Comanche County Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I bought a cb radio at a JY for $5....but I'm having second thoughts on putting it in. I don't have an antenna either. I heard these have to be tuned to work correctly and when I do it, I want it to work right. But I don't know crap about CBs, :dunno: so short of going to a truck stop and having them do it,,,,any advice on how to set it up. What brands would you recommend? Any power considerations, I do actually want to be able to talk further than down the street. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Tuning is only required if you get an adjustable antenna like a Firestick. The "power" of the radio is federally regulated, so there is not much you can (legally) do there. Just get a good quality radio like Midland or Cobra. I have used both and had no problems. I think the two that I have now are Cobra actually. They are easy to install yourself, but if you use a Firestick type antenna, you will need someone with an SWR meter to tune it for you so you don't damage your radio. I destroyed my first Cobra because I did not know about the tuning thing. It worked for a few months, but then just started make a terrible squealing noise on other peoples radios when I push the key to talk, and eventually would not receive anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibby Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Tuning is only required if you get an adjustable antenna like a Firestick. Incorrect! ALL antennas need tuned, even if they are non adjustable. There are many considerations to take into account when installing a CB but the antenna is by far the greatest concern. A properly tuned antenna can get you around the world (yes, with a lowly CB) on a clear night if you're in the right spot. I can sit on the hill behind my house in Victoria BC and chat with places in Australia and Georgia USA when the conditions are right ("skip shooting" radio signals). First a good quality CB is required. Most on the market are. Pretty much any unit you get at a truck stop will be fine. Some are very simple while others are crammed with bells and whistles. I prefer the Galaxy 959 but it's likely a bit expensive for most folks. I'd also look for one that contains both an ANL (automatic noise limiter) which will reduce electrical noise like from your ignition system, and an NB (noise blanker) which also helps reduce unwanted noise. These two features are the most important I find. Anything else is gravy. Some radios have an automatic weather channel, built in power/SWR meters, modulation meter, among other goodies. Second the antenna is a big consideration. I first used a trunk mounted Radio Shack jobbie on my first car. I tuned it up and it worked pretty good but when I moved to my first Jeep I switched to a Firestik II and noticed a HUGE improvement. Placing it makes a difference. Obviously it should go as high and centered on a vehicle as possible. You'll have to decide what's best. For hood mounting on a Comanche I'd recommend a Larsen antenna mounted on a Firestik hood mount. It gives a clean looking antenna install and works very well. It's also pretty straighforward to run the coax cable through the engine bay to the radio this way. There are lots of other smaller considerations. Some folks will tell you that the coax cable from the radio to the antenna needs to be one wavelength long (about 18 feet or so) for proper transmission. This is absolute bunk. Keep the coax as short as needed between the radio and antenna. Use a good quality wire. I like RG-58 A/U but most will work well enough for a stock radio. If for some reason you wind up putting a large amp on the system (which I don't recommend) then something larger like RG 8 would be better. Tuning is the single most important thing you can do. A radio signal traveling from the radio to the antenna is similar to any electrical signal, but it's looking for something specific. Imagine it's a certain size, and prefers a certain size door to leave from. Tuning is adjusting the door to the size it needs to be. If the radio you have doesn't have a built in SWR meter, you can get them from Radio Shack or truck stops for $35(Cdn) or so. It goes between the radio and antenna, so you'll need a small length of coax with connectors on it to do the testing. Test in as large of a flat open area you can, away from buildings and power interference. Definitely do not test inside, your results will be a mess. Also when you test, keep the doors and such closed. Key the radio, look at the meter, get out, adjust the antenna, rinse repeat. It's a tedious process but needs done. Once you have your SWR to as close to 1:1 as you can get, you're done. What happens to an untuned radio? The signal out won't fit through an improperly sized door, so some of it turns around and goes back into the radio, which degrades the transmit microchip. It winds up getting ruined and causes crappy transmission like noted above. It also reduces the radio's power greatly. Obviously a tunable antenna is preferred over a non, but both need tuned. Tunable use either a screw at the top (Firestik II) that is moved up and down, or a set screw at the bottom (Wilson, Larsen types) and the antenna itself moves up and down (and possibly might need shortened). A non tuneable is either cut down to the length it needs to be, or a wound wire in it is pulled or cut (original Firestik) to reach the proper length. A standard complete install usually takes a couple hours. A single antenna is all you need. Duallys look cool, but will wind up ruining your radio over time. You can make them work, but the centers have to be about 9 feet apart. If you want a setup like that leave one as a dummy or better yet, wire it up proper but don't connect it and leave it as a spare. If you've got any questions, please feel free to ask. I've put many radio systems in all sorts of vehicles, and pretty much all kinds of Jeeps. I've been in the Canadian army for almost 20 years now as a tech doing this very thing, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepcoma Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 ^ wow, very informative. Now I want a CB too! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 No wonder my Junk never works :doh: . Thank Ibby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 If you want to talk at long distances, you can add the SWR to a non-adjustable antenna, but it is not "required", therefore my statemnet stands...only adjustable antennas "need" to be tuned. Definitely a lot of good info there Ibby, but not really useful for someone like me that doesn't care about talking to someone hundreds of miles away. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Definitely a lot of good info there Ibby, but not really useful for someone like me that doesn't care about talking to someone hundreds of miles away. :cheers: Hundred miles away ~ I just wanted to talk to the guy leading the Jeep Jamboree party. I never considered a CB as anything other than a glorified PA. I will have to work on getting mine properly tuned. Great thread Y-all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigd44889 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 ok i dive truck been useing cb's for 20 years what ibby said is about the best info u are going to get i only want to add a couple things as said antena is everything use a K40 or wilson get it tuned right mount it as high as u can and centerd as u can on vehical has to be grounded ground matters most get a road king mike or a astedik mike thay will stop all the backround noise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 Read, gentlemen. Max range for a properly-tuned legal 5-watt CB is probably 12 to 15 miles in flat terrain. When he's talking about reaching other continents, he's not talking direct, line-of-sight transmission he's talking about "skip" transmission (bouncing the signal off the bottom of the ionosphere), which typically works only at night and under perfect atmospheric conditions. Even with an (illegal) amplifier, you can't boost a CB to transmit 100 miles or more under all conditions. CBs are intended for short range communication. If you want to reliably reach out farther than 10 miles, get a short wave and a license. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigd44889 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 i'm not talking about distance i'm just talking about not ruining the cb and have clear clean sound out and in if he wanted distance i will sell him my set up marage 44 88 wats out the back polamar 250 k40 road king mic i talk to base stations 70 miles away thay tell me it sounds like i'm sitting there with them i have $800 dollars in this setup when i got it i ran over loaded all the time and at high rate of speed i needed the range and no i don't run it any more it is setting on the shelf oh and us watts i 4 not 5 any more is illigal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigd44889 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 oh and somethig else i learned mount your cb facing up and down not flat the board is thin and will flex and brake the grounds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james750 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I run a cheap cobra 19 ultra 3. I have a hood mount and ran the cable through the fender and through a small hole that was already there and into the cab. I have it paired up to a Firestic 3' antenna. I need to get it tuned, but other than that, its great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigd44889 Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 that will work a good mic would help others hear u not the noise around u the wires and plug don't last long on stock one's anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 I looked through the DIY section and didn't see anything, and CB is waaay too short and "general" to use in the search function.. but is there any DIY writeups for installing these things? Also I've got a Midland LMR Model#70-1336B which is a police eddition CB. Is there anything different for installing these, or are they pretty much all the same? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibby Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 If you want to talk at long distances, you can add the SWR to a non-adjustable antenna, but it is not "required", therefore my statemnet stands...only adjustable antennas "need" to be tuned. Definitely a lot of good info there Ibby, but not really useful for someone like me that doesn't care about talking to someone hundreds of miles away. :cheers: Not exactly. Non tuneable antennas come out of the box close to where they should be but they're pretuned to be on the middle of the roof of a full sized sedan. When you put one one something else, characteristics change. For the most part you can get away fine without tuning them, but after the hundred and some odd or so I've installed and tuned not one of them didn't see a performance increase from getting tuned properly. Keeping the connections clean is also a big factor. I've done several SWR tuning days for a few local clubs where I'm at mostly because I couldn't stand crappy sounding radios on the trail. :yes: It's a fun thing to do during a ramp day while everyone's waiting to get on the ramp or teeter totter. I looked through the DIY section and didn't see anything, and CB is waaay too short and "general" to use in the search function.. but is there any DIY writeups for installing these things? Also I've got a Midland LMR Model#70-1336B which is a police eddition CB. Is there anything different for installing these, or are they pretty much all the same? That Midland you have is a HAM unit. It's similar to set up but there's a few things that will be different. Different antenna for one. I wouldn't use a HAM on CB frequencies as it's not entirely legal, but CB isn't monitored very closely these days. You'll also need a license to run it. As for a DIY, I have a system sitting in the garage that I need to install into my MJ. I'm moving shortly but I can get a DIY done sometime this spring/summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comanche County Posted April 5, 2009 Author Share Posted April 5, 2009 Thanks Guys! :cheers: Great info. Now I've got a direction to go,, but,this is new territory for me. I just might do something that will work the first time instead of spending tons of time and money "feeling" my way through a problem. Glad you'se guys is smart! yuck, yuck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
500 MJ Posted April 5, 2009 Share Posted April 5, 2009 JP Magazine JUST did a write up on how to setup a CB system in their "Randy's Electrical Corner" article... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starbuck75 Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Ok has anyone seen this deal at quadratec? Kits include a radio, low-profile cable, exclusive no-drill antenna bracket & pre-tuned antenna. The radio is a Uniden PRO 510XL 40 Channel Professional Mobile CB that's compact in size to fit almost anywhere in your rig, and is backed by a limited two-year warranty. An accurate 4-segment LED meter displays the signal strength of both the transmitter & receiver. The large easy-to-read LED display shows the channel currently in use. 7 watts of audio output means almost twice as much as normal CBs. A rugged metal housing & microphone are good for years of dependable use. Our specially designed antenna bracket attaches inside the front fender without dilling. Choose a complete kit or individual components as needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibby Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 7 watts of audio output means almost twice as much as normal CBs. Careful with the fine print. That's audio power, if you use the PA feature to drive a speaker. That radio still only has 4 watts of transmit power, just like any other CB... http://www.rfwiz.com/UnidenPro510XL.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 Yea...I don't trust quadratec for anything. They tried to screw me out of $1200 several years ago and I have tried to keep everyone I can away from them ever since. They are liars and thieves that will never get a good word from me again. Sorry, but the mere mention of their name still angers me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigd44889 Posted April 6, 2009 Share Posted April 6, 2009 sounds like bs to me no pretuned mic i junck it will not last long antena MUST have good ground if u mount it on the front u will talk a 1000 feet forward and 15 miles behind u i have this radio u can bye it anywere for $30 buy a little willy magnet mount and throw it on the roof and yes thay are VERRY hard to knock off it is a wire whip so it flexs real well and are aound $30 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejndssn Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 That Midland you have is a HAM unit. It's similar to set up but there's a few things that will be different. Different antenna for one. I wouldn't use a HAM on CB frequencies as it's not entirely legal, but CB isn't monitored very closely these days. You'll also need a license to run it. As for a DIY, I have a system sitting in the garage that I need to install into my MJ. I'm moving shortly but I can get a DIY done sometime this spring/summer. :cheers: i hope it comes with pictures :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibby Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 Indeed. I have a kickass camera ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted April 7, 2009 Share Posted April 7, 2009 As for a DIY, I have a system sitting in the garage that I need to install into my MJ. I'm moving shortly but I can get a DIY done sometime this spring/summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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