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-   -   Need help with cb antenna (https://www.ranger-forums.com/general-technical-electrical-18/need-help-cb-antenna-47859/)

Fazda 08-01-2007 04:20 PM

Need help with cb antenna
 
Well this is going to sound strange but here go's. Can I wrap my antenna with electrical tape or paint it, will it affect the performance of the antenna? I have a meter so tuning it won't be a problem. The reason is my antenna is white and doesn't match anything on my truck. I think it's an eyesore, but it's the only antenna I could find around here. Here's a pic of my tuck with the antenna.
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...a/DSC00591.jpg
Has anyone done anything like this before if so how did it work afterward?

txboy11 08-01-2007 04:43 PM

you can paint it black..its a firestik right?? its wrapped in a plastic sort of.. yeah just spray paint it, but NOT THE TIP

Fazda 08-01-2007 04:51 PM


Originally Posted by txboy11
you can paint it black..its a firestik right?? its wrapped in a plastic sort of.. yeah just spray paint it, but NOT THE TIP

No it's just a cheapo from radio shack. Yeah it's wrapped in something either plastic or vinyl. Why not the tip?

txboy11 08-01-2007 05:39 PM

well if its coated in the vinyl/plastic then yeah why not? it wont hurt nothin... mine has a tunable tip (metal piece at the top) if i painted that i think it would hurt my reception... i dunno for sure about the tip...

the answer is yeah paint it... but i would not paint the top 1 inch as that is the part designed for receiving transmissions

FireRanger235 08-01-2007 10:20 PM

As long as you don't use metal flake, or paint with any kind of conductive properties it will work fine. I have done that myself in the past to custom match the whip to my trucks. As far as the tip, if it has a rubber cap over it, I wouldn't paint over that, if the color don't match they sell all colors of replacement caps at truck stops, etc. I've even painted large base antennas for my ham radio a "camouflage" pattern to hide them among trees when I lived in places that weren't "radio-operator friendly", lol.

Old Black Cat 08-02-2007 12:40 AM

buy like a 3' peice of shrink wrap tubing in your choice color. dont do anything to the cap. just leave it what ever color it is.

Rev 08-02-2007 03:53 PM

You can paint it just dont use any paints with high metal contents for pigments. Best is just plain old black since it just uses carbon black as the pigment. I painted my 108" whip, spring, and mount with krylon semi-flat black. Or as Old Black Cat suggested find some heat shrink large enough to go over the antenna and shrink it down.


http://memimage.cardomain.net/member...80_66_full.jpg

Fazda 08-02-2007 04:59 PM

Thanks for the replies I never thought about the heat shrink. I'll try that tomorrow and let you now how it works. If that doesn't work flat black it is.


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