CB/Flagstick/Whip Mount Suggestions

Looking to install a 2-3ft Whip light to my truck. Cannot seem to find a bracket that will work, does anyone have any suggestions or links? Done have all equipment just need a bracket and place to put it! Plan to mount a flag on the light as well!

 

Good Ole Zip ties lol

 

VANROUG Universal Trailer Hitch Mount Flag Pole Holder,for Any Vehicle with 2" Hitch Receiver,Black
https://a.co/d/g0Yv60q

 

Thanks for the help! I’m trying to find a cb antenna mount that will work for a 2024 tundra

 

People still use CB's other than long haul truckers??

 

Some off-road guys and rural communities are using it - but it's not as popular as in the past. Most moved to ham radio, but it requires the license to operate (theoretically at least - I don't believe FCC is going to hunt you down for intermittent mobile transmissions).

 

Depends on your political affiliation...

 

It's possibly true for other things, but I don't think it's the case for Ham radio. It takes a lot of work to enforce. They need to triangulate the signal, so they either need to deploy sophisticated equipment to do it quickly, or it's slow and inaccurate. They can do it only when you are transmitting, so the shorter the comm is, the harder it gets. What makes it even more complicated is that it's fully legal to listen without a license and transmit without a license in an emergency (so you can have all the equipment). And to prosecute, they must catch you red-handed transmitting in non-emergency situations.

It's possible—sure. Can enforcement be dependent on political views? Maybe, but IMO, that doesn't change how hard it is. In the end, I think the FCC is more worried about interference with emergency/licensed bands than people who operate without licenses on ham frequencies.

Disclosure: I recommend anyone wanting to operate a ham radio get the license.

EDIT: Of course, constantly operating at home on the same frequency makes it easier to pinpoint and prosecute. I was mainly focusing on mobile operations.

 

Anyone using the NMO mount on their 3rd brake light housing? Having issues tuning my President Richard (swings past 3.0) and I'm thinking it's a ground plane problem. May need to just go back to the ol Firestik on the bed mount.

 

@TRDFerguson and @BiggHertz

 

you rang?

 

Maybe it’s a ground problem, not the ground plane. You don’t have anything on your roof do you (can’t remember top of ur truck)? If not, it shouldn’t be a ground plane issue. I have a rack with cases and am hovering around 1.3. Not great but not bad either

 

Not sure how else to ground it - the brake light housing is bolted into the cab, the antenna is mounted through a hole in the housing.

I don't have anything mounted to the cab roof except my cab lights.

 

FWIW, I run a NMO mount off the ditch light bracket and it seems to work well. I know Jake and Jason run a 3rd brake light mount but don’t know if they’ve had issues with it.

 

Are the rivnuts aluminum or steel? Could also take a meter and check to see if there is resistance from nmo to cab.

How easy would it be for you to run a ground strap from the nmo directly to the cab?

Maybe I’m missing something but just find it hard to believe that an antenna mounted at the 3rd brake light with a clear roof would have a bad ground plane. What lights are you running in the 3rd brake light housing? Could those be causing interference?

 

BD S2s (2 of them). A couple tiny LEDs for cargo light and 2 more tiny red ones for braking. Think those BDs would throw that much interference?

 

The rivnuts are steel. Not sure how I'd secure the ground strap to the NMO mount...

 

Electrical ground plane is not the same as an RF ground plane.

what antenna are you using for your rig?

1/4 wave? 1/2 wave? 5/8 wave?

 

I tried two actually. A Larsen and a

$60 Midland – MXTA26 MicroMobile® 6DB Gain Whip Antenna – Quadruple Signal Output – 32” Antenna

Midland. The Larsen is a 1/4 and the Midland is a 5/8

 

Think I'll try one of these to see if it gets me a good ground.

 

1/4 wave no bueno, 5/8n ok.

What are you trying to tune into? 2M? 70cm?

 

I used that Midland for a little bit but it seemed tuned more for GMRS. I switched to this and got better coverage for Ham frequencies.


Nagoya NMO-72 19.25" Antenna NMO...

$34 Nagoya NMO-72 19.25" Antenna NMO Mount Dual Band VHF, UHF (145/440Mhz) (Requires NMO Mount)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0744QPSG8?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

Not sure what you're asking. I'm looking at the SWR meter and trying to get it down to 1.0. So far I've been swinging over 3.0

 

2M or 70cm refers to the frequencies you’re trying to transmit on.
2M is roughly 140-150MHz and 70cm is roughly 400-475MHz.

 

26.965 MHz to 27.405 MHz is typical CB frequency, correct?

 

That’s correct. With a wavelength of 11m. The lower the frequency the longer the wave length.

 

I’m sure you know this but keep that ground strap as short as possible

 

Lol...if you're aiming for CB...you're gonna have a bad time...1/2 wave is nearly 19 ft and 5/8 is nearly 23 ft for a whip emitter. that is not going to work so well on an NMO mount over the 3rd brake light. CB is such a huge wavelength that it presents some challenges for the most "optimal" configuration.

 

Here's how I mounted mine for HAM use. They should handle a CB whip. https://www.tundras.com/threads/ham...ions-for-the-2022-tundra.110994/#post-2979308

 

Charles is probably the guy packing 2000w of cb in the glove box. Makes cheddar news go haywire every time he keys up next to a gas station