Total Bus Height ... How High Is Too High?

[John]

James,

I have a different setup than most 'Birds come equipped with and this
is from my experimenting with CB's including the base station that I
frequently talk on almost daily when I am home. I have been using
CB's since the early 70's and I have had a lot of experience with
different antenna setups over my 30+ years of cross country driving
in my old business;

http://hometown.aol.com/iamflagman/page1.html

The antenna that I use is a Wilson 2000 brand antenna and as you can
see in the following photo, I have it bent over and secured in a
fashion, where it will not be affected by trees and overpasses and it
is very good at receiving and transmitting. I have checked this with
a DOSY SWR/SIGNAL STRENGTH/POWER meter and the SWR is surprisingly
extremely low at a little above 1 on the SWR scale and that is good
and it does not harm my radio which is a Galaxy DX99 and I don't use
a linear with it for extra power. I have talked at least 2 miles on
channel 19 which is the truckers channel with a lot of other people
talking, to see if I could talk over them, with no problems and I
have talked to a friend of mine on his base station 35 miles away,
but that was on a clear channel, with no other people talking on it.
I was told that this would not work, but I have used the setup for
over a year, with no problems. Here is a photo of the antenna setup;

http://www.pbase.com/iamflagman/image/37202640

I prefer this setup over the co-phase (2) antennas that came on the
early model 'Birds, as it is more simple, being you only have one
antenna to work with and there is no need for the co-phase, because
whereas trucks need this setup to talk around the trailer that they
are pulling, that is higher than the cab of the truck itself, we
don't have that problem, as our antennas are above the body that is
behind the antenna. The co-phase antennas were the best technology
back in the 60's and 70's, but in my opinion you can't beat a Wilson
antenna, especially when you have an excellent ground plane provided
by the all metal roof of a 'Bird.

Feel free to email me off of the forum, if you need any further help.


"REMEMBER SEPTEMBER 11, 2001"
John Finn
'82 35FCRB
BLUEBIRD WANDERLODGE
TO VISIT THE "FINN'S INN EXPRESS" REMODELING ADVENTURE
GO TO;
http://www.pbase.com/image/24977457
ALSO VISIT THE:
Wanderlodge Owners Group Forum
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/wanderlodge/
'66 SUPERIOR / IH 392 GAS V8 32' PUSHER "FOR SALE"
SEE THE OLD COACH AT:
http://www.pbase.com/image/26052733
HOPKINS, SOUTH CAROLINA

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--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "orbitalsolutions"
wrote:
>
> I'm replacing antennas. I need help in understanding how high is
too
> high. Yes, I can quickly remove the CB antenna if I have too (It
will
> be the highest.)
>
> But I don't want to, at least not very often.
>
> If my total height is 14' 8" is that too high? Will I be alright
on
> the big roads?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> -James
> 78FC33SB
> LasVEgas NV
>