Well, here is the situation. I just ordered my cobra 75 (to replace my radio shack cb) and a firestik II two foot antenna. My current two foot antenna is mounted on my roof rack with an easyover.

The problem I am having is that I was never able to get a good ground on my current setup and signals were very weak. I could never tune the swr because of the grounding problems.

So, I know there are other threads on this, but they are kind of old. I would like to know if anyone has found a good method for grounding their antenna's. I have considered running a good thick wire from my mount directly to the chasis, but have heard that the ground wire shouldn't be too long or it will not work well. Another option I have considered is mounting my antenna on my ARB. But then I sacrafice a certain amount of range do to the antenna not being above the roofline. Also I haven't seen any pictures on anyone doing this yet and am kind of wondering how it would look.

So if any of you have any suggestions for me, I'm all ears. If you have any pics of your setup, that would be great too. Thanks for the help on this.

Also, I know many of you have allready installed the cobra cb in your X's. Where is a good spot to mount the box portion? Thanks again.


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Sgt_Lobo
2000 4X4, SE, White
http://www.cableone.net/sgtlobo/xterra.htm

I am using the same setup as you. I ran my ground directly to one of the bolts holding the rack to the roof and I consistently get a SWR less than 2.

As far as the box for the Cobra 75 I have mine mounted under the console just below my transfer case shifter. I leave the plug sticking out to the side so I can plug the mike in easily.

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Carl
2000 Silver Ice SE 4x4
Florida Xtreme Xterras

That's interesting, I also ran a ground to one of the screws holding the roof rack, and it didn't seem to help much. I wonder if something isn't making a good connection somewhere...

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Sgt_Lobo
2000 4X4, SE, White
http://www.cableone.net/sgtlobo/xterra.htm

Do not rely on the thread of the screw to make a good transfer of ground to the roof itself. Assuming you are using a ring connector or worst case scenario, wrapping the bare wire around the bolt(bad, bad, bad), the following should help.

If you scratch/sand the paint off around the area where the bolt enters the roof, the antennae wire will touch the bare metal and you will have a direct ground to the vehicle. You can pick up some di-electric grease to coat the area from RadShak or anywhere that sells electrical equipment, which will prevent surface rust and expell moisture.

I worked in a car stereo and alarm shop for a few years and we would take a small air grinder or dremel to knock the paint/rust off of the potential ground spot. You are also correct that you do not want to increase the distace of the grounding spot from the equipment without at least increasing the gauge of the ground wire. Just remember, the more wire you have running around a vehicle, the more chance you have to pick up interference and noise.

I believe Ian has had very good performance from this exact setup.
http://www.xterrain.com/xmods7.html

Good luck

scoot

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#-----------------
"If we weren't crazy,
we'd all go insane."
JB
#-----------------

Thanks all for your help, but now I have a new problem...

I now have a great ground on my cb and managed to get my swr down to 1.3 on most channels. But now I am getting a terrible feedback from my stereo speakers when my stereo is turned on. When I turn it off, there is no feedback, but when it is on there is a high pitched whine and every word that is spoken comes through very loudly.

Is there a way to prevent feedback from my speakers other than turning the stereo off? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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Sgt_Lobo
2000 4X4, SE, White http://www.cableone.net/sgtlobo/xterra.htm

[This message has been edited by Sgt_Lobo (edited 02-09-2001).]