RE: CB Antenna mount vs. stealth

["James M. De Arras" <jmd@westlab.com>]

Running the antenna along the body will not work.  In order to radiate, it
must be an electical 1/4 wave in length, and operate at near right angles to
a ground plane, i.e. your car's metal body.

There are many ways to stealth one, including setting one of those short mag
mount antennas on the rear deck, or inverted from the ceiling inside the
car.  

But, it must be 1/4 wave, loading coils, etc. are good ways to achieve this
with shorter antennas, and it must have a ground plane at right angles to
work against.

Ultimately, the closer the physical antenna length is to the required
electrical lenght, and the more exterior and vertical it is, the better it
will work, but for short range, i.e. "smokey" alerts, you can compromise
quite a bit!

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: Anand Dhanda [mailto:dhandas@cwixmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 14, 1999 1:55 PM
To: Avram Dorfman; quattro list
Cc: macatawa@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: CB Antenna mount vs. stealth


why not just get a Cell-look-a-like antenna?

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-quattro@audifans.com [mailto:owner-quattro@audifans.com]On
Behalf Of Avram Dorfman
Sent: Saturday, August 14, 1999 2:03 AM
To: quattro list
Cc: macatawa@hotmail.com
Subject: Q: CB Antenna mount vs. stealth


(This is a repost b/c the first doesn't seem to have made it to the list -
my apologies if it ends up being a repeat)

Hey,

I'm thinking about putting a CB in my S4 when it gets here, but I'm
concerned about losing stealth. I figure if a cop sees an expensive
yuppie-mobile w/ a big whip, he knows what it's being used for.

I had this idea for mounting the antenna, which would degrade its
performance, but I'm wondering how badly. Anyone out there with experience
care to share?

My idea was to paint the antenna body color, and run it along the passenger
side rocker panel. Depending on how long it is, I was even thinking of
painting black & silver patches on it to line up with the rear wheel, so you
really wouldn't see it unless you were looking for it.

So, I have two questions -

1) Anyone have any idea how much this would impact range & signal clarity?
2) What experience do others have w/ CB antennae impacting stealth?

-Avram
'87 4kcsq
'94 Honda del sol VTEC
'00 S4bt on the way...