Installing dual 102" Whips for a Cb Radio & Scanner
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- A more in depth yet quick to the point "how-to" video on installing the famous 102 inch whip.
Dealing with both Cb Radio's & Scanner purposes, this video will be the 1st of many professional videos.
Just some good ol boys.
I hope I get to go the the southern states someday. Stuck in Canada as of now
Yep,put one of those adapters on and hooked it up to my antron 40ft up. What a difference! It took forever to do a complete scan because it gets everything.
Remember when you mount any cb/ham antenna on a corner of any vehicle your signal will be best the on the other corner opposite of the antenna.in other wards he mounted his ant on the left rear, so his best signal will be to the front right of the truck. The best place to mount any antenna is as close to dead center of the vehicle. If you have a tool box on the back mount it dead center of that. if not mount it right behind the cab (centered)
Lol, took a mental note of that 👍
By the way you don't happen to be the great boxer Butterbean the great are ya?
@@jeffreys.harris3433 better not be i think he is dead!. i had that handle long before butterbean was famous. early 60s
@@butterbean4195 I didn't hear of his passing I will have to look that up ? 73s
I have a 20-ft Toyota dolphin motorhome where is the best place to mount a 102 whip?.
I sanded the paint and welded the bracket to the bed of my Silverado. Got a high swr at 2 but drops with modulation. Might try a fiberglass but I'm impressed with the lil wil..
Thank you, now this brand 102 whip covers every band unlike the Radio Shack brand which is mixed & impure. So far this brand 102" whip works every band on RX very well, although granted its really only good transmitting on the 10 & 11 meter band. The issue with running dual antenna's on a scanner is the loss in signal traveling between the 2 antenna's. No damage will occur UNLESS your beside the transmitter, which can overdrive your scanner causing internal components to blow. Ask us on Facebook
Lets say you were listening to a local police freq. Now if you were to park directly next to the antenna, & if it would have enough power it could easily overdrive a receiving component in your scanner. Same happens no matter what radio your using. Truckers for example, on occasion if one doesnt like something another did he will pull directly next to the others truck....turn up a linear to full output & keydown, forcing the radio to take more power than it ever should...blowing its insides out.
The antenna is NOT 102" long. It is 108" long - the spring is 6" and it is part of the antenna radiator. 108" is the 'ideal' length needed for 11 meters (CB band). 102" is for 10 meters and that's in the Ham band.
Anthony Oresteen You’ve obviously never used a antenna analyzer. The “ideal” length for the center of the CB band (ch 19) is 103.3” for copper and 102” for stainless steel. What no one seems to consider here is the velocity factor of the materials being used. Virtually every online antenna calculator is based on copper wire or tubing. Stainless steel will always resonate at a shorter length than copper for the exact same frequency. In this case, 102”. The 10 meter band requires 97.3” copper or 96” stainless steel. That’s 6” shorter than the 102” ss whip, even without using the barrel spring.
Oh snaps. Broke back mountain buds.
@@jamesdatsi602 said the butt hurt "bro"
@@Johnysoutherner nah. I don't want no butts. No thank you. I'm not gay.
Its a BNC/SO-239 adapter availabe @ Radio Shack, this particular one was ordered via Ebay for cost purposes.
Remember its always better to put more in an antenna than it is the radio itself.
You absolutely need a mounting bracket.
They separate the antenna from the grounding shield.
The bracket connects to the coax shielding through the PL-259 connectors & the center conductor inside the coax is where your signal travels & connects to the antenna. The 2 separate connections rely on each other to allow you to have a perfectly working antenna system.
If in any way the 2 cross with the other you will have high SWR & low RX & TX.
Mounting brackets do far more than hold the antenna still
As stated, its not the cheap quality control 102" as you would find at Radio Shack. These particular whips which we always prefer are built here in NC. Using a finer mix of pure metals while changing the structural design for a stronger base & a more malleable top section which is the opposite from RS's brand. Thus giving it far greater TX & RX & a much higher longevity even through the roughest of conditions. So there is no bending/warping these whips. To my knowledge they are only sold locally
I saw that behind your radio that you has the coax wrapped in a circle. That is a RF Gain Choke space it our you could probably get that swr down a tad more by doing that. (By my personal investigation)
I believe we ended up moving the excess of the choke closer to the end of the antenna to help filter out the fuel pump RFI. None the less the SWR was from reflection, however during travel the constant independent movement & sway would have caused the SWR to fall. This was part of the experiment, matched positions standing vertical were the only way to find the highest peak SWR. Since any other time they would be shifting positions independently causing far less reflection. Essentially, the vertical stance seen here would be the only time the highest amount of reflection would be found/existing.
It's not a choke. A choke needs to be a certain diameter and each coil needs to be next to each other flr a certain width, number of wraps.
Not necessarily Butter Bean, mounting on a tool box, or close to the center would cause reflection from the cab, raising SWR's & disrupting the radiation pattern. Although normally it would be ideal, on a truck it wouldnt be. The 102" whip is tall enough to escape most of the directionality. Even in this location, it will vastly outperform any other antenna mounted on the cab, or close to the center of the vehicle itself.
Plus, this given spot provides excellent flexibility & top performance, ty
The flaws here are so numerous.
Where do I start?
CoPhase coax is 75ohms where as rg8 is for 50 ohms. I was short three feet with 18ft of rg8 and now I only have 18ft of rg9 to use. Gotta save that 3 feet this time. Time for the drill.
For your scanner, it should be somewhere in the VHF and UHF range. 102" is way too long. An unity 1/4 wave at 18" is good for VHF. You can just get one of those Nagoya dual band antenna will work fine for your scanner. You might want to make good electrical contact for the ground and insulate the pl-259 with good weather tape. just my 2 cents.
Resonance was of little concern here since the priority was height due to the extreme mountain terrain & signal losses from the surrounding geography. Silly as it may look to some with more knowledge & a trained eye....it did have the eye candy look & amazing performance.
Here's your change.....
Thank you for replying. By transmitter are you speaking about a CB? I don't have a CB. My scanner is capable of picking up CB frequencies so essentially there is no transmitter in my truck. I was hoping with a separate CB antenna to pull in the low frequencies better than the way my multi-band antenna does.
I appreciate your comments.
Take care.
Running a CB alone usually wont be enough to overdrive your scanner. Most truckers dont drive as much power as it might take to do such a thing. However, other bands that are more common use more power. Dual antenna's would cause your scanner to receive much more of the signal....which could as stated overload your scanner. Now technically there is no difference between a multi-band antenna & a single, just 1 is made to better receive more bands. Like a 102" whip vs a Firestick. Its ok, ask away
Cut a piece of waterhos and slip over the bottom of the antenna it will lower set and save the paint job on your bed
Hustler is great
I always thought 102 inch whips were for the old 23 channel radios and 105 inch whips were for 49 Channel radios.
Thanks Jonathan.
So if I am listening to a CB (trucker) and I happen to drive beside him with my 2 antennas installed are you saying his transmitter can blow my (receive only) scanner? Why doesn't the same happen with my multi-bans single antenna then? I'm kust not clear as to why two antennas would bring me in that situation but a single multi-band one wouldn't.
Thanks for your help and sorry for all the questions. I'd rather not damage my scanner...that's all.
Where did you get that MOLON LABE sticker on the rear window?
That is what Leonidas , king of Sparta said which means "Come and get them".
Great video by the way. I have a PSR410 GRE scanner and was looking for two antennas-one for the 27 to 30Mhz range and another for 118-1300 range. I was going to use a BNC splitter and have both antennas serve one scanner. Can I do that without damaging my scanner? I have a 30MHz-1300MhZ antenna now but it wont pickup CB frequencies.
Take care
what kind of whip do u use I want to use a 102 whip for my scanner
thanks guys i'm doing the same thing to my 98 wrangler tj 2- 102 inch whips on the back bumper with a uniden pc 122 am ssb radio.
That only works if both antennas are exactly 18 feet apart.
whats a superior to radio shack? Ive been running one for years on end? But now it's bent to the point I need another.
Thanks. Any idea if I can hook up 2 antennas to my scanner? A short scanner one and a long CB one with a BNC splitter?
Thanks again.
try a firestick 5" antenna and you´ll surprised about the results.. most oft the time the antenna works the same or better
I appreciate this, very much thank you for you guys taking your time out to help others. I needed this video. What’s the best heavy duty spring you can find? Is there anything better than the workman , it’s great but is there something bigger & stronger??
Sorry for the lengthy delay in response. To answer your question (I hope it still helps), hustler used to make a little bit stronger of a spring but has recently had many problems with them actually separating during install. ProComm makes a decent spring but since this video was made ive become more of a fan of a 6" riser. Good luck finding them anymore though
@@Johnysoutherner ...
Where can I get a pot belly spring that big
102 inch whit for UHF and VHF?
Yes, it worked wonderfully
@@Johnysoutherner I have one of those antenna`s, will try to
Vic Green I connected my scanner to my A-99 CB base antenna and got far greater results than using a name brand scanner antenna or even a 2m/70cm Ham antenna. I was pulling in the local State Police Post signals better than police cruisers with tuned antennas. The key to scanner reception is height and polarization. You will get great results with a 102” whip up about 20’ or as high as you can get it, and 50 ohm coax.
@@ShipWreck54 I did the same thing with opposite results. Mine was a 1/4 wave GP made from a Little Wil whip cut down to about 18 inches and some threaded rod from the hardware store. Height was similar (within 12 feet). Local weather stations (each about 40 miles away in 2 different directions) in the 162.xxx MHZ range dropped in signal by half. My Imax did slightly better than the 99.
Couple years later update. My imax died. Added 10 feet of mast and put up a 102 with a ground plane. It hears VHF better than the imax did, but still a couple bars short on the meter compared to a rat shack scanner discone (the crappiest vhf antenna I've ever had up there).
hi guys, you say that you DON'T use radio schlock antennas.which mfr's brand DO you use? you never say on this video. oops
Yes, as was a much commented & asked question of my mistake. I apologize, the antenna is actually made here in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Unsure right now the name of the company. All I know is I get them from a local dealer, cant buy straight from the factory as they only sell & ship in bulk orders bigger than our budget allows.
Why you guys choose the rear end of the bed instead of front end or the roof of the truck? Does this has to do with the SWR readings?
The radiation pattern for this installation is towards the front passenger side of the truck. That is the longest aspect of the ground plane....mount in the center front of the bed as high up as you can get so that the antenna is as centered on the vehicle as possible for the best radiation pattern, which will most likely bring the SWR down as well.
I polish semis for a living and I am having a huge issue with getting walked on I have a Ranger 396 which is a good radio I know but the antenna I am running is a Sapp brothers Wilson without the ball like maybe a 4 or 5 ft off the tool box antenna I want to upgrade my antenna set up just by picking up a 102 inch on a spring would that solve my entire getting "stepped on" isssue? I have decent coax for what I can get around here its just the typical out of the box Petro type coax but there is a guy in Omaha area that can make me some single gauge if I wanted it.
needa amp.
Now you just need to throw some beer cans in the back and start walking around barefoot and you'll be a true CBer with those antenna's :)
You buying!?
If so, I'm in!
Would a setup like this work on a truck with a fiberglass fender as long as the bed was metal?
Yes, although depending on the size of the bed & location of the antenna. We have done a similar install on a small truck before, (Mighty Max or something like that, cant remember) it grounded well to the bed but due to the bed being short & isolated from the rest of the truck we did have to ground strap the bed to the frame. SWR dropped to 1.1. Just ground the bracket to the closest metal you can find. Use good ground strap(S)
You said you are located in Hamptonville, NC. You must be close to mocksville, Yadkinville, and Union Grove? Is so let me know where at exactly because I want a whip for my big truck and pickup. I live in mocksville
I apologize for the delay, working full time has for the longest time left me unable to really sit down & catch up (much less make more videos). I'm currently located in Elkin, NC now. Id be more than happy to get you in & get you fixed up. Shoot us an email! offgridcommunication@surry.net
good vid y'all....question? i just got my spring in the mail...only has one bolt on it??
no plastic washer or way to hook up co-axial? wth? thanks guys
Springs are almost always sold as an individual piece & not part of the actual mounting hardware
@@Johnysoutherner will it come as part of whip? i could have sworn when i put one on my K5 that it came with it...i guess i'll wait see
thanks man
@@richardnewton9586 typically no, the parts your looking for are often included with the mounting hardware such as a mirror mount.
hey what's going on ....cool video about antenna placement.......I have a bit of a situation.....I have an older uniden president hr2510 that I would like to power up ...I connected it to a duralast 12V deep cycle 85 amp hour marine battery and it blew the 20A inline fuse....what is wrong with this set-up ??
Can you send me a picture?
First thing to check would be the ground wire, is it fused or have a very decent connection?
If the ground side checks out, attempt to verify that the fuse has a high enough amperage to supply the radio. The radio may be modified therefore possibly drawing more amps.
If all the above checks out then I would suspect a short within the radio itself.
Any thoughts on how well the scanner would receive on VHF if it was using a 1/4 wave for VHF instead of an HF antenna?
My own thoughts, a 2 metres / 70 centimetres dual band amateur radio whip would do a better job
We had actually tried a mobile multiband scanner in similar install(s). These were in different locations to help rule out repeated geographical similarities, the results as far as VHF go......the 102 worked better. However, never tried for long range UHF........time for another experiment!
If not a radio shack antenna then where is the best place to locate a 102" whip? Thanks
We do
Danny Barnes Amazon has them now.
What brand whip do you guys use?
I keep hearing about grounding the mount bracket, is this really necessary?
Thanks fellows.
Absolutely necessary. Remember the whip is only half of the aerial, the other half is the car.
Always a good idea to have a common mode current choke as close to the aerial mount as is practical.
Bonding (earth straps) are another good idea. Bonnet (hood) to body. Exhaust to body in several places. In the case of many pick-ups, body to chassis
g8ymw is correct. Its also important to understand the difference between an RF Ground & the vehicles electrical ground. (Never ground your bracket to the battery in other words).
@Rhetorical Answer Yes & no. The reason the battery uses the body & the reason an antenna uses the body are completely 2 different things doing 2 different jobs with the exception of RFI guidance & dissipation from & for electrical systems. Otherwise, anything directly powered in a vehicle has a direct ground to the battery or a common grounding point(s) near the battery.
What brand spring do y’all run ? Does it rust ?
6" Pot Belly spring. However we no longer recommend them due to the short longevity of the internal wire breaking from constant bending. We now recommend 6" risers.
Also, yes after some time they do rust if not kept clean
Johnathan DeWitt where can you get 6 inch risers at ? I googled and didn’t see anything
@@MattG-dk6sx I've contacted a new supplier as my previous no longer builds them. I will get back to you when I hear something back
@@MattG-dk6sx I've spoke with a company located here in NC. Google "Breedlove Mounts" Contact them & ask for a special order 6" riser. Costs is $45
if you're using duals you need RG59. 58s are for singles. u need minimum 9 feet space from antennas. but if they work, what the hay.
+Mike Pappas I think they weren't running them dual, they were running one to the CB and one to the scanner.
billyjoejimbob75, you are correct sir
billyjoejimbob75 a 102” whip is a terrible choice for a scanner antenna.
Do you have any CB antennas laying around if you do I need help getting my CB going can you try to help me thank you Dawson Bradley
If your nearby or able to stop by I'm more than happy to help!
Jeremiah..Goin from an elcheapo ant and coax to some lmr 240 and a nice skip shooter,predator 10 or somethin will do just as good as the 102 whip...A 102 is not gonna suddenly give your radio super powers to get a huge gain or walk on others..Yes height is might but not as much as your thinkin..SWR is not the end all be all either so dont get caught up in that to..Get a mfj analyzer or a brand you like/afford and learn what it tells you..
the 102" with its lack of any helically wound coils &/or turns does indeed help. The largest difference you will find is the takeoff & radiation pattern, so in a sense your both right & wrong. Typically for overall use, the 102" will outperform. But there are situations & setups more best suited for something shorter & "coiled". Design = RF pattern = desired performance.
i got a crown vic and and a charger and a Nissan and i need installation on all three of them.
I never use a spring
Is c.b. radio still a thing? Ha ha. KGE7364. What's up sport? How's that new tower coming along bud?
Hey John nice video. I feel sometimes that it is a lost art so to speak, whats your thought on that.
Alas, I find myself often explaining the same words to so many. People will ask a question or 2.....I begin telling my version of the wonderful hobby. Often going into a lot of depth very quickly if given the chance. Its something many still seem interested in getting into but have such a large lack of knowledge on how to setup &/or operate the radio, antenna or lingo. Often ruining their own experience by themselves with the incorrect belief that any antenna will work, any radio is the same, my stuff doesn't work because nobody can hear me, or that there must be nobody else using it because I can never hear anybody else when I try talking. Take your pick, but in my experience....these are the most common stories.
However, I still try to bring them back with correct information, save them before giving up altogether or get them pointed in the right direction if otherwise needed as needed.
I wish you all showed us how you "MATED" the two antenna's into one PL259 connector. Still in the dark with this.
2 different radios, not sure how you got they were co-phased together
Why would you need two aerials?
So you can type but not read the title?
@@Johnysoutherner Oh I'm sorry. What I ment was, why in hell would you have a cb radio if you had a scanner?
A CB to talk amongst friends & DX, a scanner to listen to emergency services. Why is this even a question?
@@Johnysoutherner If it wasn't a question, then what would it be?
Not stupid
Yes you could, but I really dont see the point.
You would not gain anything, instead you would cause more loss in your system than you would gain.
What exactly are you trying to achieve?
Ask us on facebook, Citizen's Band Central
You shouldn't coil your coax like that, but hey you were happy with a 1.4. Amateurs LOL
Well we wont be hear'en you on the Bowl.
What makes you say that?
Havent had trouble with my 102" setups. Let the gates be the proof.
I got the sticker at weaponstickers. com
wrong wrong no way would I use your service.
1, im not asking you to.
2, what was "wrong, wrong"?
Please, educate me as you in obviously have a holy grail of knowledge that I must drink from.
Really, you went from stranger to dickhead in 9 words.
😅
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Your scanner antenna is way too long, you can't possibly receive UHF and 800 band.
1st, yes.....you can. Just because the antenna isnt resonate with a particular frequency doesn't mean you can't receive that particular frequency. Yes, there will be some loss, but nothing that completely hinders RECEPTION. 2nd, we received VHF analog dingleberry, never was anything mentioned about digital trunking signals or receiving signals in the UHF band.