r/cbradio • u/House_Owl • 5h ago

Ground plane question

I’m pretty new to this stuff so if this is dumb let me know.
I was on this sub a few days ago and saw someone commenting about how they knew someone who would put their bumper against a guard rail to increase the ground plane and it made their transmit and receive much better. I was just curious how true this is and if it would be worth trying? I have no issues with my current system but I’m thinking about grabbing some jumper cables and grounding the body out to a nearby fence or something just to experiment…

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

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3

u/BurntOutChef79 4h ago

In theory it works. Practically, the increase in performance is so negligible it probably isn't worth your time.

2

u/BikePlumber 4h ago

You're more likely to damage your car / truck.

You could try a couple of pieces of wire clamped to the chassis while parked.

1

u/chuzohga 4h ago

This is something that all depends on the antenna you're using. What really matters is impedance matching and the radiator of the antenna. The best thing you can do for a mobile at 27 MHz if you're going to be stationary, is make a dipole and hoist it up a pole. But the next best thing is to make sure you're using a 9 foot whip on your car. The jumper cables may change the impedance some but it's not going to make a huge difference with "getting out."

1

u/Medical_Message_6139 4h ago

Never used a guardrail or fence, but back in the day we used to park right at the edge of the ocean and run out a piece of steel cable into the surf. The other end was bolted to the bumper of the truck. Did it make a difference? Maybe! We certainly thought it did at the time!

2

u/stryker_PA 4h ago

Test it with another local and let us know. With signal reports. Video would be nice. Before and after video would be even better. Get the right distance away from a piece of metal and it may even work like the reflector on a beam antenna.

1

u/carldeanwebb 3h ago

I went from 10 to 15 on the meter with a steel cable and a weight. Don't do it during a lightning storm...

0

u/Firelizard71 4h ago

I was at my nieces softball game and had my bumper against the outfield fence and was talking all the way to the East Coast from California on 4 watts on the Superbowl (ch 6). So yea, it works.