Ive got a fh globetrotter I have had a number of cb’s and ariels but I can’t seem to get a decent set up …I’ve currently got a tti (din style with the speaker fitted to the face of the cb) and an orbitor with mag mount on the roof and I might as well shout out the window as soon as someone I’m talking to goes past me…any advice on how to get a set up that will get out a good distance?
Cheers
They have 50watt burners for sale in chesterfield truckstop for around the 40 quid mark you could try one of those.
magmounts are crap.
you need a gutter, or mirror mount. make sure it has a good earth. it dosn’t matter how much you spend, if you havn’t got a decent aerial setup, then you’re ■■■■■■■ in the wind.
once you have it set up, get it set to below 1.5, preferably below 1 on your swr metre.
The standard fit aerial on the FH globetrotter is very good but is set for midband.
To SWR it for uk band you need to cut the plastic coating to allow you to adjust the nut.
There is plenty of info available online for correctly SWRing an aerial and providing you spend time to do it correctly and your radio is working ok you should get out reasonably well.
Cheers
Neilf
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limeyphil:
magmounts are crap.
you need a gutter, or mirror mount. make sure it has a good earth. it dosn’t matter how much you spend, if you havn’t got a decent aerial setup, then you’re ■■■■■■■ in the wind.
once you have it set up, get it set to below 1.5, preferably below 1 on your swr metre.
What are you talking about?
A gutter or mirror mount will, by virtue of the geometry have a poor earth under it in at least some directions, which leads to inefficiency and a distorted radiation pattern. A CB ‘twig’ is designed to act against a ground plane, so, assuming the cab roof is metal, the best results are likely to come from an aerial mounted in the middle of the cab roof. Body mount is ideal for mechanical strength, but magnetic mount is not too bad if you can’t drill the roof.
Perfect SWR is 1:1 - less than 1:1 is not possible!
I’m not the only person with an amateur radio licence on here (Full Class A in the days when you still needed 12wpm Morse - these days, it’s just a Full licence as Morse is no longer used for licensing purposes).
Mag mounts are not all crap !
If you buy a large mount and fit a good twig (Modulator or K40 if you can get one) and you’ll have the best set up on Earth, burners are no use if you can’t pull in also.
When I worked for Fed Ex many years ago and two other Fed Ex drivers who had burners would drive Northampton to Southampton every night they used burners and I would be doing Exeter C/O and chat to them without any burner at all, just 4 watts with a basic Midland and a modulator fitted to a good mag mount.
putting a cb antenna in the middle of the roof is the best place in theory. however it isn’t practical for trucks.
you have a trailer behind you, so this could block your signal. and you have to remove, or lower the aerial on some sites, and when boarding a train.
and when i used the word “earth”, i should have used the correct term “ground plain”.
i got a intek 550 large stinger ariel and a 300 watt burner sssshhh naughty me 
Earth - ground plane. Two completely different things.
When someone says, “make sure you have a good earth”. What they mean, when talking about antennae mounts is “make sure you have a good electrical connection”.
Ground Plane on the other hand is concerned with transmission reflection from a surface just below your twig. It is possible to simulate a ground plane which is why you sometimes. See twigs with three stubs sticking out around their base.
Don’t write earth if you mean ground plane, or the opposite. It makes things very confusing.
And the twig fitted by Volvo is rubbish.
You can get a specially made, tunable twig from any decent CB shop. You’ll need an adapter to fit it to the very strange Volvo mount. Any other truck with a built-in roof mount, that tunable twig should fit straight on. Check first, just to be on the safe side.
Thetaff:
They have 50watt burners for sale in chesterfield truckstop for around the 40 quid mark you could try one of those.
And are illegal.
I keep telling people on here, ditch the cb, and go ham radio. End of.
Ken. G8FSO.
Quinny:
Thetaff:
They have 50watt burners for sale in chesterfield truckstop for around the 40 quid mark you could try one of those.And are illegal.
I keep telling people on here, ditch the cb, and go ham radio. End of.
Ken. G8FSO.
They are?? I didnt know that,how come they are in full view in truckstops and not sold under the counter type malarkey?
It’s legal to own and buy, but not legal to use.
British logic at it’s best.
Ken.
The best setup I’ve ever had was a magmount/stinger combo. I’ve asked quarry manager if I can fit my cb into my loading shovel but I’ll need to solder a cig plug on and find somewhere to fit the rig…