Install a 27 MHz base-station CB radio antenna
I am planning to set up a vertical base-station antenna for my Midland 1001Z 40-Channel CB radio.
I want to mount an omnidirectional antenna up on my roof, and I will run a length of coaxial cable between the aerial and the two-way radio.
How difficult is it to set up, and what will I need to purchase?
You need to know where on the roof you will place the antenna, and have something like a length of galvanized water pipe – or some kind of mast – to mount the aerial on. The antenna itself will likely be a ground-plane antenna like a 1/4 wave or a 5/8th wave antenna, or it might be a half-wave antenna that doesn’t have a groundplane at the bottom. Take your pick, they all work very well.
Then you will need a length of 50-ohm coaxial cable to run between the CB set and your antenna. RG-58U is fine for a short run (less than 50 feet) but for longer than that get the thick cable – RG-213 or equivalent.
Fittings on the radio end will be a PL-259 (aka UHF plug) to fit the So-239 connector on the back of your radio, and this will almost certainly be the same on the base CB antenna. But confirm when you buy it.
Check the cable and plugs with an Ohm-meter for open circuit or short-circuit before you connect the two-way to the antenna. A short or a break here could really damage the radio!
If your rig doesn’t have its own SWR meter, you would do well to buy one – or at least borrow one while first setting up the antenna. You probably won’t have to tune a base station antenna much, if at all. The SWR meter is to make sure your VSWR reading isn’t sky-high – which would indicate a problem.
As long as the SWR is less than 2:1 you will be fine. Don’t sweat on having to nitpick it down to 1:1 either. You can consider 1:1.5 as being perfect enough. Seriously.
Now you should read up on Radio protocol and manners.
http://www.walkietalkietwowayradios.com/antennas/homebrew-a-half-wave-dipole-antenna/