Hunting a Ground. Antenna

[ArmyMP]

Would the stock antenna mount screws make a decent ground?

I need a real close by ground for my CB antenna in the stock antenna location. So I'm wondering if the 3 screws into the fender will make an okay'ish ground.


Planning an install without my jeep sucks.

@JeepCares I'm still waiting on a PCM and my Service Advisor is missing.

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[Beemer533]

I don't think they would, it doesn't look like those screws make good contact with anything other than the paint.

I could be wrong wrong though, I'm basing that on pictures from this thread:
https://www.jeepgladiatorforum.com/...elete-moving-from-exterior-to-interior.42308/

 

[JeepCares]

Would the stock antenna mount screws make a decent ground?

I need a real close by ground for my CB antenna in the stock antenna location. So I'm wondering if the 3 screws into the fender will make an okay'ish ground.


Planning an install without my jeep sucks.

@JeepCares I'm still waiting on a PCM and my Service Advisor is missing.

Thanks for the tag, ArmyMP. If you need assistance with a part or while your Gladiator is at the dealer, please send us a private message.

Kate
Jeep Cares

 

[ArmyMP]

How about under the side cowle panel?

 

[Beemer533]

I could take some measurements and see what I find in that area, won't be until tomorrow though.

 

[Beemer533]

So I don't know why it didn't occur to me but when I opened the hood to take some measurements I remembered that the main set of ground studs are right on the other side of the fender.

I did take measurements to a couple of other spots though. Where my red test lead is I got 2ohms to ground. That appears to be a threaded insert for an m6 or M8 bolt (my guess).

A couple of other bolts there on the fender that don't have paint also have ground.

I did not get a ground reading at the antenna mount.


Hope that helps.

 

[Beemer533]

I forgot to mention, I didn't pull the cowl off, but everything underneath appears to be painted. There might be a couple of bolts you could pull off and find ground though.

 

[Radio Guy]

An antenna wants the shield of the coax to be connected to the ground plane right at the feedpoint of the antenna, which would be the sheet metal where the antenna sticks out of the hole. Running a ground wire from the shield of the coax to another ground point or the battery does nothing for antenna performance, antennas need an RF ground at the antenna and not a DC connection back to the battery.

Just scrape some paint on the back side of the panel you mount the antenna on or use a star washer which will dig through the paint right at the antenna feedpoint. If the coax shield is bonded to the sheet metal right at the base of the antenna, that body panel the antenna is mounted on could be floating above ground as measured with an ohmmeter to the battery negative and that would have little to no impact on antenna performance. Its all about the sheet metal and how many sq ft is under the antenna.

 

[ArmyMP]

An antenna wants the shield of the coax to be connected to the ground plane right at the feedpoint of the antenna, which would be the sheet metal where the antenna sticks out of the hole. Running a ground wire from the shield of the coax to another ground point or the battery does nothing for antenna performance, antennas need an RF ground at the antenna and not a DC connection back to the battery.

Just scrape some paint on the back side of the panel you mount the antenna on or use a star washer which will dig through the paint right at the antenna feedpoint. If the coax shield is bonded to the sheet metal right at the base of the antenna, that body panel the antenna is mounted on could be floating above ground as measured with an ohmmeter to the battery negative and that would have little to no impact on antenna performance. Its all about the sheet metal and how many sq ft is under the antenna.

This isn't to ground the antenna but to ground leds on the antenna

 

[Radio Guy]

LEDs as in lights? On the actual antenna??? If so that's not a good idea if you want good reception or if your transmitting.

This isn't to ground the antenna but to ground leds on the antenna

 

[ArmyMP]

LEDs as in lights? On the actual antenna??? If so that's not a good idea if you want good reception or if your transmitting.

Yep @Mr Black

https://quakeled.com/3-foot-hd-rgb-cb-antenna-2-15-db-gain-27-mhz-frequency-quake-led.html

 

[kb5zcr]

Howdy,
Any ground will work for lighting those LEDs. Now, if you want an antenna that radiates and receives well, hanging lights off of it won't help.
But often folks don't need an antenna that works well, just well enough to transmit a few miles is good enough. And thats fine.

For me, I have both an HF and 2m/440 MHz rig in my jeep and need antennas that work good enough for my purpose. I fish 50 miles from pavement and use 40/80 meters (7/3.5 MHz) to communicate back to to town at night using NVIS. It works most of the time.

As mentioned above, RF ground is different than electrical ground.

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