Replacing Broken Whip Antennas On 2008 Kountry Star

[mario.lamarca]

I noticed recently that three whip antennas atop my coach had broken off and am looking to replace them with either the same or better quality antennas.

I assume they serve the purpose of CB and am/fm radio reception. They are rubberized 18" screw into a ball mount (I don't know much about antennas).

I would like to improve reception, so if there are better types out there that would fit the existing mount without adding to the height limit of the class A coach.

I am open to suggestions.

[dewat]

On the coaches that I have seen with CBs like the Tiffins, they are using the metal CB antennas with the coil in the center (the fat round plastic part). The rubber antennas that I have seen are normally for the AM/FM/Weather service. If you are interested in the best possible performance of the CB and do not have a metal roof, you may want to Google/reseach "No Ground Plane" AKA "NGP" CB antennas. Two-way antennas need a ground plane to operate efficiently, and unless the antenna is mounted on a metal base, a ground plane (or ground radials when dealing with base setups) is required. Concerning the metal base, the lower the frequency, the larger the required ground plane, and CB at 27 MHz is way down there just above shortwave. I think one of the best NGP antennas out there right now are the Firestick brands, which come in three and four feet lengths. The problem with that is if you don't go to a side or mirror mount, sooner or later a 3 or 4 antenna on roof is going to get beat to death. Of course is reception is all that you're interested in, the ground plane is not as important, but does still play a role.

[mario.lamarca]

Thanks for the tip on the NGP antennas. I will check it out, but agree that 3-4' is not a feasible option.

[paulcarson]

I mounted my NGP antenna on the ladder. Placed the mount so the antenna extends about 18 inches above the roof of the RV. Works fine for me.