Extreme Antenna Grounding aka RF Bonding on a Cascadia

[@alcochrane4405]

My van since I did the antenna ground it transmit and receive better thanks for the info

[@jasonwillette6180]

Hey wondering if you use an amplifier for your setup? We use them in Hawaii to get out farther.

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

I do not.

[@bucketheadrox]

I used to live in mobile......

[@fnordist]

Get some Ferrite beads, put it over your coax to get rid of common mode, also helps to reduce noise, i put 20 beads directly after the antenna socket, one about 1.5" long. Also improves SWR, and stops stray RF in the cabin.

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Ferrite beeds don't help promote an even radiation pattern of the signal.

[@fnordist]

@@jrichtruckincbtips you can't get an even radiation pattern from a car or a truck, thats almost impossible, due to the height of the vehicle, but beads reduce the influence of coax shield to the antenna/ SWR. especially on mirror mounts. RF follows path of lowest impedance, so your coax may get a part of the antenna without beads, which is not desireable in many situations.

[@jeffking2309]

Great information! Where is the best place to buy this ground wire? Made in USA?

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

DX Engineering

[@loadmastergod1961]

Just grounded my antenna, 3 years after getting the cb tuned. My cal swr went to zero, but my tx swr went from zero to 3. Is this normal or expected?

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Yes, any time you change anything that has to do with the antenna, mount, coax, or ground it effects the swr reading and need to retune the antenna.

[@charliekirsch8051]

On my pickup I have a 5 foot fire stick mounted on my headache rack, do you recommend a ground strap or a 4 guage wire to ground it to the frame

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Keep ground straps as short as possible. Ground headache rack to the bed, then under the bed to frame with 1" strap, I'd do the cab, hood, and doors too

[@jacobholland5770]

I have a stryker 955 hp and my astatic mic shocks me a little why ? 2023 cascadia k 1 27 predator on a bird perch . Washer etc properly mounted . No ground strap . Just started doing it . When it shocks me my swr goes to a 3 . The shock is a slight warm feeling of the little spring at the bottom of the mic .

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Try running a ground strap from the back of the radio to some metal of the cab.

[@jacobholland5770]

@@jrichtruckincbtips 10.4

[@truckinprepper8743]

I thought you liked your hustler setup? Now your back to skipshooter?

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Yeah, I wanted to compare the 2 antennas, and I'm back to the Hustler now. It's a lot of work and money to keep this channel going, especially when I'm really a truck driver, and not a cb tech. It maybe be easier and cheaper if I made videos of my big ass jumping off the roof of my house.🤣🤣🤣

[@craig_sez8534]

Hey j...Tks for the shout out,just seeing this vid here now on nov 14/22...Like you bub im just paying it foward as i learn..Keep up the vids,nice job..

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

It just sucks these Cascadias take so much work, but that's what makes content.

[@craig_sez8534]

@@jrichtruckincbtips Also makes haveing and useing a radio fun..

[@THEGENERALMAN]

Got a vid of how I could run cable I don't have that grommet on the corner

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Open the door sill plates. There's usually a drain hole there. Will probably need 21' of coax on a day cab.

[@NelaRc]

This was very informative

[@brandoncrimes3608]

What’s the name of the bar that your antenna is mounted on

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

It's just the factory grab bar.

[@theskeptikaltruckr]

You literally could get a better ground by running one ground from your antenna mount to your battery box and make it look cleaner also. Maybe this is a Freightliner problem? We don’t have these issues with Peterbilt.

[@thomasvittetoe1930]

Can you do one explaining what the watts on the antenna mean

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

It's just the wattage of what the antenna is rated to handle. So, probably not good to run 5,000 watts through a 1,000 watt antenna.

[@blee902]

Awesome thank you Where can I get ground straps? Can u do a video on a 2023 kw t680?

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Here's some grounding apply the 2 videos to your t680. I get the straps from DX Engineering I buy 20 feet at a time and the ring terminals from Home Depot. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6OZnquPapyfsNU

[@blee902]

@@jrichtruckincbtips thank you very much, I run my antenna off the bar behind the sleeper seems to work well but had to use 24’ coax 18 was not long enuf

[@Nick-gi6ym]

Thank You

[@charleswills4554]

Awesome, Lots of info.

[@stevec2569]

Great video, on a kenworth T800 day cab, I have a really small gap in the door to be able to put in a ground strap. What would you recommend? What else on the truck should be bonded? I also have led headlights and leds inside the cab, whenever I open the door the cb meter really jumps up. I would love to have it not move like yours. Help me out please

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Watch my other RF bonding video on a Coronado, that's how it would do a T800

[@stevec2569]

What are you using to cut the braided strap to size?

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

@@stevec2569 plain household scissors.

[@stevec2569]

One more question for you, what size lugs are you using?

[@GiantSequoiaNation]

Awesome video. I'm going to utilize some of these techniques on my next video. When I flip my box on it jumps my SWR from 1:1 to 1:1.6 with power. Do you think this would help? And would you recommend ground the box and radio to the seat bolt?

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Cool, yes I do.

[@brandoncrimes3608]

Where online can I get some 18 inch ground straps

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

DX Engineering

[@brandoncrimes3608]

@@jrichtruckincbtips do you think that will be long enough

[@whitetiger8652]

Great job.

[@servicetrucker5564]

And if you’re gonna drill the frame don’t drill the flanges

[@jimmygraham1431]

Can I run one continuous run of one inch

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Ground straps need to be short as possible. The longer the strap the less effective it will be.

[@victorgalagan1151]

Excellent video.

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

Thanks for watching

[@kenmyers3052]

From your Knowledge Do You Remember K40 Black Fiberglass Antenna from 1980's with Black Base Red Top Three Prong Turn Mount Silver Connector ? The Antenna was Black with Black Turn Up&Down Tube for SWR Adjustment .Or Maybe Seen Any in Last Few Years ? Always use K40 Antenna's since 1980's when they were produced . The lasted Almost Forty Years Until I Lost Both In a Move . Can't find the Tube I Placed both in .whip

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

No haven't seen one

[@kenmyers3052]

@@jrichtruckincbtips You are Very Informative on Subject Matter You do on Your Channel . Because the K40 Electronics was so long ago in the 1980's and 1990's . K40 Antenna Did Make Very Good CB Equipment to out last the ages . Still Working Good after Forty Years. Thanks Now ..

[@jordanjacobs2440]

How is a bird perch for the mirror on those cascadias? Do you know? I'm looking at those

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

When you have a sleeper, that's really the only option, and can work really well with a tall antenna.

[@jordanjacobs2440]

@@jrichtruckincbtips I have a 5 foot skip shooter

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

@@jordanjacobs2440 that's not really tall enough for that location. A 7'Skip Shooter, 27" shaft Predator, 102" whip are better choices.

[@jamesmize665]

​@@jrichtruckincbtipsthat's what I have is a predator k-1-27. Any advice on getting a good ground plane? It's on a 21 new cascadia 116 day cab. I can't get too crazy because it's a company truck

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

@jamesmize665 just what you see in the video. I'd say at a minimum, do both doors with at least 1 small strap from door to cab, and 1 strap on each side from the cab to the frame.

[@opietaylor7407]

Very helpful

[@rogerdavis4851]

I have a Question that I hope you can answer for me, when I go to tune my antenna should I match my antenna with my linear attached or just the radio

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

I tune how it will be going down the road

[@fleetwoodu812]

I had my linear and CB tuned together. I actually had them turn my striker down to go with my Tennessee walker. Everyone says it sounds crystal clear. But…. You MUST ground and bond antenna EXACTLY like this gentleman says.

[@bradh74]

Did you say "Knees in the Breeze"? Dave Castler I think his name is has so really good videos on radios from A-Z swr, grounding etc. The stuff you did seems to have worked for you which is great but he has a video on grounding a base (which is different) and probably a vehicle the guy is pretty smart he has his Extra license and has been around for a while. He said you have to be careful with your grounds because you could make a "loop" antenna with your ground and bring more noise into your radio. This stuff is really complicated sometimes. I take it that the sr a-10 Stryker ant. isn't so hot? I was thinking of getting one for my car.

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

As these trucks are mostly fiberglass and plastic we are getting the antenna to see the frame as the ground plain instead of the roof, and help to keep from reflecting off any individual metal surface. The only bad thing I've heard about the SR A10 is water possibly getting in the coil.

[@bradh74]

@@jrichtruckincbtips Thanks for the reply! This grounding stuff is aggravating! You'd think on a truck they would do something about that, but here we are. I never had to worry before about grounding the mirror brackets were good enough but I had a "barefoot" radio. I want to know where you had the work done on that 40 watt 29 if it works well. Does that sr A-10 work as well a permanent mount? I got a 29 I gave my boy that needs some work done to it.

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

@@bradh74 I got the work done at Atlantic Coast Communications in Atlanta. You'll need to wire directly to a battery source to get that, and that radio does 50 watts on the bench(but that's a perfect world). The SR A10 should do well if you get the coil high enough and away from the body.

[@bradh74]

@@jrichtruckincbtips Thanks! I haven't driven tractor trailer since @1998 lol. I've been in mixers, dumps, garbage/recycle, block, propane (cylinder/bulk) (and I'm forgetting a few types of) B trucks. So I really didn't need a CB or it had one. So mine have sat around for years. I have a General HP 40w that I think should be checked out, I got from my brother, and that 29 that could be improved on not sure it's worth fixing. Thanks for the content and help.

[@justinwilliams1611]

Thoughts on the Wilson removable end coax?

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

I honestly think it's junk, I've used it and there's plenty better out there.

[@justinwilliams1611]

Copy I’ve heard about the same, I got it recommended to me as a better option to fish it through my mirrors. I think I’d rather practice my soldering and run good coax

[@jrichtruckincbtips]

@@justinwilliams1611 if you get it from a cb shop, have them solder 1 end on. Start from the antenna then run it to the inside, so you're not having to solder outside in the weather.

[@justinwilliams1611]

Copy I appreciate the feedback!

[@justinwilliams1611]

So I ran some new rg8x in my western star along with new power and ground, I cut the one end off and soldered my new end back on after I fished it through. I went to check my swr and it’s at almost 8. So what I did to trouble shoot was took a different spool hooked it up and it was at 1.5, could a bad solder cause the coax I ran to not work correctly

[@ajcates9136]

Mr bbi is the best in the business