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Information on No Ground Plane

When to use (NGP) "No Ground Plane" Equipment

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 products:

  • 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.

Wanting to put a CB antenna on a boat?  Is the boat metal or fiberglass? If the boat is metal, you could use a standard antenna like the IC56 102" whip antenna.  If fiberglass, you might consider the V1023 Marine CB Antenna.  There are several other options too!

Additional Information:

A ground plane for a CB radio antenna is the metal surface required below the antenna. In mobile applications, the vehicle body/frame acts as the ground plane (reflective unit). The metal surface enables the signal generated when transmitting to reflect off the surface and travel into the atmosphere.

An antenna ground plane is not to be confused with an electrical ground. A typical mobile CB antenna does not transmit horizontally, it radiates in a downward pattern. A metal surface (the larger and flatter, the better) is required underneath the CB antenna to launch the signal out into the atmosphere. Without an adequate ground plane surface the signal will not travel out into the atmosphere which results in limited transmission range. Damage to your CB radio may also occur if you do not have a proper ground plane because this generally causes a high SWR and the signal may back feed into the transceiver, causing internal damage to your radio.

It is worth noting that a poor ground plane or radiating surface may not affect radio reception. You may still receive transmissions from other radios with or without a ground plane. Basically, you can receive transmissions on a clothes hanger!

It is vital to understand that you must check and set your antenna (tune your antenna) to ensure it is functioning properly.

If you have a fiberglass vehicle or boat you will need a No Ground Plane Antenna. In No Ground Plane systems, the coax shield is used for counterpoise (substitute for the ground connection).

No Ground Plane CB Antenna

A no ground plane CB Antenna is a CB antenna that doesn't require a ground plane (large metal surface under it) to operate. Ground Plane antennas are specially designed to work on fiberglass vehicles and boats. A No Ground Plane antenna installed on a vehicle or boat constructed of metal will not operate correctly. A no ground plane antenna is designed to use the ground or water to transmit horizontally. A No Ground Plane antenna will not perform as well as a traditional CB antenna of the same length, but in situations where you do not have an adequate ground plane such as on a boat, RV or motorcycle, they do the trick. Make sure to read the instructions thoroughly before installing the antenna.

Ground Enhancers

There are some devices available that can enhance your ground plane. This is accomplished by normally adding a 3 point radial to the bottom of the antenna. Ground Plane enhancers are not designed to be the sole ground plane for an antenna, they just help achieve a better ground surface.

Check out our No Ground Plane Products.