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FlexingCapacitor t1_ja4akig wrote

Reply to comment by Famous_Bit_5119 in Been in every car I’ve had since 1986. by 710dabner

That's a great question. I don't have an answer, but it reminds me of when I had a CB installed in my little truck like 30 years ago. I thought the way to go was to get a super long whip mounted on the back bumper cuz I thought the popular roof mounted ones were half-measures. That's when the installer dude informed me that the whip is just the visible part. It has to make contact with the vehicle frame, thereby making the entire vehicle AND the whip the operative antenna. I was like 🤯.

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dzlux t1_ja4lp0w wrote

Bigger antenna helps the most on improving the signal, where larger signal to noise ratio (snr) is the goal. The only real question for your antenna is in choosing which fraction of a wave (1/4, 18, etc) you can live with for antenna length to get the best performance without vehicle operation problems.

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rarebit13 t1_ja6oilr wrote

As I understand it:

Short antenna is shorter range but works best in hilly terrain (signal is 'rounder ')

Long antenna is long range but works better over flat terrain (signal is horizontally 'oblong').

I realise this is actually a function of the dbi but I believe length is inversely related to dbi.

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HighOnGoofballs t1_ja79mjq wrote

Fwiw On boats it’s about how high it is, so it can get past the horizon

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Kevinsound27 t1_ja4meup wrote

I also used to think the ground strap was something loose on the bottom of trucks till my dad explained it’s to ground the radio.

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CypherFTW t1_ja5l3ei wrote

CB radios don't ground to the earth to work, only to the chassis of the vehicle. Those straps were "Anti Static Straps" designed to dispel the static build up from your car. I don't think they were ever proven to work and people pretty much stopped buying them by the end of the 90s. I think one of their claims may have been "improved radio quality" but they had a lot of weird claimed benefits that were largely marketing.

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Kevinsound27 t1_ja5sttu wrote

That makes sense actually. it’s one of those things from long ago I remember seeing but haven’t seen one in a long time.

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