Chimney mount antenna

[trx680]

I have a one story rancher what has two chimneys. The one in the garage doesn't get used. I want to have a base station CB, actually it will be a Bearcat 980 mobile hooked to a power supply, and I want an antenna on the roof.

I'm thinking of the following:
-running the coax from my room, though the floor, under the house and through the wall into the garage. From there I'll run the coax up the chimney to the roof
-I want to mount the antenna to the chimney since its the highest point and it will be out of the way of the roof itself

Havent decided on an antenna yet:
-fiberglass or aluminum??
-should I extend it up higher or just keep it stock height?
-I could drill a hole in the concrete in the garage at the chimney and drive a ground rod in to be able to have it grounded...good/bad idea??
-price....maybe no more than $250 for the antenna itself

And will this work on the chimney with out having a ground plane?


Ok guys....ideas on an antenna?

[MDYoungblood]

Check this post out, [Please login or register to view this link] . if you don't want to use straps like that you could get TV antenna standoffs and anchor them into the chimney.
The ground wire should run straight down to the ground but there it can run horizontally to the where you can place the rod without having to drill through the concrete driveway and it won't be a tripping hazard. Last thing is you should get the radio close to the antenna location, long runs of coax (more than 100ft) will drop the performance of the radio. Nothing wrong with setting up a base station in a garage, mine is in the basement.

3's

Greg

[trx680]

Check this post out, [Please login or register to view this link] . if you don't want to use straps like that you could get TV antenna standoffs and anchor them into the chimney.
The ground wire should run straight down to the ground but there it can run horizontally to the where you can place the rod without having to drill through the concrete driveway and it won't be a tripping hazard. Last thing is you should get the radio close to the antenna location, long runs of coax (more than 100ft) will drop the performance of the radio. Nothing wrong with setting up a base station in a garage, mine is in the basement.

3's

Greg

I'll probably just go with the straps for the chimney.
As far as antenna I'm thinking a omnidirectional type. But fiberglass or aluminum?
Some of the ones I've seen:
[Please login or register to view this link]
[Please login or register to view this link]

Maybe I'll start a different post for suggestions/opinions on fiberglass -vs- aluminum.

And you mentioned grounding. My plan was to ground the coax with [Please login or register to view this link]
Run a short piece of coax from the antenna, down the chimney into the garage, to the ground block, and a longer coax from the ground block to the radio inside the house. Of course the ground block will be on a ground rod right beside the bottom of the chimney. I'll drill a hole in the concrete and drive the ground rod into the ground. It will be out of the way and close to the wall. Otherwise I'll have to route the coax to an outside ground rod, which will result in me drilling through brick wall to get outside and lengthening the coax.
It sounds like you are suggesting to run a copper wire from the antenna, down the chimney, and to a ground rod. And not grounding the coax?

What do you think?

And thank everyone for their input!!

[MDYoungblood]

Go here and search for "antenna grounding" plenty of info to research.


The antenna ground block you linked is not for HF or CB frequencies, it is for television, receiving only. You will need one that is for ham (Amateur) or CB radio.

Couldn't open the antenna links (hope they belonged to a sponsor here) but you should check out the Sirio brand our sponsor sells, [Please login or register to view this link] , I prefer aluminum over fiberglass any day but if one was given to me I would accept it graciously. Fiberglass is easy to put up but I believe aluminum will give you a better signal to noise ratio.

3's

Greg