I'm just experimenting....

[msged2007]

So I've settled on this. I've got a president Andy cb for a base set up. I've tried a few different diy wire antennas, ground plane, inverted V, and now a half wave over a quarter wave j-pole. All are suspended from a high limb in an oak tree, limb is about 60'. Mobile setup is a Midland 1001z with tram version of a Wilson lil will. I turned the modulation up on this one via the RV2 pot in the radio.

With the base set up, I've talked 25+ miles to another town a few towns over, this was base to base. I've tested my mobile to base out to 10 miles and it was still sounding good. Now, if I can just figure out how to turn the modulation up on the president...... Fun, fun, fun

[MDYoungblood]

You have all them in one tree. J-Pole is an excellent antenna, look into a Slim Jim, has a little more gain and the radiation pattern puts the signal at a lower angle. Make sure they aren't interfering with each other too. An inverted V will be the best for skip, been using one for years. Look up CMC (common mode current) and how to make chokes for this problem.

3's

Greg

[msged2007]

All in the same tree, but one at a time. Ground plane was first, but it was a quarter wave. Then the inverted V. This one was interesting. I thought it'd be directional, like a dipole, but a guy in another town off the ends on a vertical said he couldn't tell a change. I'd pointed it perpendicular to him to reach another town further away. Now the jpole has been awesome. Stations I couldnt reach on the inverted V said I was coming in good with the Jpole. One was, as a crow flies, over 25 miles away. Funny you mentioned a slim Jim, that one was already on my mind. As far as CMC, I've got a diy choke about a foot below the antenna, 5 wrap coil of coax zip tied in about a 4-5" diameter. I think the ladder line I'm using is 450 ohm. I've had a lot of fun making and tuning the antennas, the radios too, but that was more looking up how to do it than anything. Having 2 radios takes a lot of guess work out of it when you can establish a baseline and tune from there. I don't have a lot of the test equipment that others have, but listening from the other end can provide a lot of information too. Thanks for your help