I just finished running some coax for the CB mount on the rear gate. Once I had everything done, I found the coax was getting bent quite a bit when closing the door. I wonder if repeated opening and closing of the rear gate might eventually break the strands within the coax. If it takes 10 years, then that's not bad, but I don't want to re-run this coax six months from now. :-) Anyone have an opinion and/or some experience with coax abuse? :-)

Here's a picture when the door is closed:



And I might as well share a few pictures of the install too. :-)















js.

js.

 

Nice clean install, good job.

What size are the antenna mount holes in the Teraflex piece? And how thick is it? Is it steel, stainless, or aluminum? Does a magnet stick to it?

OK, sorry about all the questions, now, on to yours.....

Which coax did you use? I ran mine almost exactly like yours, I used the other grommet, but the same otherwise. My coax is Fire-flex made by Firestik. The center conductor is stranded instead of solid which should help.

Just keep a close watch on your SWR. BTW, how is your SWR? I didn't see a ground strap from your gate to the body.....

As it's been discussed before, don't rely on the hinges or latch for the ground here. I used a 12" piece of braided strap and went from the gate to the body, running the strap behind the fabric wire loom. It's virtually invisible and works great. Here is my write up with pics.

 

I ought to know the answer to this. **IIRC**, you're supposed to limit the radius of a turn in coax to nine times the cable's diameter. The reason is (this I do recall) because the center conductor can be pulled to the side, creating an impedance lump (you don't want that because it means not all of your RF is passing through between the radio and antenna). Add flexing, and you just might be asking for trouble.

My background: 27-1/2 years maintaining radio systems on USAF aircraft.

 

I'm pretty sure it's steel. It comes painted - completely - so you have to grind off some paint to get a ground. The antenna hole is too large, so I used some tape on the bolt to avoid grounding the core.

I used this coax from Walcott. The removable end was very useful to thread it through the grommet.

http://www.walcottcb.com/rg8x-coax-c...13-p-1085.html

I've emailed them to ask about the center conductor. I'm crossing my fingers for it to be stranded. :-)

That's the next step. I already have the strap, I just haveto find some nutserts.

BTW, 18ft was too short. I'm missing another 6 ft. Do you loose any quality by extending a cable? Maybe I should have bought the 30ft cable....

Thanks!
js.

 

where did you order that mount from...im trying to find a mount and cant

 

Quadratec, part # 16180 000.

js.

 

Thanks, ordered

 

Its also available at walcott, the teraflex mount that is....and the center is stranded....shouldn't be a problem.

Also, John L recommended this to me when I was about to buy my stuff (which is exactly the same stuff you have)...get a ground strap. I installed everything identical to you, and got a crappy SWR usually over 2. Once I put the ground strap on, my SWR is under 1.5.

Edit: I see he pointed this out above..and I can definitely confirm the ground strap makes a heck of a difference.

The only difference in my install from yours is I ended up flipping the mount and putting it in the lower driver side of the tire carrier. That way my antenna stays under my roof line.

 

just wondering, i always thought you wanted height in your antenna, the higher you are, the further out you will reach, it also gives you better ears...is this true or not ?

 

Be careful with height. You might lose access to your own garage, fast food lanes, bank lanes... Lots of things.