson antenna comes with a wire sticking out at the bottom of it meant for grounding. I extended the wire down between the cab and bed and grounded it to the frame. I really don't know right now if it was needed or not, or even what kind of readings I'll get. This Friday will be the day of reckoning. Hopefully the guy can help me out with suggestions and I hope he has enough experience in tuning and set-up. We'll see. I can't wait to get rollin'.

 

This is the wire im talking about THAT DOES NOT NEED TO BE GROUNDED UNLESS YOU HAVE REALLY BAD SWR READINGS AND THE CB TECH SAYS TO GROUND IT otherwise just tape it to the antenna with some electrical tape to hide it-its not needed unless the cb tech can not get good readings(just tape the wire to your antenna and forget about it unless the tech says you need it, then hook it back up real quick) you should be able to get good readings just by adjusting the antenna tip with the meter hooked up to it-your cb tech will do this-the only time you ground the wire on the antenna is if after adjusting the antenna tip you still have to high of a swr reading

What you need to make sure is grounded is your antenna mount-this has to have a good ground-generally where ever you mount it to the body is sufficient-but to make sure you can run a wire from one of the mounting screws/bolts to the frame

 

The antenna mount is not grounded. That's the thing. I drilled a hole through the undercover tonneau(plastic) and ran the gumdrop plastic mount through it. I hope I don't have to ground it. Right now it kinda looks like crap with that ground wire going down off of it. But I want to make sure I get the best signal possible with the current set-up. If the tech can adjust like you say, I would be extremely happy. I won't have that extra piece running down. Then again. The mount is plastic, and the mounting surface is plastic so I think I may need to have the ground wire.

 

One more day.

 

Im no tech on this but im almost 100% positive on this-somewhere on that mount has got to be metal, if not the mount then pull something off the spring and hook that to your ground wire instead-something that antenna is screwed into has to be metal-use that to hook up to your ground wire to
I found a link-wilsons website-read the first 2 paragraphs-the rest it helpful to
http://www.wilsonantenna.com/tsswrf.htm
this will explain better than me
enjoy

 

Spoke to the tech(before) i go tomorrow, he says that since the antenna mount is NOT on metal that I DO need to ground it. Another thing that came up that is kinda worrying me is that I told him I used a 12' coaxial cable and he says he hopes there is not a problem because "It seems that 18' coaxial cable is the magic number". Don't know why they would sell different lenghts if they would not work properly. Of course. Like everything else. Just because it is there; doesn't mean it is actually good for you.

 

18 feet of coax is 1/4 wave and thats almost perfect for 1srw with good a antenna.

 

Damn. I may have to get another cable to get the extra 6'. I did not know that. thanks. I was wondering why every article I was reading recommended the 18'. I just did not want a bunch of cable stuck under the carpet. I even had about 3 feet left of the 12'. If the 12' I have does not work, I'll just put in the 18' while I'm there. Sometimes I have to learn the hard way. Thanks.

 

Even though the antenna mount is not on metal doesnt mean you cant ground it-run a ground wire from your antenna mount to a good ground
any pics of mount so we can see what you have?
as far as the cable goes-ive always heard lenghts of three keep it good, so 12-15-18 and so on, i think mine is 21' and i have good readings-didnt even have to do any adjusting
let us know how it turns out tomorrow

 

18 is 1/2 wave on 27 mhz. I have used 2' all the way up to 70' of feedline to a resonant antenna and it does NOT have any effect on swr or impedance. If the feedline is good quality and the right impedence you won't have any problem. Run a 14 gauge or thicker wire from the mount side to the vehicle frame.

Better yet, pay someone to do it for you.

 

I agree about the grounding... Sometimes truckers will mount their antennas on the door mirrors and still run a ground wire to make sure the antennas are properly grounded. And a CB shop will cut your coaxial cable in the lenght of 3's, such as 12, 15, 18 or 21... My radio guru likes 21 ft and I always complained about the bulk of cable that I had to find a place for. He also told me not to curyl or wind in up in a bunch.
I thought a wave in lenght was about 33 ft, as I put up base station antenns in my days and would always try to have the antenna a wave lenght above the water table or as close to that as I could judge. I am sure there are forums that you can get into more depth on this issue.
Good luck

 

well. I'm back from the tuning. I needed to remove the 12' that I had already installed and run an 18ft coax. Also, he removed about 3 inches from the antenna by grinding it, said it was too long. As mentioned earlier. I ALSO needed to ground the base. Even with all that. the best he could get was between 1.5 and 1.7. Any suggestions on how I can improve this?? should I now run a ground to tha antenna from that wire that was sticking out of it? Any suggestion on improving this? I was thinking of mounting the antenna to the rear bumper, but then again that would drop the height and would not be good for reception. But I would have a good ground.

 

I personaly would be happy with the 1.5 or 1.7 swr. That is where most people try to zero in on and you have minimal power loss at thoes readings. It is possible to get lower that the 1.5 but the differance I feel you would see will not be worth the cost or trouble. I won't accept a 1 to 2 match and if I get a single or set of duals to 1.5 or 1.7 I feel pretty comfortable with that.
If you now tune your radio as some say "peak it" you will be ahead of the game.
Just remenber there are thoes who run amplifers and more powerfull radios, so you won't be the big Kahuna but you will better that a good share of them.

 

I am seeing a 1 swr on both channels 1 and 40 then lower than one in between Radioshack CB with 4' Firestick firefly antenna w/ the magnetic mount and 18' coax cable

 

How can I peak it?? I still don't have my SWR meter. I like where the antenna is located. I will be making a better ground, when the weather gets better. This morning it was 18 degrees, and I currently don't have a garage so it will have to wait. So what is the peak process?? Thanks