Dodgetracker

Dgraham- where your at terrain plays a big part in reception especially in a mobile. cobra 29's are good radios but there have been some problems with the nightwatch series. The swr meter in the radio is ok for ball park reading but not as refined as a dedicated meter. I personaly am not a fan of firestick or any other fiberglass antenna, but if I had to choose a fiberglass I would go with a wilson. Go get a 102 inch metal whip and a 6 inch spring (optional) and have a true 1/4 wave antenna. Having everything grounded well is the main key, even the radio itself. During the present sunspot cycle you should be hearing people from all over the U.S. and even Canada and South America. Like Gus's setup he is talking to people 1000 miles away in Alaska so... Hope this helps, best to ya.

gus's 03

im running 18' of coax, it drops under the floormat thru the firewall, along the frame, up thru the knockout in the front of the bed and up to the antanna

DGraham1023

Thanks for the advice guys. I can't believe that some people are getting reception 1000 miles away! I don't think I can get reception 10 miles away. Wish I had known about some of the Cobra 29 problems, one of the reasons why I bought it was so I could have weather band (also thought the nightwatch was cool too!). The antenna mount in the bed is not really grounded that well, it is just bolted to the inside of the bed on driver's side. I have tried to tune the antenna with the nut on the tip of the antenna. I guess what I need to do is find someone with a SWR meter, like you guys were saying. The instructions were not the best when I installed it, and this is my first CB so I really did not know what to expect. I am running my coax similiar to gus.

JohnInNH

Wilson Mag mount... I love them.

I have talked skip for hours in my car to Scotland, and the UK while driving across th UP of Michigan. Sideband in the "uppers" at about 2 AM.. I see no difference other than being easier than a full length whip. No ground problems. Just stick it on the roof route the cable in and go.

The "wire" is way long and needs to be cut to match your truck/car and the frequency you will be talking on. Since it is a 10 meter band antenna it's longer to accommodate the higher freq.

The Wilson 1000 is to tall for the truck and will get damaged by over passes... So a "Little Wil" is the way to go... on the car the Wilson 1000 is VERY hard to beat.

Been doing this a long time.. No drilling no ground BS. I wish I had all the money I have blown on "cool' looking antennas. Fire Sticks, whips, dual whips, etc. Nothing has talked as easily, reliably, and as well as the Wilson IMHO

surfram

I agree, the Wilson 1000/5000 mag mounts work great. I have talked skip all over North America using a Wilson 1000 on 37 or 38 LSB without an amp. With the standard 5 foot wip, the overall height is impractical for some people.

md-rebel

X2 -- used 4 screws to mount to clear the hood.

https://www.dieseltruckresource.com/...9&d=1182787914

td52

well I have been doing this stuff for more years than most of you have been a gleam in your Daddy's eye .. and have hooked up both HAM and CB equipment both mobile and at home on towers
The best antenna is a old antenna that has been around for a lot of years ..COP cars and Cabs used them .. it is the 102" whip and best to use a spring ..on a side note .. all springs will rust if not watched .. I use a spray oil .. there are all kinds .. you first clean the spring very well and then spray it with oil .. it will get dirty but will not rust .. so every time you wash the truck .. just spray again with oil
Now remember now it is 102"'s of antenna .. so you will have to watch and make sure you go under bridges carefully or you will take off the static ball ... I have one now without the ball and it is now a updated version with a tapered end .. they removed the ball so it will not be removed
Now for the mount .. you can get a mount that you can screw in . there are all kinds out there and there is a photo of one posted
but the best is a magnet mount .. it is large and have 3 or 4 magnets about 5" in size and get the best cable you can afford ... I use a duel shield silver and full copper center and a good dielectric insulator
It may be called RG-8, RG-8U, RG-8M, RG-8X ... RG-8M, Mini
I use the same stuff used by HAM , Police, commercial and areas that have a lot of problem with water rain and swamp and on boats .... it is a very high end cable with a 98% connectivity .. less than 2% loss and the pl259 connectors are silver with a gold coating .. and all is soldered .. I tined the cable and also the center .. so when I made the connections I got a very good ground and no loss due to bad connections
So it is up to you if you want to make a simple connection .. but use a good antenna and coax and solid ground .. use a magnet mount that is mounted on the top of you truck .. and get a good ground plane
be it off your tool or the best off your roof

Rednax

See Breedlove for what appear to be the best mounts. I'm liking the front bed rail bracket.

I run the Firestik hood mount on mine at present. Something better is in the future.

Agree about the mag mount antennas for their ease and decent performance. For someone not willing to fine-tune with proper test equipment it's probably the way to go.

Gotta love a 102"!! Those Breedlove ball mounts are the best I've seen.

As to cable this looks like an easy choice for those of us who want a decent item. I wouldn't buy a radio from RAR, but their accessories page has good stuff.

rootkit

Personally dont like the hood / front mount... I dont have a toolbox... but I have a hard cover on the bed... I dont wish to drill in to that sucker but I was thinking about get some small 2' x 6' .188 and put a few hole and bend it to it will clear the hard cover toward the back of the cab. On the list of a bunch of projects.

td52

There is a mount that fits into the post hole .. you do not have to make a mark .. you use it like it was a hold down anchor it is a
Firestik SS-194A Screw-On Extended Stake-Hole CB Antenna Mount - Stainless Steel (SS-194A)
it is made for a Dodge

rootkit

td52 you maybe on to something tho my snugtop is pretty snug and i would think id need to bend it a tad. Only time I would need a race / cb is when im out wheeling and when I do that i take off the hard cover and with my bed supports i can weld in some brackets that would fit nicely im thinking. if you can find me a photo with a cover on and the mounting braket i just might pick it up some it would be good to have.

Monkey 456

I started with the 102" on the left front fender. That antenna is going to be the most indestructible and handle the abuse of all wires and tree branches and all the watts you can throw at it. The problem with the fender mount is that it is directional. One of the benefits of the fender mount is you can still use your slide in camper and talk DX. I wanted to clean it a little and improve the looks and performance so I drill the hole in the cab and mounted a willson 5k. It works awesomeand the SWR is 1.1. I will post pics soon.


Mobile radio"s Galaxy 959,Magnum Omegaforce,Super star 360,RCI 6900-F25
Cobra 25,29,148
Base radio's Galaxy Saturn,Texas Ranger 696FSSB

Monkey Radio and I just got down.