CB Radio Beginners Guide. Part 4. Setting up a home base antenna. Adjusting the SWR
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- čas přidán 14. 07. 2024
- In this 4th video I show how to set up a full sized Silver Rod homebased antenna and adjust the SWR to a safe level. Later i go on air for a local radio check. It works very well.
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This is yet another great tutorial Fred. You got really lucky on the SWR adjustment. Thank you for doing your part to promote the CB radio hobby. Merry Christmas to you both.
Merry Christmas Andy.
I had an Antron 99 on top of my mums house roof when I was around 14, nearly 30 years ago! The memories !!! 💜
Attaching a 50ohm dummy load to the antenna end of the coax will instantly tell you if you have a feeder problem, I'd recommend doing this before erecting any antenna then you know that any issues afterwards are antenna and not feeder based.
Very good program. After 40 years of Ham radio I'm back into 11 meters (CB). 73
Welcome back John.
Way to go, at least people actually talk on CB radio, Ham radio seems to all about equipment and radio checks and not a lot more, boring to say the least.
My Fav antenna back in the day was an Astroplane, an inverted cone antenna which I believe was 1/2 wave, great for reception and weather/wind resistance, not so good for DXing.
Frid in the shed I wish you and your wife and kids marry Christmas 🎄 and 🎅 happy new year 🎉 ✨️ ❤️ 😊 💖 💕 🎉
Frid in the shed I like your utube videos 📹 😀 👌 👍
Glad I live in a place where no one seems to give a sh_t what I put outside.
For all new comers and returners I recommend this little set up. Rig alinco dx 10. Antenna. half wave silver rod without the 3 silly little ground planes. Coax. rg213. PSU. Enough to comfortably run a kl 203 linear. Job done. Fred. Happy happys and merry merrys mate. Oh. One last thing "height is might.
Another great video Fred, always worth watching, thanks once again 👍
Hi Fred, I've just watched your playlist and am a returning operator doing prep. Can you do a video showing setting up a SWR 'out of the box' on a car (or big panel van preferably). Cheers.
Hi. I ve already got a setting up and SWR tuning in the series which should show you how achieve a good SWR.
Merry Christmas to you and your family Fred
Have a great and Happy New year Fred. Thanks for teaching me loads of things over 2022. You kept me going. All the best.
Happy new year!
Nice video fred, am just getting my CB / 11 meter back up and running at home, so found this video useful. I'm going to start off low and see if I can find any more masts I can use to support the antennna (silver-rod) as I get used to handling it.
Hi. The best way. A low antenna will work surprisingly well. The only trade off is more noise.
@@CB-RADIO-UK - cheers fred - have got the antenna SWR broadly, will be puttign it up tomorrow hopefull. Fingers crossed for some 11M skip into Essex :D
Frid in the shed the two vintage shortwave receivers are cool 😎 👌 👍
I just ordered 175’ of RG213 with soldered ends and with shipping ran me 206$ 😐 but I wanted good coax to run 50 ‘ up my old windmill tower, under ground in a conduit pipe and into the house 50’ away . I m just nervous because I purchased this though GI Joes Electronics outta KY USA and maybe I should have read a bit more reviews, fingers crossed I purchased it this past Monday at noon and it’s only Saturday but haven’t gotten a shipped out notification like I was told so they must be working on it still. 🤞🏻
You should be ok. 213 is a tough long lasting cable. Just a bit heavy to work with.
Nice video Fred . I remember Christmas Day 1980 midland 80 channel AM CB Radio DV 27 mounted on a biscuit tin 😂 12V transformer .
Happy Christmas to you and your family ❤️⛄👍👍
Hi Fred. Most antennas are either silver or bright white. I live in a ural area so I sprayed my white skipmaster with army matt green paint and it is barely noticeable.
LMR 400, but only from Times Microwave. I bought my assemblies from MPD Digital. Great vid thanks!
Hello Fred in the shed, I'm from Denmark (Bailey 30 ), we also watch your videos,, , easy to understand, I just bought a SS 6900 nice radio, but the mike is bad lol have a nice day
Thanks Fred, I don't have my home base ready yet. Only use CB in the car now. Was struggling with how am I going to handle this with my neighbours. I am considering an antenna in the attic, but for outside this is a great idea. Merry Christmas, John.
Great video Fred very simple but effective - just shows you that the angle of radiation from the elevated Antron 99 against a simple silver rod 2m of the ground perform very similar , might be nice to stick the ground plane kit to the Antron 99 and see what difference it could make. happy holidays 73's
Hi Fred I hope all is well with you and your family, so here is my question I've recently bought the half wave venom anttena Swr excellent 1:0 /1:2:1/3. But poor receive. So down it came and I tested it with a multimeter showing a short .So immediately thought a faulty anttena so then I ordered another and this shows also a short. Now on ct26 forum victor answered my question. Saying that is normal on a few 12 wave anttena. So now I try again fingers crossed for good result with 2 types of coax rg58 and rg213 I'll let you know thanks for all your vids Fred. CT 4872.
Hi Peter. Yes often when you put a multimeter on a antenna connection it will show a direct short. However there should be no short on the coax when disconnect. It may just be that your lucky to have a very low noise level. All the best.
Bingo. Swr 1:0 to 1;3 through the bands 1/2 wave venom on 25ft pole just need good propagation now been on Nw net ch 14 mid band 27.125 fairly busy .Tatar for now .
Great video Fred, merry Christmas
Same to you
Merry Christmas and Happy the new year 🆗 73,s
a good little gadget is an antenna analyzer takes a lot of guesswork out got one from Ali Express bought it a few years ago forgot what i paid for it i didn't have to mortgage anything really works well and you and the family have a very merry christmas
ron leblanc: Yes, they're much better than any SWR meter. I use a Rig Expert AA-30 for CB.
Merry Christmas Fred all the best to u and Jen.
Hi Gary. A very happy Christmas to you and all the family.
I used make my base station antennas. They are easy to make and do the job. A dog leg dipole is a good idea in the loft if you want to be discreet or have a Karen as a neighbour.
Fred, maybe you should consider to put a christmas hat on...Well of course not on your head obviously.
On your thumb would be more appropriate, since your thumb is on the video most of the time. I understand it's becoming quite famous already.. 😁🤗 lol.
🎄 LOL Merry Christmas
@@CB-RADIO-UK Merry Christmas and a healthy and happy New Year!
You forgot to say that each type of coax will require the correct type of pl259 for the type of coax you use.
RG8 mini gives relatively the same characteristics as RG213 with regard to power handling, losses and velocity factors but as you said RG8mini has the benefit of being more flexible.
Messi & pelony is more the radio ham choose of coax and is great for using on VHF and UHF but I would consider it to be a waste of money for using on CB and HF frequencies below 50MHz.
My top tip would be to have at least two 12-18inch patch leads made of RG8MINI AND RG213.
my reason for saying this is because most of any losses that occur will do so just after the radio and in the swr meter. So using higher quality patch leads helps to overcome this and gives a better swr and hence a cleaner signal.
RG8mini is my personal recommendation for coax for home based CB station.
Cheers Fred 👍(there's the thumb🤣🤣) have a good one and 73.
26CT2381 BAZ.
Hi. Thanks for your brilliant videos. I am a complete beginner and I am working my way through them. Very helpful.
I am looking to buy two sets so that I can keep in contact with my son as the phone signal between us is generally very poor and unreliable. He lives about 12 miles away as the crow flies and I would like to have contact with him in an emergency if the phones are not working.
Can you please recommend a low cost set.
Many thanks
Lynn
Hi. Yes i recently tested a small radio around £70 all in. czcams.com/video/SFaiHlD6EA0/video.html Depending on terrain you might need to add a small amp to each radio. There is a guide about those in the series.
I bought one of those 5/8 wave antennas it was built way too flimsy! First wind storm it got bent ! Being up on a nearly 100 foot tower makes it difficult to get to . Spend more money and get a good quality unit
I have my home base antenna in the box, setting up sometime in the new year. Personally I don't give a #### about my neighbours. They never have this way. I'm wacking up a Sirio 827 with those big radials. If I have to take it off the house I'll mount it on a huge pole in the ground.
The only thing that bothers me is the radials hanging over my drive and it becoming a pigeon toilet perch over my car.
Ain't seen Freds video's for a couple of years now, but cos my field is in computers and being a semi-pro, i have some idea, , your wondering, what the hell is an SWR, SWR stands for "Standing Wave Ratio", the transmitting signal travels along the antenna (FORWARD) and refects at the end, returning down the antenna (REFECTED), the forward signal interferes with the reflected signal causing constructive or deconstructive interference, differant lengths create differant phases along the antenna, when a peek meets a peek there is double amplitude and max emission, and when a peek meets a trough there is zero emission, an SWR ratio of 1:1 is perfect constructive interference, where the cycle appears STATIONARY on the antenna, creating a perfect waxing and waning electo-magnetic field, as the electric field collapses, the magnetic field increases and vice versa, , ,Without that load absorbing energy, the energy instead appears as a high voltage or high current somewhere which may not be equipped to handle it, ,
So basically, an ideal 1:1 SWR will produce a low 50ohm resistance match where the antenna does work, the SWR is relatively constant along the feedline, the impedance will vary along the line unless it is perfectly terminated (that is, the SWR is 1.0 : 1). This is an important concept for impedance matching, because with a high SWR, the impedance at the final output transistor load inductor could be mainly higher, or lower than 50 ohms and produce a high current that damages the finals, , ,
PS - a 1:1.5 SWR = just a 4% loss \ a 1:2 = 11% loss \ and a 1:3 = 25% loss
Im new so i am learning from all your beginner videos. Question if a cable is to long how do you cut it to make it shorter . Thank you again here from the USA for all the info. Keep it up. 🇺🇸👍🏼👏🏼
If your getting a mobile antenna i would leave the cable. What you dont want is any kinks or loops though. If its very long you could cut the coax and re solder the PL259 plug.
So if you wished to set up a rig in a garage workshop to have a listen in maybe join in what would you recommend as a set up, with a reasonable aerial fixed to the building.
Its all in the video series but a CRT6900N with a Silver Rod 1/2 wave on a 2 meter pole.
I always encourage new comers not to bother with a cheap silver rod. They never swr right. The sirio 2016 would be my choice.
Been in cB 1975 i use crobef waking😅
I have 2 issues with a homebase antenna. Firstly, I live in private rent. So mounting an aerial to the house is out of the question. Secondly, I live in a valley. So the only direction I have a clear line of sight is southeast. I have considered getting a pneumatic antenna mast like the military have mounted to their land rovers which I could give me a 10 meter lift. But finding them for sale is rare, and they are never cheap.
How about a cheap T2LT that you could simply raise and lover when you want to go on air. More here. czcams.com/video/lwbT4ZX6514/video.html
Another excellent instalment. I’ll have to look at a new setup in the new year. The old silver rod is a nice aerial to SWR. Is it a 1/2? Cheers Fred.
I've wondered from time to time why some SWR meters have a F.S. scale but no instructions on how to use it. Could you make a video on this topic?😀👍👍
ultraflex coax is to expensive. mini 8 and rg213 for hf and cb use, the loss is not noticeable. ive use mini 8 to my yagi and ive worked the world without spending a lot of money. i make all my antennas. for anyone wanting learn about antenna theory the ARRL handbook is a good investment. merry xmas 73 danny
SWR on a silver Rod on top of house! Interesting..
IF WE PUT UP AN ANTENNA AT THE BASE USE RG-213. WE USE RG-58 AT 18 FEET LONG BECAUSE WE USE IT IN THE CAR. TOO MUCH LOSS LONGER THAN 18 FEET. I USE RG-213 IN MY FORD BECAUSE IM A HARDCORE CB'ER . BEEN ON SINCE 1974. STILL USING MY LAFEYETTE TELSTAT -140 SINCE 1979. THE GALAXY IN MY PICTURE IS AT MY OFFICE IN MANHATTAN NYC.
👍👍👍👍👍
Fred is is possible you could make a video about where & how to apply for a HAM radio licence? What’s the process, where do you go & what’s involved. Cheers -Andy
Hi Andy. Not really a video i could make myself. I believe you can still take the foundation test on line.
interesting stuff fred, im slowly getting there with my new setup i got the thunderpole silver rod 1/2 wave antenna and rg 58 cable mounted on the side wall of my house about 4 mtrs of the ground ive yet to buy a swr meter. i couldn't find a power supply that i could afford so i opted for a 12v dc 5a supply the type with a cigarette lighter adapter on it i hope that that should b fine. thunderpole say there antennas come pre set for swr or am i just going to cause damage without one thanks and have a happy Christmas 👍👍
Hi James. Video on PSU's coming up. No antenna is truly pre SWR. Always safer to check.
Thanks Fred I look forward to the psu video however I was worried about the swr so I have orderd a fairly cheap swr meter should arrive tomorrow I'm currently sat listening to the channel 19 lol
Mornin'
Hey Fred Some great advice there.. I'm an old school cb'er, when our parents wouldn't let us erect an 18ft antenna we used to use a mobile antenna indoors for use in our bedrooms etc. Although they were a bit hit and miss they kind of did the job and of course back in the day there were a lot more local breakers to pick up on air. I'm thinking about getting back into using the airwaves again and watching your videos has inspired me. Any suggestions from you or anyone on decent antennas when you are limited in a flat and can't put up an 18ft silverrod? Thanks
Your going to be restricted but a Sirio boomerang can work on a piece of wood out a window. www.kcb.co.uk/contents/en-uk/p44.html
@@CB-RADIO-UK thanks mate, I also have a balcony so maybe able to be a little more adventurous.
Maybe you could put up a T2LT on a telescopic pole. Search t2lt on my channel for more info.
@@CB-RADIO-UK thanks again. I think I'll go with the sirio boomerang. I've just found my old 1980s Major 3000 in the back of the cupboard with a couple of power supplies I forgot I had, so I'll be giving that a run when I get an antenna. Just to add 3 days after leaving this message...I have now found a SWR metre with patch lead, an antenna matcher and on the balcony tucked behind the drainpipe..a 4ft I think a fire stick not sure. It has a swr tip. My brother remembers it mounted on a car wheel. I just need to find the mounting connector bracket. Thanks again.
Check out BBI channel for his section on Coax of the Gods . I run RG 393 U and I have seen that stuff take HUGE watts and only just get warm .
I don’t know whether you can help me I’ve just bought this aerial
Thunderpole 5/8 Wave | CB Radio Aerial 26-30 MHz AM/FM/SSB Home Base Station Antenna.
It is far too high on the side of my house. I’ve already had one of the neighbours looking at it and saying the F word. Can you recommend a lot smaller base station antenna ?
Hi. Most 5/8th wave antennas are 18.5 feet and some are getting on for 6 meters. A 1/2 wave is a little smaller but typical 17 feet. My Antron 99 is about the smallest i could find with the fire up top section at just over 16 feet. There is always a risk with going straight on the side of the house. What i did was start with a low pole on the ground and then slowly raised it up over the course of a year. Eventually i put it low down on the house and inched it up over time. Might be your best bet with the 5/8th wave.
Great video.
Thanks Fred ,currently using rg58..but alot of locals use the mini 8 or the italian stuff..but they're have bigger toys😄.
Ps New to the game ,305 group..are you on usb or European..see newbie
Hi Mark. We are on 27.305 which is channel 30 CEPT Europe block. The mode we use is upper side band USB.
@@CB-RADIO-UK thanks Fred I may not be able to hear you, but you never know( Northampton)
Hi Fred my neighbour has bought a thunder cb & thunder ariel what cable do I need?
Hi. For a short run of less than 10 m you can use RG-58. Any longer or if you want better quality use RG-8 also known as Mini 8.
I’m new to this and I love my radio and all it’s just that i hear only men who older, i feel like I am the only girl on radio because I have not even for 1 second hear a girl. The people who talk seems like they don’t care if I want to talk, they ignore and keep talking. Of course I don’t know age but I am 20 and to me the people sound like they more than double as old maybe 50-60 years something. I’m not sure what to do yet.
Tbh you have prob got the age spot on. It is an older persons hobby but its refreshing to hear of someone younger getting in to radio. Its always tough getting started but hopefully the breakers will be respectful to you. We always welcome new starter regardless of age and gender.
@@CB-RADIO-UK Thank you so much and maybe one day I can talk to you in England because I read people who can talk to other countries far away. I think that is really cool with cb radio.
You never know with the right conditions.
hi Fred quick question. can you still get the modulator with twin coils? and
Will it work on top of a siren starduster 400?
Iam not sure. The modulator has been copied many times but not seen a center loaded one.
@@CB-RADIO-UK yeah I had a modulator 2 I think it was it had a base coil then a steel section and another coil then a 3ft whip in total it was at least 1.5 mtr I had it an the top section of my dipole I used to bang out as good as my mate on his higain silver rod with my formac 120.those were the days I then seeped it to a avanti sigma 4..
And now touching the BIG50 I wanted to get back into it again but I may be restricted with putting up a home base antenna hence asking these questions Fred.
interesting thought, what what do you think would be more effective a typical antron 99 18 foot mounted on the ground for a total height of 18 ft OR a 4 foot firestik 14 feet off the ground for a total height of 18 feet. . both antennas would have an antenna tip height 18 ft, BUT but the 4 footer technically higher since its 14 feet off the ground so so curious what more effective?? in reality a 18 ft should smoke the 4ft ant , BUT being that its 14ft off the ground while the 18ft is on the ground does the height make the 4 footer beat the antron ???? i cant seem to find a solid answer to this?
To add to this
it hard to simplify into a sentence but i guess if i were to try does a smaller lesser performing antenna beat a larger better performing antenna when the lesser antenna has the benefit of being "higher of the ground" when at the same real life height , I especially ponder this when there are people that say antrons and other full size antennas tend to radiate near the bottom of the ant, while some smaller antennas are top loaded, using this in a theory , a top loaded ant would be effective much higher off the ground when at the same tip to tip height
In my experience a full sized 18 ft 1/2 wave antenna with receive high db than a shorter mobile whip. You would need to get the loading coil a little off the deck to create a good groundwave pattern. Ive found just 1 meter was enough for fair performance. The only issue with low antennas is that they tend to have a high noise level.
I want to ask, if I test with a swr meter and the result is very high/very bad, will the swr meter somehow protect my radio from the high swr when doing this test to not take damage? Will the swr meter take the damage instead?
Good question. As far as iam aware the SWR meter will not protect the radio. Never been asked before so not 100%.
Hi fred I'm looking for some help please . I have bought my first antenna and I want to know if it working correctly. It a 1/2 wave basic base thunderpole. I did a continuity test with a multimeter at the antenna coax connector and it was a dead short between inner pin and other plug . My question is ,is it faulty or is correct. Thank you hoping someone knows what I mean
Most CB aerials will look like a short circuit to a dc multimeter and so are hard to test. Its not conclusive to a fault. Best way is to use a SWR meter and transmit with the radio. A shorted antenna will end stop the meter regardless how you adjust it.
@@CB-RADIO-UK thank you for the quick reply. Yes I think its working ok it's to do with a induction coil wiring the SWR does seem to be very low and I was getting DX signals from Ireland and Germany which was amazing. Today is very quiet on the Radio which was making me over think of a problem. Thank you for putting my mind to rest.
New guy getting into the hobby. When you "key" up your radio, what am i hearing? Cheers
Might need a bit more info on the question. When i say key up the radio iam meaning press the microphone button
@@CB-RADIO-UK Hi, Thank you for the quick response. It was when you were doing SWR reading trying to tune the antenna. Could just be the CB for all I know. Brilliant video and just getting into the hobby as I said.
Hi can I put the power supply near the radio? Because I would like to keep an eye on the volt and amp needle on the power supply?
Hi. Ive used a power supply close to a radio without issue. Prob best not right on top though.
@@CB-RADIO-UK Okay I will try that. I hope everything will work good and I hope that I will feel it’s fun with cb. I have autism and my special interest is radio and antennas so that’s why I’m obsessed.
@@CB-RADIO-UK Do you think that I will find cb radio fun so that I will keep my radio and all equipment I bought or do you think I will find it boring and just want to sell everything?
I haven’t saved so much money yet, but I have been strict not to spend anything and just keep saving up. Now I have for some reason got obsessed and spent most of my money. The radio wasn’t cheap, the antenna wasn’t cheap and the power supply wasn’t cheap either. Then I had to buy that swr meter too and of course it came without any cable whatsoever. So I had to place yet another order for a cable. I also don’t have much space for all this equipment so I need to place it in my table where I do my makeup normally, which I’m not too happy about, but I have no other place to put it right now.
Anyway I of course won’t get all my money back if I decide to sell everything. And I’m still waiting for the antenna, so if there will be one more problem, like too high swr that I can’t fix or wrong power supply or anything else, even if one tiny cable comes loose and need to be replaced somehow, then I stop right away and this will be absolutely over.
Hi. I hope you find CB fun. A lot depends on your area and the type of activity you get. The summer of 23 is going to be a GREAT year for radio skip which you can best enjoy on Sideband. Many people start on CB and then move on to HAM radio. Best of luck. Happy New Year
What is the silver lining on the wall for Fred.
Isolation. Riz
Hi isn’t it easier with all antennas to lower it all the way down to the bottom and then slowly raise it more and more until it’s tuned and good?
You could do it that way. Makes no real odds as long as you end up with a safe SWR.
@@CB-RADIO-UK I will have to trust the built in swr meter in my radio 🫢
Are u able to set a antenna up in the attic and it work ?
Yes i did set one up. See here czcams.com/video/9CsgSqwXhyA/video.html
@@CB-RADIO-UK thanks for the reply o have seen that vid of the homemade but would a normal antenna that u can buy still work ok set up in the loft and what would u recommend for this please ?
what antenna could i use without upsetting the neighbours...any seggestion
A T2LT. Its telescopic and works very well. You only need to put it up when you want to use the radio. More here. czcams.com/video/lwbT4ZX6514/video.html
@@CB-RADIO-UK thanks 👍
Too much emphasis on swr ,ensuring the radiation efficiency should be the goal
Don't know I'd anyone can help me, iv just set a homebase up which is picking stuff up nice and clear miles away but I cant seam to pick up the mobile cbs that I have in my vehicles. I'm operating on fm and obviously the same channel. Everyone is set up with the swr but I cant pick anything up from my vehicles or hear anything in the vehicles from the home base.
What radio are you using ? Most radios have set bands for euro channels as well as the UK CB channels. Could your radio be set on the wrong channels.
@CB-RADIO-UK
Iv used a couple of different ones, currently iv got a cobra 29lx set up as the base cb and iv got a little thunderpole t-600 set up in one vehicle and iv got a midland set up in an other but cant remember which modle it is. I can check them and see whatbthere are set to. Iv got burners on 2 of them, so wasn't sure if that would affect them.
The cobra is set to UK and the t-600 is on eu. Would this affect it. When I check the frequency list eu and UK channels have the same frequency
Hi. Yes they will be totally wrong. EU and UK totally different. Euro is 26.965 to 27.405 UK FM 27.60125 to 27.99125
UK FM freq www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/84406/citizens-band.pdf Euro mid block freq www.rightchannelradios.com/blogs/newsletters/cb-radio-frequencies-and-channels
What is a 315 and a 99 hundred?
Not sure on the 315. A 9900 is a CRT 9900 radio
@@CB-RADIO-UKcheers! Perhaps you saod 305?? 305 to come alive?
Why dont you just calculate and then ajust the length = 300 / 27.555mhz = 10.887mtr / 2 = 5.443mtr for halve wave, , , i find it works every time !!
For a 5\8th its = 300 \ 27.5 mhz = 10.90mtr \ 8 = 1.36 x 5 = 6.818mtr
ha, , ,or in basic, on the old C64, it would be something like this L=(x 5(\ 8(300 \ 27.5)))
Hey Fred, would you please help me get into CB/SSB/27.555 dx?
I’ve watched your most recent videos and now have £300 burning a hole in my pocket. I’m looking for a mobile rig, including antenna, power supply, built in swr, and pretty much all I’d need to go sit in my car on a Sunday afternoon on a hill somewhere….. happy to provide my email or phone number if it’s easier…. Thanks so much
Every video has been helpful on my journey
Hi. Radio wise I would look at the Alinco DX10 or the CRT 6900N. Both have built in SWR meters. Mobile antenna for hillside DX work a longer whip will work better Check out the Sirio 4000 or 5000. Good luck and enjoy.
@@CB-RADIO-UK thanks Fred. Would you direct wire or use an external power supply? Also what do you think of the President Lincoln 2 compared to the ones you mentioned?
You can use a leisure battery pack. I had a Mk1 Lincoln but i prefer the Alinco DX10.
@@CB-RADIO-UK would that be a leisure battery pack connected directly to the radio? Thanks for your help
You would need to attach straight to the battery. Normally small clips can be used or screw on type.