My old cb setup finally took a crap on me so I been researching and found a setup that seems pretty nice and not too expensive. I have two antenna mounts posted because i need help on which one of them to get still. I'll just post the links to amazon of everything. I did my research and all of these parts have pretty good feedback so that's why i was looking at this setup:


Cb:
Amazon.com: Uniden PRO520XL 40-Channel CB Radio: Car Electronics



Antenna (Should i get a 4" or 5" antenna?)
Amazon.com: FireStik 5 feet II TUNABLE TIP BLACK: Electronics

Amazon.com: Firestik 4' Firestik Ii Fs Series Tunable Tip Cb Antenna - 900 Watts Red: Automotive



Mounts:
Amazon.com: FireStik MK-184R Dodge Ram / Dakota hood mount kit: Electronics

Amazon.com: FireStik SS-194A Pickup Truck Bedrail Stakehole Antenna Mount - Stainless Steel: Car Electronics



Spring
Amazon.com: Firestik SS-3H Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Antenna Spring: Car Electronics




What do you guys think?

 

For a single whip I would get the hood mount.. Go with the 4 or maybe even a 3 foot whip... All the products you have there would make for a very good setup. You just have to decide on where you want to mount it.. I dont have much experience with a Uniden CB. I have always run Cobra's in my trucks and my work truck.

 

Yeah, i was leaning more towards getting a front mount too. But would the 4ft get out much farther than the 3ft firestik would?

 

hood mount works great, I have one.

no need for the spring. That is just going to make tuning more difficult. only get one if your antenna needs more tuning height/length...most of the time you need to reduce length (of the wire wrapped on the antenna) to get proper tuning.

as for the antenna, I am not a fan of "tuneable tips"

truck originally had one on it from the previous owner, and it was absolute garbage. the tip wouldn't move enough to allow the antenna to have low enough swr.

I would get the regular firestik like this:
that is actually what I run on the mount you pointed out.

then you need the 18' cable and route the cable how you want it and coil the cable in 1' loops under the dash somewhere and the end to the radio mounting location...then hook up a SWR meter and tune around the channel you feel you will use the most...

to lower your SWR you usually pull the cap off of the top, cut the top of the sleeving and unwind wire from the top and cut it off till you get the swr right, and then re-cap the antenna and never move the antenna mount or antenna again.

a 5' will get out better than a 4' or 3' because it will have at least some of the antenna mass above the cab of the truck to get you partial 360* coverage. also being a top loader antenna that partial section above the cab will be more effective.

you don't want a short antenna that is not over the height of the cab or it will create a "blind spot" for the radio receive and transmit as signal will tend to not go through the cab as well...

 

Ive only ever had rear mounted whips on my trucks. Which is why I said 3'.. I agree with Jiga with pretty much everything he said.. The spring is nice though if you go offroading.. I have snapped one to many whips from tree branches..

 

Thanks for all the info guys.

But yeah I think I'm going with the 3" firestik II and the other stuff I posted. I can always get the spring and if it messes with the signal, I'll take it off. I don't want my antenna too tall or I won't be able to pull in some areas I do now.

I don't need a big professional system, just something to reach out incase of emergencies and for weather.

Hopefully there is a cb shop around here. I think the closest one is an hour away. I was never good with anything dealing with wiring or tuning my cb antennas.

 

tuning SWR is very important. don't attempt to transmit on the CB till the antenna is tuned in or it could damage the radio..

ideal SWR is 1:1 (or not moving on the gauge)

cobra cb's have a swr meter built in which is helpful. if your cb does not have this, you can get one for like $10 at an electronics store.

as for the antenna breaking: never had mine break, and it has had 5 years of going into parking garages that the cab barely clears and getting bent over pretty good and hasn't had an issue firestiks are pretty damn tough.

it has even been completely iced over and waving in the wind like crazy going down the freeway whipping back and forth while completely covered in ice from freezing rain, and hasn't had an issue great antennas.

hopefully you can get that "tunable tip" to work...if not you may need to go old school and just unwrap wire from the top, cut it, and cap it. easy to do. once you get it tuned, you never have to mess with it again unless you move the location on the vehicle, change cables or cable length, or something like that...changing radios shouldn't effect it.

 

Oh alright, well I will probably take it somewhere then unless it's easy to tune with my firestik I'm getting. I'll have to get the swr meter though somewhere around here.

But is the spring needed for my 3" antenna I'm getting? I know it will give me some extra height but has springs like the one i posted cause problems?

I think my regular FM radio antenna is probably like 2-2.5" so the 3ft should atleast have the tip above the cab.

 

I wouldn't get it unless during tuning you don't have enough tuning height.

 

Alright sounds good, it'll save me about 12 bucks anyway.