My begginer CB setup

[Ovencleaner]

Inside the "Cock"pit

I have the mic being held in the changeholder ashtray thing.... Yes it is duck taped down... thanks for asking . It is on a curved surface that lets the speaker underneath it get out into the car.... I ran the cable down to the cig lighter... Gonna hardwire it soon hopefully.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80...r/IMG_0022.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80...r/IMG_0030.jpg

Antenna mount pics:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80...r/IMG_0014.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80...r/IMG_0012.jpg
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80...r/IMG_0013.jpg

[hippocrates]

Couple of questions:

1) that is the magnetic mount?
2) If so, can you remove the whole thing and put it in your trunk or is it semi-permanent?

Thanks.

[Ovencleaner]

Couple of questions:

1) that is the magnetic mount?
2) If so, can you remove the whole thing and put it in your trunk or is it semi-permanent?

Thanks.

Yes, it is magnetic, I can remove it whenever I want

[AirMoore]

Very Nice I have an extremely similar CB set-up. As a matter of fact, if I run it a certain way its darn near identical. At the moment I use (in the civic at least), a 510XL Tuned and Peaked, with a Wilson Little Wil for around town. On the thruway, however, I use the Wilson 1000K with the 66inch whip (instead of the standard 62.5inch on the 1K/5K).


I own a 2000 Civic Coupe EX. and the Antennas go right on the rear 'trunk lid'.


My main 2 concerns with your set-up: Prying eyes can very easily see the CB... though CB's aren't something that is stolen often... and certainly not used by many (non-truckers), it can still be dollar signs in the eyes of scoundrals.



Also I would suggest mounting your CB upside-down in that position. That will allow for the speaker to sound much better (clearer), then it does right now shooting down into the dash. Remember human voices across CB speakers are relatively higher-pitched, and are somewhat mono-directional, so Id either suggest flipping it upside down or: get an external speaker to plug into the back of it.

[ThE_JOkeR]

Is that Lil will taller or shorter then a 1000?

I'm interested in a CB radio but I'm not digging putting a huge antenna on my car.

[Lucky225]

I see you got the front plate in the windshield

[Stealth Stalker]

Is that Lil will taller or shorter then a 1000?

I'm interested in a CB radio but I'm not digging putting a huge antenna on my car.

Just FYI, the Lil Wil is hard to beat for performance in a small size. And if you do a light sanding of the whip and chrome, then spray it down with a couple coats of RustOleum flat black spray paint, it looks a WHOLE LOT better. Not nearly as noticeable. You'll be amazed how much better it looks.

There really are no smaller antennae out there that will perform any where near as well as the Lil Wil. And the smaller ones usually have a big fat plastic loading coil in the middle of the whip, just making it more obvious.

[fire65]

Love my Lil Wil, for the price you can't find a better mag mount. I had a stick on glass mount with 1 mile range. I get 4 or 5, sometimes more now.

[ThE_JOkeR]

Just FYI, the Lil Wil is hard to beat for performance in a small size. And if you do a light sanding of the whip and chrome, then spray it down with a couple coats of RustOleum flat black spray paint, it looks a WHOLE LOT better. Not nearly as noticeable. You'll be amazed how much better it looks.

There really are no smaller antennae out there that will perform any where near as well as the Lil Wil. And the smaller ones usually have a big fat plastic loading coil in the middle of the whip, just making it more obvious.

Yeah thanks for the idea..

Question

Do the ones with a big coil base performance close to a non coiled taller one?
Because my car has a rear wing/spoiler so if I mounted it between that and the rear window it would hide itself pretty good.
I'd prefer one that was half the size of the lil will.... So maybe I could put it in the stock antenna slot.

[Stealth Stalker]

Not sure exactly what you mean by "non coiled taller one".

The only real non-coiled ones are the 102 inch tall steel whips that you rarely ever see on vehicles anymore, except for a lot of jeeps. The fiberglass whips you see are coiled, it's just that the coil is built into the length of the antenna instead of all crammed into the base.

It's a complicated question with no black and white answer. Generally speaking, taller equals better (with CB antennas), simply because the taller the antenna is, the more terrain (including the body of your car) it transmits over without getting the signal blocked. However, being taller does not necessarily make it a better antenna, electronically speaking. If you have a 102 inch whip with no coil, and a 52 inch antenna with a coil, and they both stick up the same height into the air, theoretically your performance will be about the same. But it also depends on the height of your ground plane too. If your 102 inch whip is on your trunk, surrounded by your roof and spoiler, it will not perform as well as a 52 inch Lil Wil mounted on your roof. Ground plane is more important factor than height. To maximise both factors, the top of your roof is always the best place for your antenna. The trunk runs second, but the trunk gives you directional issues, usually inhibiting performance in front of the vehicle, and getting better distance behind your vehicle.

A cheap antenna mounted high with a good ground plane will outperform an expensive magnet mount antenna on your trunk almost every time.