CB Antennea Cable Splice?

[Hip]

Can you do it?

I just bought a motor home (KOH Baby:awesomework and it has an existing roof mounted antennea, that someone cut the cable end off under the dash. I want to use this antennea if possible but i would have to disassemble the entire interior to get to the inside of the roof mount as well as the route for a new cable.uke:

Its basically coaxial cable why cant i put a plug so to speak?

Any ideas where to look for the plug?:redneck:

 

[Hickboii]

If all that is missing is the connector you can pick up a new one at any cb shop or maybe radio shack. It's pretty easy to put one on. If you need to make the cable longer your hosed. If you try and splice a piece in it could cause a bad ground or to much resistance and cause your cb to fry.

 

[landbruiser1]

You should be able to get one at Radio Shack. I would make a male connection on one end and a female on the other that way you can extend it to where ever you want.

 

[Hip]

If all that is missing is the connector you can pick up a new one at any cb shop or maybe radio shack. It's pretty easy to put one on. If you need to make the cable longer your hosed. If you try and splice a piece in it could cause a bad ground or to much resistance and cause your cb to fry.

Ive read you need to keep nine feet lengths or combinations of 9 feet?

9, 18, 27... i have no clue what lengt is remaining?

ive read it will fry the CB? what deos that mean?

does the smoke come out?

I need to add a few inches at least? :redneck:

 

[Hip]

I called radio shack and they do have plugs and ends.....will this destroy the CB?

 

[Ty.]

I need to add a few inches at least? :redneck:

Thats what she said.:redneck:

I wouldn't trust anyone at radio smack, unless they where at least 55 years old.

 

[Jacob]

There are alot of myths in the CB world. Just splice it with either a male and female connectors or male female coax plugs. You will probably have less loss with connectors. It will be fine for a CB unless you plan on running big whopper linear amplifier and ****.

If you need to make it longer you can just go buy another ready made cable and hook it to the one that is there after you put an end on it. It won't hurt a thing. Just go have your SWR checked after you get done.

 

[JTR]

You wont like it , but you'd be much better off starting w/ 1 peice of coax, in 3 ft increments (9-18ft will give you the best match provided you dont have a cheap truck-stop special antenna) otherwise , sure it might work...but you'll be lucky to "get out" past your front bumper. I have a few cb radio books, too bad Im down in Oly now or I'd let you barrow them/ or help. You can always redo your rig later if your not happy. a good install will have you talking on a stock setup more than just a few miles (w/o a linear, pump, kicker,foot warmer , shoe, boot etc

good luck

 

[Jacob]

3 foot increments is a myth, I don't care where you read it.

It is a myth that deals with the velocity factor of coax and trying to acheive a zero voltage point in the wavelength of 36' at 27.4 Mhz.

There are a lot of variables that come into play with that zero voltage point, so many that it would be virtually impossible to maintain it. These factors are the actual channel you are transmitting on, the type of coax used (RG 58 or RG 8x), the quality of the coax, etc. In most cases this zero voltage point will be achieved around 12' if using average quality RG58, but once again this will vary due to more of the above mentioned variables. This zero voltage point is such a moving target and so insignificant when compared to other components of the system that it should not be considered to be top of list of priorities, or even close to the top.

Use the amount of coax it takes to reach from your radio to your antenna base. Concentrate more on grounding, antenna location, and tuning your antenna length for SWR.

There is a level of loss when dealing with connectors in coax which is usually around .5 db per connection. In my opinion that is a fair trade off for not having to tear your roof apart to run new cable. I would splice it using two UHF connectors and use another piece of matching coax of RG58 or RG8x, whatever is there now. Make sure you have a quality antenna, good grounds, good ground plane for the antenna, and your antenna is adjusted for SWR.

In the end it is your stuff and your choice to believe what you want from the internet or books.

I am no expert in radio or CB systems, but I was a radio tech in the Army and a senior field technician for Motorola for 5 years if you are wondering where I came up with all of this ****.

 

[JTR]

3 foot increments is a myth, I don't care where you read it.

ok, funny how a few of my published books say so, but I guess you know best..

you seriously run 9 ft jumpers? LOL, Whats your coax, size, and volicity factor, and how its set to frequency(s)??

 

[Hickboii]

I learned a lot when I installed my new cb. It seems like what really matters is a good ground, your antenna and your SWR.

Oh yeah and don't drop it. LOL

 

[Jacob]

See above edited post for my opinion on the matter.

ok, funny how a few of my published books say so, but I guess you know best..

you seriously run 9 ft jumpers? LOL, Whats your coax, size, and volicity factor, and how its set to frequency(s)??

 

[JTR]

See above edited post for my opinion on the matter.

see our edit times,

there are many variables. Im no expert either but its been a daily hobby of mine since 93, both base/mobile. If your looking to talk bumper to bumper then theres no need to worry other than a decent match for the radio's sake. Anyway to each his own, spent so many hours debating this **** on the air, testing, experimenting, reading etc. Loss is loss and I guess its up to the persons discretion how much he cares. (optimal or not)
Guess we just go by what we know works for us and what we've learned from it. Ive NEVER smoked a radio w/ or w/o power, wether on a manufactured antenna or any Ive built myself..just saying

Guess this **** could be debated just like how to set up a rig/buggy. Get technical or keep it simple can get you results. Its like when I see dual whips on anything but semi/tractor/trailors(again, the "splice" point)you want to say something in hopes to help the guy understand how well his **** aint working near as good as it could. Whatever, to each his own:awesomework: I see you are compitent:awesomework:

 

[Hip]

3 foot increments is a myth, I don't care where you read it.

It is a myth that deals with the velocity factor of coax and trying to acheive a zero voltage point in the wavelength of 36' at 27.4 Mhz.

There are a lot of variables that come into play with that zero voltage point, so many that it would be virtually impossible to maintain it. These factors are the actual channel you are transmitting on, the type of coax used (RG 58 or RG 8x), the quality of the coax, etc. In most cases this zero voltage point will be achieved around 12' if using average quality RG58, but once again this will vary due to more of the above mentioned variables. This zero voltage point is such a moving target and so insignificant when compared to other components of the system that it should not be considered to be top of list of priorities, or even close to the top.

Use the amount of coax it takes to reach from your radio to your antenna base. Concentrate more on grounding, antenna location, and tuning your antenna length for SWR.

There is a level of loss when dealing with connectors in coax which is usually around .5 db per connection. In my opinion that is a fair trade off for not having to tear your roof apart to run new cable. I would splice it using two UHF connectors and use another piece of matching coax of RG58 or RG8x, whatever is there now. Make sure you have a quality antenna, good grounds, good ground plane for the antenna, and your antenna is adjusted for SWR.

In the end it is your stuff and your choice to believe what you want from the internet or books.

I am no expert in radio or CB systems, but I was a radio tech in the Army and a senior field technician for Motorola for 5 years if you are wondering where I came up with all of this ****.

my navy IC man said basically the same thing and is bringing me the pieces i need to properly splice it.

i do have a question yall might be able to set me straight on...

the motor home is fiberglass and i believe comes with a non ground wave antenna, i have some paperwork on setting the swr.

what does ground wave or non ground wave mean?

do i have the right setup?

i only need to talk a few miles on the freeway....

 

[Jacob]

I see it like this. I have installed repeater sites that had much tighter tolerances at over 500watts per station. Antenna cable length was never looked at in determining the layout and design of the site. Antenna location, grounding, and radio/can tuning were. Cable length or too many connectors will never 'smoke' a radio. Talking on it with too high SWR will affect it over time.

But, I have not done any radio work in over 10 years. I have also never been a hobbyist or expert in CB. As a matter of fact I left the field altogether for IT because I was burnt out. But frequencies, coax, transmitters, receivers, grounding, ground planes, and antennas are just that- components involved in any radio system no matter what the frequency used.

I have forgotten FAR more than I remember, but the basics are always constant. And like you said, we all have our opinions and we are in fact entitled to them. :beer:

 

[JTR]

I see it like this. I have installed repeater sites that had much tighter tolerances at over 500watts per station. Antenna cable length was never looked at in determining the layout and design of the site. Antenna location, grounding, and radio/can tuning were. Cable length or too many connectors will never 'smoke' a radio. Talking on it with too high SWR will affect it over time.

But, I have not done any radio work in over 10 years. I have also never been a hobbyist or expert in CB. As a matter of fact I left the field altogether for IT because I was burnt out. But frequencies, coax, transmitters, receivers, grounding, ground planes, and antennas are just that- components involved in any radio system no matter what the frequency used.

I have forgotten FAR more than I remember, but the basics are always constant. And like you said, we all have our opinions and we are in fact entitled to them. :beer:

Jacob, you are on top of it...you caught my "baited" question:redneck: What I meant to say/should have said about the 3 ft...is coil the excess coax at least 3ft apart as to not create a "choke", anyone who's installed a radio knows it can be hard when you got a 2ft cab and 18 ft of coax, haha
I wont doubt you again, man:awesomework:

 

[Jacob]

Without getting into alot of BS, you need a non ground plane antenna because of the fiberglass top of the RV, which I assume it has since you said it came with a non ground plane antenna. This adds another variable to your initial question and could affect my recommendation of splicing due to my lack of knowledge of RVs. I never knew or thought about a fiberglass top, I figured they had a metal top, who knew.

Since there is no metal, the antenna and coax provides the ground plane for the wave length or signal. They do this as a system so you will need to make sure the coax used for the splice takes this provision into account. Your Navy IC man should know about this cause they are some smart fawkers, a lot smarter than us Army guys for sure.

my navy IC man said basically the same thing and is bringing me the pieces i need to properly splice it.

i do have a question yall might be able to set me straight on...

the motor home is fiberglass and i believe comes with a non ground wave antenna, i have some paperwork on setting the swr.

what does ground wave or non ground wave mean?

do i have the right setup?

i only need to talk a few miles on the freeway....

 

[JTR]

Hip, Ive seen guys use the frame, or run a copper braided "loop" through out the frame for the ground plain w/ decent results

Ground wave: CB radio signals are conducted by the ground along the surface of the earth. Ground-wave signals actually can bend around buildings, over hills etc (think omni antenna's)

Space wave: When 2 stations are w/in line of sight of each other.

I can honestly say Ive never used any non-ground wave antenna's..

CB's what you make it, keep it simple or go for every last bit lookin' for more power( or no loss)
I'll STFU, hoped to help and not cause confusion w/ my experiances, if I was a pro I'd be being paid for it, haha:awesomework:

 

[Jacob]

I can honestly say Ive never used any non-ground wave antenna's..

This. I can say that it all may be taken into account with the coax that is there now and how it is connected to the antenna and installed in the RV. Like I said before your Navy IC guy will figure it out, they really are that good. I worked with a few of them since I have been out of the Army and their training is second to none when dealing with electronics and radio systems.

I am done with this, I am still so burnt out on this **** that this thread gave me a headache

JTR, Beer's on me when we meet. :beer:

 

[JTR]

This. I can say that it all may be taken into account with the coax that is there now and how it is connected to the antenna and installed in the RV. Like I said before your Navy IC guy will figure it out, they really are that good. I worked with a few of them since I have been out of the Army and their training is second to none when dealing with electronics and radio systems.

I am done with this, I am still so burnt out on this **** that this thread gave me a headache

JTR, Beer's on me when we meet. :beer:

Roger that, Jacob:awesomework::beer: