Which base antenna?? What CB do you use?

[diesel4me]

I have an old Antron 99 on a 30' tip over mast with a winch for easy repairs--but several bad storms have trashed it!--I have a few 102" whips I could put up there instead,but I'm unsure how good they will work without the "ground plane" that a car body provides...anyone run one on home base CB??...Or should I just get another "base" antenna??--I'd love a moonraker beam with a rotater,but thats a dream right now..I was also thinking of making my own antenna out of copper tubing,I have the book that shows how,but I'm leery of it attracting lightning!--anyone ever make their own??

I have an old Courier Centurion SSB base,its a huge thing,looks bigger than an old house stereo with a wooden cabinet--its a 40 channel with upper and lower sideband,with "extra channels"--I've talked with friends in NC on vacation with it!--and several other countries like the virgin islands and barbados..its got a sticky relay though,somtimes it wont return to "receive" when you let go of the mike button(turner 3+3 mike)--its a good rig though,but no one wants to touch it as far as repairs..Also have a cheapie 100 watt linear,but I never use it--others I talk to say it justs sounds distorted when I tried using it--tranmits better without it(maybe the base was "peaked"??)...

What do you guys run for base units??--I had friends with Galaxy's,and Rangers that were excellent rigs,also Kenwood and Yaseu ham rigs with different channels for CB installed,one guy had a 1000 watt linear--I could hear him in NH on sideband in my truck!..

 

[Z3PR]

Antenna --- I'm very happy with my IMAX-2000. Great antenna, much better then the A-99. I've had a few base radios, right now I'm using a (Mobile) President Lincoln (10 meter radio converted for 11 meter)

on a 20 amp power supply. If I was going too buy a new base radio, I'd get a RCI 2995DX .

 

[rebelk5frk]

The A99 is a good antenna. The Imax 2000 that Paul mentioned is a little better. If you want to go out and buy another base verticle antenna, I would say go with the Imax. If you want to be cheap and/or creative, you can build you own.

You said you have some 102" whips collecting dust. If you have 4 of them, you can make a homebrew quarterwave antenna. 1 whip pointed up and 3 whips pointed down at around 45 degrees, evenly spaced. The other option is to build a copper J-pole. Instructions on how to build a j-pole can be found all over the net. All it takes is several feet of copper pipe and a few fittings. I've built several for the higher ham bands and a couple for 10 meter and the CB band.

Oh and for what kind of base radio am I running? None really, but I have an old Cobra 90LTD base radio sitting on the shelf that used to get some use. Now I'm pretty much just on my ham rigs all over the bands.

 

[diesel4me]

President a good radio--

I have a friend that has a President radio,not sure what model-(Washington I think?)-when he moved to Homestead ,Florida 10 years ago,I tried to talk to him with my SSB Couruier Centurion,I was able to hear him all the way to Virginia!--I lost contact after he got to North Carolina--but a week later he called me and said he could hear me pretty good!--his radio had been "tweaked" and had extra channels--mine has too,but I dont know what frequency its on(no freq.counter!)--he could tell,he had one on his radio--

While I talked to him on the phone,I turned on my radio and told him to try holding a carrier--I found the channel he was using on LSB,and I actually talked to him several minites!--we were able to make contact about twice a week in the early morning hours,then skip overtook the channel-

-I thought it was quite amazing to be able to reach that far with only about 10 watts of power!--My Antron 99 was brand new then--now its missing the entire top section(fell off after the threads stripped out)and the center section was cracked ,I slid PVC pipe over it for a temporary fix,but after the top section came off I stopped using the CB--not much time for it now that the computer has come along!--but now that cell phones are all the rage,CB's are actually useful again--hardly anyone talking or any "ground noise" now..

 

[Z3PR]

I thought it was quite amazing to be able to reach that far with only about 10 watts of power!--My Antron 99 was brand new then--now its missing the entire top section(fell off after the threads stripped out)and the center section was cracked ,I slid PVC pipe over it for a temporary fix,but after the top section came off I stopped using the CB--not much time for it now that the computer has come along!--but now that cell phones are all the rage,CB's are actually useful again--hardly anyone talking or any "ground noise" now..

If that A99 is damaged/missing partss, chances SWR would be through the roof. For a omni-dirrectional base antenna, I still say that the Imax-2000 is one of the best antenna you can get today. I've had mine up for a couple of years, been through some extream winds, and is still working great.

 

[diesel4me]

I dont use the cb...

Yes,I stopped using the CB as soon as the Antron 99 lost its top--I know better than to key up with a high SWR or no antenna!!--I will have to look on the net for more info on antennas--I havent been "into" CB's for quite a while,but still have all the stuff,and several mobile CB's,including a few old 23 channel ones that still work!..

Someday when money isn't so tight I'll probably get back into the hobby--I was thinking about upgrading my scanners to 800mghz,but our local fuzz use laptops and cell phones now,so they dont talk on the radio's as much--anything they dont want us to hear is not broadcast any more--or they use "secret codes"-anything so the average citizen cant tell whats going on ..

 

[Z3PR]

-I was thinking about upgrading my scanners to 800mghz,but our local fuzz use laptops and cell phones now,so they dont talk on the radio's as much--anything they dont want us to hear is not broadcast any more--or they use "secret codes"-anything so the average citizen cant tell whats going on

Well, with as many scanners as here are out there, I think the police don't want the criminals knowing they're comming, and they can communicate info more quickly with the wireless laptops. Saves time by not having disspatch have too do it, the officer can do it him/her self.