Here's a good place to read up a little on antenna's and co-phasing.

The Ultimate Guide To 11 Meter CB Antennas

I like my Wilson 1000.... but it make a lot of noise in a drive through.....bang bang bang bang. ;-)

I understand liking the looks of dual whips and all, maybe to keep it real simple, add dual whips to your mirrors and just do not wire them, and use a mag mount on the roof when in a caraVAN and need the cb. . . . go with a quality mag mount (K-40, Wilson 1000/5000, ect) and you have your looks and performance with ease. Just a idea, and what I may very well do on Wolf-Den too.

RE co-phasing. Do realize that they will be directional.. And if you go with the single whip suggestion, don't use the cable that comes with a co-phase set. Single antennas use 50 ohm cable, while co-phased antennae use 75 ohm. You'll never get the SWR right with the wrong cable/antenna mating.

I like the look of two 102" whips mounted high on the side rear. To me just looks so natural. Besides I like a challenge and to get the SWR right, well lets say I will do my best to use both!


Richard

I mounted my CB antenna on the drivers side rear by fastening it to the spare tire top door hinge bracket. I will post a photo to show how I did this. I ran the coax between the door edge and up to the front of the van to the CB. I am using a small Uniden CB that is mounted to the engine cover.

My grand kids blew out the internal by turning it on and hitting the mic without an antenna .....time for a new one...

Resurrecting an old thread rather than start a new one.

Getting ready to install my old Realistic 40-channel. Not the best radio, but it was my dads back in the 70s and I've had it in 5 or 6 previous vehicles over the years. Trying to decide what to do for an antenna setup. I have a magnetic mount one that works, but the ridges on the roof make it impossible to sit dead center. Maybe I just have OCD, but I hate having it sit 6" off center.

The radio itself will be mounted overhead, between the sunvisors. I am not running an overhead console yet, but I plan on building/installing one in the future. For now, I'll just attach a regular bracket to the blue carpeted segment in the middle of the front headliner (see pic below).

I should add that I am not after maximum range or performance. Wouldn't get it from a 35+ year old department-store CB anyway. Mostly it'll just get used in convoys and for the PA function, but I also want to be able to get my signal out there in case I'm stranded with no cell reception. Plus I need smokey reports!

That being said, I really don't wanna tear out all my interior panels or cut a hole in the side of my van to install an antenna, so those chrome tennis balls are out. Same for the non-ground side all mounts. Seems mirror mounts are out too, still have the stock ones and nobody makes a bracket to fit as far as I know.

I was considering putting one on the driver's side front fender, but now looking at it I don't know how I'd get past the inner fender panel to attach the plug-to-lug coax connector.

What options am I left with? I've seen those cell-phone style glass mount ones, but I'm dubious. Heard they are pretty crappy, but again, I don't need miles and miles of range. I know Hustler makes bumper mounts for the chrome balls, if I put one on the rear bumper will it smack the back of my van when I make quick stops? I have a pair of ABS louvers to put on the back and I don't want to break them (or my back windows, NOS pop-outs are hard to find!). I guess I could also use one of those adapters that lets you use your factory radio antenna as a CB. Do those suck? I have heard that they do. Does anyone know what diameter tubing the 3-way brackets will accept? I know they are designed for west-coast style mirrors, but will they attach to an aluminum roof rack? And will it ground?

Pic below shows the blue carpeted area of the headliner where I will be installing the CB. It's attached at the front to the windshield lip, and at the back to the foremost roof support. It's made of 3/8" MDF and should be sturdy enough.

Picky picky picky,,,

Maybe a gutter mount? You may not have a lot of gutter to hang on to but that's a shot. It can be adjustable and hinged to lay down.

I like the old Realistics...I've got several 23 channels made in the late 60 early 70s....

I have dual whips on my mirrors but only have the drivers side wired up. Is this optimal or would the passenger side work better? We had a Realistic home base CB for years in the living room, used to hear skips from all over the states in BC and we lived in a valley at the time.