So..i'm in the market for a CB. was wondering..what's a good one and all that stuff. Looking for something simple..none of that 2 antenna thing. Was looking at radio shack ones..but i'd like to get some feedback on this thing. Should i also look for a certain length antenna...thickness..does all this matter?...fill me in
CBs CBs CBs
- Thread starter LGR
- Start date
TwistedCU
New member
LGR said:
I used to sell and install them when I worked in a 12 volt (car audio/security/etc) shop during college. It was getting to the point where they were all made by the same company. Uniden, cobra, RS - all decent. My advice would be to get a full power simple unit (dial, volume, squelch controls). As far as the antenna, it is crucial to have it tuned (SWR Meter). If there is no antenna connected or if it is too far out of tune, you will burn up the transmitter. The more metal you have surrounding the base of the antenna will directly relate to how well it will tune and perform. This is a problem with Jeeps. Most of the ones I put in were mounted to the tire bump stop and did not tune very well, but would be acceptable for distances in trail riding. The only alternatives would be a magnetic mount on the hood or in the back, or a side mount (drilling a hole in your Jeep). These would probably perform better. There are a hundred different mounting brackets made for antennas, check a CB shop or Truck stop!
I decided to go against Protocal and got a Cobra HH 38 WX ST. It is a Handheld. It is the size of a scanner and it cost me 69 bucks and it stays in the house until I need it. I am Getting a Exterior Ant for it to clear it up even more and give it more range. So far I get about 3-4 miles and with the Ant I will have 10 miles. Plus, I get Battery and DC operation so in the Jeep I have the Jeep run it and out of the Jeep I have 9 AA (rechargable) Plus 10 Weather Channels. The only problem I have found is the Engine noise when plugged into the Cigarette lighter but a little more squeltch and that fixes it.
SoundTracker® System
40 CB Channels
10 Weather Channels
Dual Watch & Full Channel Scan
Compact design for maximum portability
4 Watts Power Output
High/Low Power Control
Instant Channel 19
Backlit Display
Charging Jack
Low Battery Indicator
Battery or DC Operation
Built-In Microphone
You can buy Head phones and Mic for it for hands free usage and many other little gadgets.
That is me and I like it
SoundTracker® System
40 CB Channels
10 Weather Channels
Dual Watch & Full Channel Scan
Compact design for maximum portability
4 Watts Power Output
High/Low Power Control
Instant Channel 19
Backlit Display
Charging Jack
Low Battery Indicator
Battery or DC Operation
Built-In Microphone
You can buy Head phones and Mic for it for hands free usage and many other little gadgets.
That is me and I like it
Distributor Question
i've got a cobra 19II ltd. just a small basic unit. 40 channel, instant emergency band, vol, and squelch.
mounted it in the ashtray under the steering column. fits perfectly with some trimming.
http://www.msnusers.com/jeepwreck/cblocation.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=49
if the cable from the cb to the antenna is 18' ( do not tightly wind the excess. this will cause a choke and cause poor poformance and you will not be able to tune it properly.)and the antenna and cb are well grounded, you should have more than sufficient range on the trail.
the length of the antenna reall doesn't matter due to the manufacturers using the proper length of wire wraped around the antenna mast. a good 4' fiberglass antenna should do you good. don't go with the long whip antennas because most clubs won't let you go on trail runs with them because these will pose a saftey hazard. if you get and adjustable swr antenna you can tune it perfectly and have great range. you just need someone with a swr meter. you want as much of the antenna to stick above your roof line as you can to prevent most of your forward signal from being blocked.
so a small radio, 18' cable, and a decent fiberglass antenna with a mount is all you really need.
as long as BOTH the cb and antenna have a really good ground, you should be all set.
oh and a signal filter from radio shack will help filter out engine noise, or just go straight to the battery like me and you shouldn't have any engine noise problems. just don't forget to shut it off :wink:
dual setups really only do good with the proper distance (close to 9' i think).
there's some good info here http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/searc...e.com/cgi-bin/search/jump.cgi?ID=6379&ID=6379
i've got a cobra 19II ltd. just a small basic unit. 40 channel, instant emergency band, vol, and squelch.
mounted it in the ashtray under the steering column. fits perfectly with some trimming.
http://www.msnusers.com/jeepwreck/cblocation.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=49
if the cable from the cb to the antenna is 18' ( do not tightly wind the excess. this will cause a choke and cause poor poformance and you will not be able to tune it properly.)and the antenna and cb are well grounded, you should have more than sufficient range on the trail.
the length of the antenna reall doesn't matter due to the manufacturers using the proper length of wire wraped around the antenna mast. a good 4' fiberglass antenna should do you good. don't go with the long whip antennas because most clubs won't let you go on trail runs with them because these will pose a saftey hazard. if you get and adjustable swr antenna you can tune it perfectly and have great range. you just need someone with a swr meter. you want as much of the antenna to stick above your roof line as you can to prevent most of your forward signal from being blocked.
so a small radio, 18' cable, and a decent fiberglass antenna with a mount is all you really need.
as long as BOTH the cb and antenna have a really good ground, you should be all set.
oh and a signal filter from radio shack will help filter out engine noise, or just go straight to the battery like me and you shouldn't have any engine noise problems. just don't forget to shut it off :wink:
dual setups really only do good with the proper distance (close to 9' i think).
there's some good info here http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/searc...e.com/cgi-bin/search/jump.cgi?ID=6379&ID=6379
Contrary to popular belief, you do not have to have 18' of coax cable. I did extensive research on this before I bought my CB and read about how sound waves travel and what it takes to get a full cycle, blah, blah, blah. I'm using 12' of antenna cable and it's just enough to get from the back of the Jeep to the front, going through the roll bar padding. My antenna is mounted on a mount from www.arizonarockyroad.com that attaches to the spare tire carrier and the mount is elevated above and beside the spare tire. A spring and a Wilson fiberglass 2' tuneable tip antenna rounds out the package. SWR reading across channels 1-40 is 1.2 - 1.5. The Uniden PC68LTW CB radio is mounted to a CB rack from www.cbrack.com. Very good product, would highly recommend. The CB has a little more bells and whistles than a trail CB needs, but I'm a gadget junkie. 7 weather bands, Dynamic Squelch Control, Mic gain, RF gain, Noise balance eliminator, PA, etc. I also added an external amplified speaker from Radio Shack for those days when the top is down, very loud. Range on a clear day is about 8-10 miles. Range on the trail is exceptional. Pictures of my CB and antenna mount can be seen on my webpage at www.cardomain.com/id/blp77 on page 3.
TwistedCU
New member
CJ OIL PAN SKIDPLATE?
The length of the antenna cable is not important, the different lengths are compensated for when you tune the antenna. As far as the ground, ideally what you want is a good ground plane, not just simply a good contact to ground. This is why antennas will perform better when centered on a roof compared to mounted to a bumper for instance. The amount of grounded metal surrounding the base of the antenna will directly relate to how well it will tune, but as I wrote before, so long as you can get the SWR's to an acceptable range, it would perform plenty well enough for trail riding. As far as the lenght of the antenna, the ideal length is 102". This is, of course, very impracticle and that is why CB antennas use a wound coil in the mast or at the base. The higher the mast reaches above the highest solid metal part of your Jeep, the better it will tune. Amplifiers are illegal, and quite annoying to anybody near you using a TV, radio, etc. It's a law that is nearly impossible to enforce though. You really don't need one if you setup and tune it properly!
Sorry for writing this book. I haven't even thought of CB's in a few years, and it all just came pouring out! Funny thing is I never even owned one, but selling and installing them for 4 years I learned alot about them!
The length of the antenna cable is not important, the different lengths are compensated for when you tune the antenna. As far as the ground, ideally what you want is a good ground plane, not just simply a good contact to ground. This is why antennas will perform better when centered on a roof compared to mounted to a bumper for instance. The amount of grounded metal surrounding the base of the antenna will directly relate to how well it will tune, but as I wrote before, so long as you can get the SWR's to an acceptable range, it would perform plenty well enough for trail riding. As far as the lenght of the antenna, the ideal length is 102". This is, of course, very impracticle and that is why CB antennas use a wound coil in the mast or at the base. The higher the mast reaches above the highest solid metal part of your Jeep, the better it will tune. Amplifiers are illegal, and quite annoying to anybody near you using a TV, radio, etc. It's a law that is nearly impossible to enforce though. You really don't need one if you setup and tune it properly!
Sorry for writing this book. I haven't even thought of CB's in a few years, and it all just came pouring out! Funny thing is I never even owned one, but selling and installing them for 4 years I learned alot about them!
I don't know about other fiberglass antennas, but the Wilson FGT series have a small ground wire at the base of them. The instructions say that you can use this wire if you can't get your SWR below 2.0 and it helps restore a 50 ohm ground cycle to the connection. Unfortunately, I can't use this ground wire because of the spring I have. Still reading lower than 2.0 so it doesn't bother me. But the spring is absolutely necessary for trail riding. I'd hate to go under a low lying tree and snap off a perfectly good antenna because it wouldn't give a little.
graewulf
New member
TwistedCopper said:
Not entirely true.. in most cases you can get by with any antenna cable length... but there are exceptions... the wavelength does matter depending on your cable length. I have a 20' antenna cable (just enough to reach my antenna the way i had to route the cable). I tuned it with the SWR meter and transmitted beautifully only when the SWR was still connected, when I disconnected the SWR, i couldn't transmit 50 feet... i discovered that the difference was the 9' SWR cable (came with the meter). I went out and bought a coupler, hooked the 2 cables together and now have full power. I needed ~29' to achieve proper match on the antenna. On my truck, i cut it to exact length, about 12' and had no trouble, same antenna and CB and SWR meter.
TwistedCopper said:
true enough.. the ground plane does not have to be physically attached to the antenna however, just underneath it.. you can mount the antenna 2' above your roof and that is just as good as being mounted through the roof.... the ground plane is simply a place for the signal to bounce off of, kind of makes the antenna directional... mount it in the center of the rear bumper and you'll transmit beautifully backwards and hardly at all front.. because of the location of the ground plane.. the important thing is a good ground and get it ABOVE the vehicle..... even if you need to make a mount to lift it up higher. on a YJ/TJ i'd say the bestplace would be the top center of the windshield if you don't mind drilling.
Similar threads
