Ultrastars and CB Radios - THE BAD NEWS
Ultrastars (unlike most RV's) have metal roofs. This means a groundless cb antenna (like those sold at Camping World) especially for RV's may not work on your Ultrastar if mounted anywhere below the roof line!
The typical side mounting groundless antenna installation will result in very poor performance of your CB as the roof will act as a shield and deflect the signal downwards. If you test the signal you will find a very high SWR reading - meaning that most of the power is being absorbed in your radio and is not being broadcasted outward.
Many Ultrastars came equiped with a combined CB radio and AM / FM radio antenna. These don't work well in general since the two antenna types are incompatable and the compromise design doesn't work well for transmitting on your CB Radio.
Ultrastars and CB Radios - THE GOOD NEWS
In order for a CB to operate well you need to have a "ground" to bounce the signal off. Groundless antennas transmit 15% to 20% less power than grounded antennas. The reason for this is the groundless antenna uses its own antenna versus your vehicled body as the ground. Federal law enforced by the FCC limits CB Radio transmit power to only 4 watts and therefore limiting yourself to below 4 watts greatly impedes your ability to speak with anyone not driving very close to your RV.
Your Ultrastar has an all aluminum roof (not rubber) and therefore acts as the perfect ground for a magnet mount or other CB antenna. Just install the antenna on top of your roof and towards the center (if possible) and your signal will carry at least thirty miles in good weather. An Ultrastar roof is an ideal platform for bouncing the transmited signal along avery long path.
CB Antenna Options For the Ultrastar Owner
The most common mistake people make when choosing a CB Radio is they buy an expensive radio and a cheap antenna. The radio is only as good as the antenna and this depends very much on your antenna installations.
Ultrastar.org recommends you buy a Wilson 1000 or equivelant antenna that can mount above your roof line. I have seen some Ultrastar owners mount their antenna to the air-horn assembly (using a standard mirror mount assembly kit) and drill a small hole behind the driver side curtain area where the wire comes inside the RV and isn't noticed.
Another option is to use a magnet mount antenna and find a place to run the coax cable inside your RV. This works well as long as the CB Radio IS WELL GROUNDED. Since Ultrastars have steel frames and a solid aluminum top they act more like a large car rather than an RV in how a CB Radio is best installed. Remember to follw some basic rules:
1. On Ultrastars, the CB antenna must be above the roof line to work properly! Remember, the metal roof will act like a large shield in deflecting you signal back to the ground if you rely on a typical RV type CB antenna installation guide.
2. The antenna must not be close to metal objects on the roof. Placing the antenna close to the air conditioners or other antennas can also impact your ability to transmit.
3. A groundless fiberglass type antenna will work on an Ultrastar so long as it is above the roof line. Otherwise, you can use a rugular mobile antenna as long as you are sure to GROUND THE CB RADIO THUS THE ANTENNA GROUND AS WELL. This means the vehicle fram must be used as the ground and the metal roof can be the antenna ground.
4. Radio Shack antennas work but are cheap and will not last you very long. A quality antenna would be Wilson Antennas or a K40 antenna. The CB is an 11 meter signal thus the ideal antenna for transmitting would really need to be 11 meters long (that is a little longer than your coach). Therefore, the antenna length is the same but it is made smaller by winding the antenna around in a small coil (normally where you can't see) to meet the length requirement. Among the better short whip antennas that are not too tall on your RV is the Wilson Little Wil' antenna.
5. The name brand antennas include Wilson, K40 and Shakespear. We don't want to endorse any specific product or retailer but encourage you to check prices online with outfits like Thomas Distributing, Copper Electronics or CB City at cbcity.com.
Please post any questions or comments on our Guestbook on the main page. This way other owners may answer your questions or you can share your experience or advice on installing a good CB Radio into your Ultrastar.