Bare with me, more newbie questions. Since I am still a ways off from buying a used H3, I am doing some web research on CB radios and antennas. I plan to add one to my PT then move it to the new/used H3 later this year.

I have never had a cb before and have some antenna questions. Do CB antennas have to have a ground of their own? Specifically if I mount one on my roof rack on the PT, and the roof rack is separated from the actual roof of the car by rubber isolators, does this matter to the CB antenna?

Next question is on this pic I 'borrowed' from a euro H3 owner on the Hummer X forums..... What do you guys know about these small antennas? They sell them at Frys, locally. I know they are for handhelds. And what do you guys think about a mount like this with a 2 ft firestik antenna on it. Would it work ok?... and what about it being mounted in the plastic trim?

I am not sure why I think that a ground is necessary for a CB antenna. Maybe I am confused with satellite antennas using the roof as a dish or something.

I came across this pic researching my (now defunct) plan to fiberglass an 8" sub enclosure into the rear hatch, when I saw on a CB antenna post mounted to the spare tire carrier, that there is a vent back there! I am not sure I could fiberglass that area now, and keep that vent functional.

(If anyone has a pic of the rear hatch door interior with that panel removed, please post it for me!

I really like this cb antenna setup for an H3!..




....and the vent...

 

I have a glass mount antenna for my police scanner in my 3 attached to the back window. I have seen most antennas attached to the back via the rear spare tire setup like your second pic.

 

CB Marine, handheld, and magnet mount antennas don't require a ground to the body.

Most folks and the factory use the space inside the right rear cargo area trim cover to mount subwoofers. Depending on subwoofer T/S Specs, you could probably go up to 12" sealed or 10" ported (or as big as you want if you decide to eat up cargo area).

If you want to do an install in the rear hatch, the vent probably isn't an issue as long as you leave an airpath to it. On the other hand, you'll likely have to lose the jack storage space. It's stored in the rear hatch.

 

The jack is inside the back door.










You should find somebody with an SWR meter to tune the antenna once you mount it. You may or may not need a ground depending on what kind of antenna you choose.
I ran a groung from the mount bracket to the chasis by screwing and terminal eye butt connector to the cab under the back door sill plate. I have a 4' K40 SuperFlex whip that is top loaded for an easy SWR tune. It reads under 1.3 as mounted in the above pics.

Antennas are tuned either at the top or bottom, either way, basically you have a set screw and you move the metal wire part of the antenna up or down a smidge to adjust the SWR as close to 1.0 as possible. Some fiberglass type sticks have a cap at the top, which you remove and clip off a small piece of the coiled wire of the antenna under the cap to tune it. Cheap antennas may not even be tuneable, you just slap them on and cross your fingers that they work well enough not to damage your transmitter.

The small antennas, and some of the magnetic bases that can attach to a hand held, don't get out very far, but they work well enough if you are with a group and using them short range. Hand held CBs are weak, they sometimes barely get by, other times they are basically worthless, depends upon brand, what antenns you are using etc.

There arfe some good on-line resources out there, read topics on antenna selection, mounts, and SWR tuning.

 

Thanks guys! Great info and great pics!

I will see how it goes with the small antenna on my PT and that will help me decide. I will pobably end up with either a fold over mount or a removable firestik or k40 mast, so I can still get the H3 into my garage without the antenna up.

Thanks very much for the hatch pics. I wondered what was in that door on the hatch, kinda hoped it was a big deep storage space.

I will probably endup with something small in the hatch for a subwoofer. 8" ported. Space will be a concern in the H3 for me.

This is my reason for wanting the H3! Besides wanting to get back to some offroading, I NEED some space back. Here are pics of my PT Cruiser, it is my car audio beast.

The H3 will NOT be done over like this.