If you try to use standard ground-based CB equipment with a vehicle that needs a "no ground plane" antenna, you'll experience both high SWR levels and extremely poor performance. Vehicles that require NGP equipment:
- Have a fiberglass shell or coating over much or all of the vehicle
- Have little or no metallic chassis for the antenna to be grounded to
Vehicles that should use NGP equipment include:
- Motor homes and large fiberglass coaches
- Camper shells where the antenna is mounted directly to the fiberglass (instead of the vehicle)
- Boats
- Motorcycles with little or no ground plane
In these circumstances and with these vehicles, NGP equipment should be used. Please note that NGP installations require a special NGP coax and antenna. Using either a ground-based coax cable OR a ground-base antenna will cause problems. While NGP antennas and coax cables can be purchased separately, they're usually sold as part of a complete NGP kit.
For more information, please refer to our No Ground Plane CB Antennas.
