A good analogy of how antennas radiate energy in the form of a radio signal is that of a light bulb. Imagine a light bulb in the center of a empty dark room. The energy(light) goes out in all directions, now imagine that light bulb mounted in the different mounting locations on the jeep. If the light is below any part of the jeep body it creates a shadow that blocks the light. And just like light the closer an object is to the light the larger the shadow it makes than if it is further away, so the rear bumper location puts the antenna closer to the body which makes a larger shadow that the front bumper location that has it further away from the roof structure and makes a narrower shadow. As you can then imagine the roof is the best location as no shadow is created. (It also allows for a good ground plane on a metal roof anyway). This is a simplified explanation but should help you visualize what is happening.
Hope this helps.
There was a thread where the jeep owner mounted the antenna over the spare tire on a plate. Personally, I would prefer a 1/2 wave in a similar location (perhaps the base could be nearer the roof line) over the front bumper mounts.
My understanding is that the AUS version of CB is UHF, and I can't explain why they all mount in that location other than "it's always how we did it". Keeping the coax out of the engine bay and away from other electronics, and putting the antenna as high as possible, with as much ground plane as possible would be my priorities.
Chris0275 reacted to WRWE456 in Melowave antenna on Front Bumper mounting location ? is there a benefit?
