Without sheet metal body panels, what did you use for a groundplane for a vertical? Or what other types of mobile antennae work well on this car?

I used a base loaded mag-mount, stuck to the top of the driver's side shock tower.
You'll have to remove or modify the vent grill.

As an alternative, a flat electrical junction box cover can be zip tied or otherwise fastened to the vent grill, if you want to leave the grill in place.
I would suspect that the ground qualities of such a setup would be pretty poor, though.

There may still be "through the glass" antenna mounts available. They were primarily used for cellular phones, but they may be available to work at CB frequencies, as well.
Here's a link.
http://www.google.com/#hl=e...bih=889&pf=p&pdl=300
The general consensus is that through the glass antennas work very poorly. Not a real surprise to me.

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 02-14-2013).]

I always use thru-the-glass type. They are getting harder to find, but most truck stop CB shops have them. Usually around $30. They look like a cell phone antenna, range isnt bad. I get out 4-5 miles depending on terrain...I find thats more than enough to convoy or watch for cops.

Your better off going with Ham,because the frequency used for CB doesnt travel very far (1 to 2 miles),so dont beleave the advertised distance of 5 miles.Thats only under Ideal conditions,like a flat surface (water). Ham travels much farter and easyer.The higher the frequency the easyer it is to travel (above the 1 GHZ range,2 GHZ would be better).Ham is allso much clearer than CB. Citizen band has loads of static.

quote Originally posted by James Bond 007: Your better off going with Ham,because the frequency used for CB doesnt travel very far (1 to 2 miles),so dont beleave the advertised distance of 5 miles.Thats only under Ideal conditions,like a flat surface (water). Ham travels much farter and easyer.The higher the frequency the easyer it is to travel (above the 1 GHZ range,2 GHZ would be better).Ham is allso much clearer than CB. Citizen band has loads of static.

Welllll, sort of.

CB frequencies tend to hug the ground, while higher frequencies tend to be more "line of sight". (1-2 GHz is considered "microwave". Not a lot of two way communications gear at those frequencies. Maybe some cellphone channels at the very low end.)
UHF (470 MHz) ham frequencies also make use of repeaters. Similar to business and industrial two-way. Maybe some VHF stuff, too. Not really sure on this.
CB has static largely because it is AM modulation, which is susceptible to lightning and other natural occurrences, while the VHF and UHF ham bands are FM, which is largely immune. Lower frequencies are also more likely to "skip" - or bounce off the atmosphere (the ionosphere, specifically) and return to earth hundreds or more miles away. Sun spots tend to make this much more likely.

Ive never had a problem getting up to 5 miles with a mounted CB. My handheld CBs have less. In the old days when you used a 6' whip antenna, it was pretty easy to get 15-20 miles. We used to convoy our custom vans all over the country using them. It was very easy with a large one to be stretched out 15 miles on the highway. We went to Virginia once for a national event with over 100 customized vans. The tail was 20 miles behind the leader. Needed them to keep in touch for gas, food and breakdown info.

What's the difference between CB, and those walkie talkies often used at road rallies? Are they the same thing?

No, the walkies are a waste of money. You can barely talk to a car in front of you. Ive got 4 or 5 brand new ones in a drawer here. Some of them were over $100 and theyre as worthless as poo. CBs are typically what truckers use and you mount them usually under the dash. Mine I have in my cars now are hidden and mounted under the seats and have all the controls on the mic. You can get a decent one for $60. If I go on a trip with someone who dont have one, I let them use one of my handhelds with a cig liter plug on it.

quote Originally posted by James Bond 007: ... Ham travels much farter and easyer.The higher the frequency the easyer it is to travel (above the 1 GHZ range,2 GHZ would be better).Ham is allso much clearer than CB.

quote Originally posted by Raydar: Welllll, sort of.

Thanks, Raydar. So much misinformation in such a short post, I didn't know where to begin.

I will also add that once you get up into the microwave frequencies and above, attenuation by vegetation (e.g. tree leaves) and almost anything else that contains water becomes a really significant problem. "Line of sight" becomes "clear line of sight."

quote Originally posted by rogergarrison: No, the walkies are a waste of money. You can barely talk to a car in front of you. Ive got 4 or 5 brand new ones in a drawer here. Some of them were over $100 and theyre as worthless as poo. CBs are typically what truckers use and you mount them usually under the dash. Mine I have in my cars now are hidden and mounted under the seats and have all the controls on the mic. You can get a decent one for $60. If I go on a trip with someone who dont have one, I let them use one of my handhelds with a cig liter plug on it.

But that's what everybody uses on the runs. Is there any amplified thing that I can permanently install in my car that would work with those, but have better range.

If you want power, go ham radio. Most HF mobile radios will put out up to 100 watts. You can even add an amp for more power. But I don't know why you would want to.
A CB is limited to 5 watts. Yes, you can add am amp to the CB but they are illegal to even own let alone use. You DON"T want the FCC guys knocking on your front door.
BTW, I am a ham.

The local corvette club people all run around with cobra 75's (http://www.stu-offroad.com/cb/cb2/cb2-4.htm) and ngp antennas with a specific license plate mount that might work on a fiero (http://www.c5racer.com/catalog/c5-c6-z06-zr1-gs-corvette/exterior-corvette/exterior-c5-z06/c5-corvette-cb-antenna-system-with-quick-disconnect.html) Idk what kind of range they get, mostly used to communicate during group runs.

quote Originally posted by Marvin McInnis: I will also add that once you get up into the microwave frequencies and above, attenuation by vegetation (e.g. tree leaves) and almost anything else that contains water becomes a really significant problem. "Line of sight" becomes "clear line of sight."

A little bit of useless trivia and speculation...
Look at a 1/4 wave antenna at 800 MHz. Now look at a typical pine needle. Very similar in length, right?
Years ago, we installed an 800 MHz trunked radio system for one of the local county governments. We were amazed at how poorly it worked once the trees grew a little bit. We speculated that the pine needles (pine trees are everywhere in GA) were resonating at 800 MHz and literally sucking the signals out of the air. True or not, it sounded really good.

As for CB radio, I believe the FCC just threw up its hands, turned its back, and gave up, about 15 years ago.
I suspect that as long as you don't operate out of band (like on the 10 meter ham bands) or cause any interference to anyone else, you can probably do pretty much whatever you want. It's pretty much "wild west" time.
(Sorry, amateur operators. Just the way I see it.)

[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 02-16-2013).]

quote Originally posted by Raydar: We speculated that the pine needles ... were resonating at 800 MHz and literally sucking the signals out of the air.

Good story. I have no doubt that you were 100% correct. I have seen things almost as strange. Who would imagine that at microwave frequencies the leaves on a deciduous tree can act as a diffraction grating?

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 02-16-2013).]

quote Originally posted by Raydar: As for CB radio, I believe the FCC just threw up its hands, turned its back, and gave up, about 15 years ago. I suspect that as long as you don't operate out of band (like on the 10 meter ham bands) or cause any interference to anyone else, you can probably do pretty much whatever you want. It's pretty much "wild west" time. (Sorry, amateur operators. Just the way I see it.)

This is a great thread. I remember a few guys running around with linears back in the 70's (wouldn't C.W. McCall be proud!)

BR's,

Mark

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86 SE V6 4 speed
86 SE V6 Auto
2008 G6 GT "Street" Coupe
2005 Buick 3.6 Rendezvous
2001 Olds Silhouette (AKA The Band Van)

I had a friend who drove a car hauler truck for a dealer I did work with. He had a big linear in his truck. He could talk to his wife from Texas. If any of you think that walkies are good, Ill sell you any I have cheap as hell. Make offers. They were all brand new, some with rechargable batteries, some with AAs. I know a couple are BellSouth, Cobra and Motorola. They all work fine from my house to my garage. I bought them all to talk to other cars in my car clubs on road trips with very little success. Everyone else just threw theirs away.

I had a CB radio in my Fiero back in 2000 when I was heading up to the Dayton Car Show with some of the South Florida and Central Florida members.

What I had back then was a device that I bought from the JC Whitney catalog... it was basically a device that went in-line between the car stereo and the factory antennae wire. It had some adjustments on it (no idea what they were for) and then a long cable that then connected to the CB radio's antennae. It also required switched power because apparently it was some sort of a signal booster or something (not sure if those are illegal or not???)

In any case, I have never seen anything like it since, but it basically allowed you to use your car's factory antennae while also allowing you to use your car radio. It worked quite well actually. As you can imagine, it wasn't as awesome as having a full real whip antennae... but it still worked quite well and I heard a lot of stuff. I have no idea if people still use CB radios...?

gm made a cb radio that hooked inline with our radios in the 80;s they pop up on ebay from time to time. used your speakers to listen to someone when they spoke kinda like the phone in your car now....

The factory radios also had an am/fm/cb power antenna as stock. If you could find one of those, it would work in a Fiero. You would just need a ground strap to ground it to the car chassis. Lots of Cadillacs had them. There were also aftermarket ones. I put a lot of them in custom vans too.

quote Originally posted by mmeyer86gt/gtp: gm made a cb radio that hooked inline with our radios in the 80;s they pop up on ebay from time to time. used your speakers to listen to someone when they spoke kinda like the phone in your car now....

I had one in a Grand Prix (I can’t remember what year) and it was pretty cool.

I made a little bracket that i pop riveted to the fire wall behind the driver. It was bent to clear the window. I had to notch the vent. I drilled 2 small holes in the rear edge of the roof so i could use a small wire tie as a strain relief.

My 84 used the drivers cover plate. It was my uncles car and he bought the car new and he installed a CB and used it to play hide and seek with his friends around town.


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Project Genisis Lo Budget 3800SC swap

88 Coupe under construction

[This message has been edited by hercimer01 (edited 02-18-2013).]

Found this, in the application verbage, mentions Corvette rear deck mounting so it should work on a Fiero rear deck.

http://www.truckers-store.c...unting_40491546.html

BR's,

Mark

quote Originally posted by DustoneGT: Without sheet metal body panels, what did you use for a groundplane for a vertical?

I've never done it, but it seems like the RF shield on the underside of the rear deck lid might make an effective ground plane.

[This message has been edited by Marvin McInnis (edited 02-18-2013).]

quote Originally posted by DustoneGT: Without sheet metal body panels, what did you use for a groundplane for a vertical? Or what other types of mobile antennae work well on this car?

There is a metal frame under those body panels..
I have a 1/4 wave 2 meter antenna on an L bracket that I screwed to the front of my left side grille.
My brother has an HF screwdriver antenna mounted on a bracket attached to his grille with a ground wire to the shock tower/frame.

[This message has been edited by kyote (edited 02-18-2013).]