CB earth on freelander

Hi all , have mounted my cb aerial on freelander wheel carrier and since doing so got really bad signal , any ideas where I can run a earth lead too ?

mine too is mounted on the spare wheel carrier with an aluminium plate..have you tried using star washers to grip in to the wheel carrier creating a better earth?
I also ran my antenna lead through the same hole in the rear door as the washer pipe goes through.
For a simple earth path - remove your spare wheel and look at the bottom of the carrier - there are two 13mm nuts there - run a small cable from one of these bolts to your CB antenna ground and see how you get on.

For a simple test I often use a lead with small croc clips either end and test different metalwork for better eatrth paths to the battery ground.
Dont forget to check your swr once youve tried something new or you'll blow your output transistor )

Fab , thankyou so much for the advice

I assume you've used a SWR meter to make sure you're not going to reflect the signal back in to your rig and blow it up? If not don't try and transmit until you have

Agree. You could really do with checking the SWR. You prob will find that if you put a metal plate under the ant the performance will improve. For the ant to work properly and radiate signal out you need a ground plane. Usually if the ant is on the roof the metal roof works perfectly but by mounting it on spear wheel you have took this away. Good luck. Chris

The best place on a car for a transmitting aerial is always the centre of the roof allowing an even radiation pattern. Mounting it on the back will always be a compromise.
A mag mount will work far better, try it and see!

my antenna is mounted on my spare wheel carrier stop light bracket with a 2"x3" 6mm aluminium plate with no external earth lead and I'm getting a healthy 1.2SWR and no problem with the transmission. it helps matters if your antenna is long enough so that 2/3rds of it are above the roof height.

Thanks foe all the advice folks ,have take it all onboard and am now getting a reading of 1.3 swr , thanks

Andyyoungson said:

Thanks foe all the advice folks ,have take it all onboard and am now getting a reading of 1.3 swr , thanks

Click to expand...

That's good, anything under 1.5 is absolutely fine. I did manage 1.1 on mine on both channels 1 & 40 but that's just showing off!

Andy Land said:

I did manage 1.1 on mine on both channels 1 & 40 but that's just showing off!

Click to expand...

Not at all - if you got it...flaunt it...