Kudos to you for the excellent writeup.
One ?? I have is, if you were to mount the antenna
on the roof, wouldnt there be a greater chance of damage if it ripped off going into a garage or
on the trail?
And FWIW, Iv got my dual bander on the drivers side of the hood just in front of
the cowl and the cb antenna is on the license bracket with a miunt from
CoolTec.
Both seem to work excellent.

 

It's really a moot point for us Jeepers. The top is either made of fiberglass or cloth on a JK. Neither are acceptable for mounting an antennas. For a metal-roofed vehicle it is the most ideal spot, but with our roofs we are forced into a more compromised position even if you didn't offroad.

The one exception might be if you have a metal cargo type rack that was bolted to the body.

 

Had my CB working for a bit, but after a trail run in Moab I realized I have some major problems. No one could hear me, but I could hear them. I busted out the SWR meter and it was past the red... again, after all that work to get it nominal. It's probably bad ground, that's what my problem was before. I grounded everything and still in the red. I am at my wits end with this stupid thing.

I'm going to pick up a cowl mount soon and give that a try.

 

Great wright up. This will save me alot of pain when I install my CB!

I do have a roof rack so I will probably make a mount to put the antenna on the rack somewhere.

Thanks

 

A roof rack could work. Some concerns may be that the roof rack component joints may be painted, preventing an electrical path to the body/chassis. This would apply to each joint in the path. Ultimately, this may not be worth your time for the small advantage in height above body.

Also, you'll absolutely want an antenna "quick disconnect" or QD to allow you to quickly remove the antenna as you hit the trail. Otherwise, it would be very vunerable to "removal by branch"

 

Yes, it would be as if you mounted the antenna on the side of the jeep which is much better than being sandwitched.

 

CB more so than VHF or UHF needs a ground plane like the body of the Jeep or roof rack but that ground plane must also loop back to the radio.

So if you are using a roof rack make sure that the antenna mounting spot is touching bare metal and that the rack has a good ground to the body of the Jeep.

 

It’s more like a license plate mount except its higher in the air. It may be a little worse then the cowl because it’s right next the vertical metal of the A pillar. Basically any vertical metal right next to the antenna will act like a reflector and the antenna will not radiate correctly. Having a foot or more of clear space away form the antenna is best. Of course we are talking about a Jeep so it still boils down to convenience vs. function and sacrifices must be determined per Jeeper.

 

Having an antenna mounted between the spare and tailgate will create short range communications. Advice? Well, basically any vertical metal right next to the antenna will act like a reflector and the antenna will not radiate correctly. Having a foot or more of clear space away form the antenna is best. Of course we are talking about a Jeep so it still boils down to convenience vs. function and sacrifices must be determined per Jeeper. So if shorter range and safety of the location works for you great. Otherwise it will need to be moved.

 

I have my mount above the spare tire, but the only way I could get the swr down was to run a couple of 19" wires for ground radials. , It may look hooky to some, but it works for me and that is all that matters to me.