How To Repair Cb Coax On A Peterbilt 579

Ah, the dual CB antenna installation! Few things compare in terms of the looks, bravado and downright classic rugged feel information technology gives to a pickup truck or large rig.

But for pickup trucks specially, dual antenna installs are often chosen for the wrong reasons or with unrealistic range expectations. In this guide, nosotros'll walk you through everything you lot demand to know regarding a ii antenna installation.

Benefits of Dual Antennas

There are a number of different reason y'all might consider installing dual antennas onto your rig:

Forestall Signal Blockage

If you're pulling a large trailer, camper or 5th bicycle, there's a good chance that it will block your antenna from transmitting in sure areas.

For example, say your antenna is mounted on the front right side of your truck. When towing a big 5th wheel, the antenna won't be able to transmit or receive well to/from the rear left side of your vehicle. The 5th bike will likely be blocking it unless you lot're using an extremely long antenna.

That's when having two antennas comes in handy. With antennas on both sides of your vehicle, you're much less likely to have large dead spots because the antenna system tin "meet" more.

This is one of the primary reasons near 18 wheelers have dual antenna setups. Without them, the large trailer being pulled would create large expressionless spots.

Increase Range Up and Downward the Road

You've likely heard that dual antennas will increment your transmit and receive range, and this is partially true, as long equally you're talking to people either directly in front of or beyond your vehicle.

Assuming no obstructions, a single CB antenna has a uniform, circular bespeak pattern. It can send and receive in all directions equally, as illustrated by the film below.

Dual antenna installations don't have the same indicate pattern. Instead of existence perfectly round, their pattern is much more oval shaped - with the oval beingness stretched in the direction of travel.

So with a dual CB antenna setup, you'll be able to talk farther up and down the management of travel - which usually works out well given the management of most roads. But y'all do lose a bit of range to the right and left side, which isn't platonic for all circumstances / drivers.

Requirements for Dual CB Installs

When installing a dual CB setup, you need an absolute minimum of 5' betwixt the two antennas. Anything closer, and the antennas will be too close to perform properly. Ideally, you should be closer to 9' as a minimum for peak functioning.

In addition to 2 antennas and mounts, you'll too need a special co-stage CB coax for wiring everything up. Many people will attempt to use standard CB coax and a "T" adapter to connect the ii separate antenna coax and the radio, but this WILL NOT work.

Instead, make sure you get a special co-phased, RG-59 CB coax cable. This is a special "Y" cable that has 2 ends going to each antenna, which come up together into 1 stop which plugs into your radio.

Once more, without this special cable your dual antenna setup simply won't piece of work.

Keep Those Antennas Long!

Finally, just because you're using two antennas doesn't mean you can scrimp on length. A good v' single magnet mount antenna installed loftier-upwardly on a pickup'south roof volition outperform a smaller ii' dual antenna setup.

While yous'll get the increased range upward and downwardly the direction of travel, yous'll still need decently long (and properly installed) antennas to savour great performance. So brand sure to choice every bit long an antenna as you can comfortably mount and enjoy the all-time of both worlds.

Dual Antenna Recommendations

Was This Article Useful? Delight Like / Share Information technology!