Ok, so I FINALLY got my JK, and I am considering a CB setup. My old man has a great big azz antenna (something like 10 or 12 feet tall, dunno how big, or if it even matters) that I used to use at my house years ago. It's got an egg-shaped spring-type thang at the bottom that seems like it would keep it from snapping from rapid velocity changes, so I'm thinking that if I give it a little thought I can mount it onto the Jeep somehow.

Since the antenna is so frikkin long, I was thinking that I could mount somewhere back toward the spare like some of the other rigs I've seen lately, and secure the tip of the antenna toward the front of the vehicle - maybe to the windshield loop on the hood?

Anyway - the thing is this - I gotta few questions:

WTF is this SWR you guys keep going on about? It seems like a ratio of 1:1 is the best you can get, but could someone explain a little bit about what this is and how it is attained?

Why use such a long ass attenna? No need for it. Just because you have it doesn't mean you should. They are fairly cheap.

As for SWR, I think standing wave ratio or something like that. Basically, the lower the better for recieving and sending signal. It can be affected by all sorts of variables.

AFAIK SWR is a measure of reflected RF. A high SWR reduces range and if high enough can actually fry your radio. (Not sure about CB's but when I was doing the Motorola XTS/XTL installs in afghan in the VHF/UHF band, a high SWR would trip the emergency shut off on the units.) I'm assuming most CB ants are tuned omni so best to be in a vertical position and ideally free (as possable) from obstruction, specially metal.

However in the Army all I did was LOS and Tropo so Im not too schooled on omni or the CB.

Wow. Just took a look at the Firestik site. Think I'm gonna go with a handheld unit for car to car comm. Too much stuff to learn. I kinda figured that it would be plug & play. Definitely ain't the case!

I went with a no ground antenna. My antenna is on the swing out tire carrier. I am sure that would be nothing but ground problems. Adding a ground wire just adds to the problems! (Found that out on my last truck) I have not had any problems with the no ground and got an SWR reading of 1.1 right out of the package. :)

What brand is that groundless antenna?