CB Antenna Mount Options

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SCOTTIE

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I am going to be taking a tour later on this year with a couple of friends. The method of choice for bike to bike communications is CB radio. On my old bike I just used the rubber duckie antenna that came with the CB radio I have (Midland 75-822), but to be honest I could have gotten better range/less interference with a piece of wet string.

I intend using the Yamaha trunk bag in addition to the side bags for this tour.

What setup have you guys had success with (antenna type and location).

 
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I am going to be taking a tour later on this year with a couple of friends. The method of choice for bike to bike communications is CB radio. On my old bike I just used the rubber duckie antenna that came with the CB radio I have (Midland 75-822), but to be honest I could have gotten better range/less interference with a piece of wet string.
I intend using the Yamaha trunk bag in addition to the side bags for this tour.

What setup have you guys had success with (antenna type and location).

I use a J&M 2003CB system.

Here is my antenna mount. You could make something similar. It mounts to the license plate holder bolts. I have a 4' antenna and I put a upper support to keep it from banging on the top case. The support is a piece of 1/8" ALU flat stock that is held in place by the center bolt of the top case. Since there is not a lot of steel for a ground plane, you probably want to get an antenna that does not need a ground plane.

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I use the same Midland radio that you have. I just use a Ram Mount and mount it to the handlebar and use the rubber antenna. At first I was having issues with it because I was trying to use the12v plug to supply power. I found out that if you use that you have to plug in and use the antenna wire on the power supply cord. That didn't work at all like you mention. I just switched and use only the battery pack with the radio and kept the antenna plugged directly into the radio and it works great. I don't have the range of a 5' whip antenna but it will work up to 2-3 miles. I put rechargeable batteries in the battery pack and found that they will last a very long time. I went on a 3 day trip and NEVER recharged them and it never ran down. It sat on the shelf for 4 month and still not recharged they went another day of usage and still have not ran down.

 
Not sure if you could do a co phased array like on a truckers dual antenna setup. The cable length needs to be a quarter wave long. Between that and a vertical dipole I think you will have problems getting a good match with an antenna that doesn't require a ground plane. I've been pondering installing a dual band vhf UHF rig on mine but antenna placement will be a challenge with the lack of a ground plane.

Post a pic of what you come up with because anything will be better than the rubber duck dummy load that came with the radio!

 
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