CB Radio

Snowboardingmofo

New Member
Joined
Dec 1, 2005
Location
Concord, NC
I just installed a new CB in my Jeep last week and took it on the trails with a few others this past weekend. I got a cobra 19 Ultra III from wal-mart, http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4642484, and attached about a 3-4 ft antenna on the rear bumper. I ran the power to a remote wire out of the fuse box and grounded to the tub. I can only pick up someone when they are about 20 feet or less away. Is this normal or is there something that I didn't do right? I was thinking that a CB should work from a good distance not just a few feet.
 
CB,s can be a real pain in the _ _ _
-did you use a plastic washer between mount and ant.?-you need to
-if the ant. has a wire hanging out of coating, ground this wire
-dont coil up, wrap up extra coax stretch it out straight as possiblie
-have someone with a meter check and set standing waves (SWR)

good luck with it
 
The old board had a really good CB radio thread. Good information about and installing a CB. Maybe someone remembers or has a copy of it on their computer they would share with you.

Anyone remember what I am talking about?

<><Fish
 
Go find a radio shop, let them check it to a SWR meter. Someone said earlier, CB's can be a real pain in the ass. You have a weak radio, but not that weak. With a good antenna setup, you should have a decent radio. If you're close to W-S - Discount Performance in the Hanes mall parking has a good radio man - Jimmy.

Make sure your antenna has a good ground. Get out the dremel and scrape off a little paint if you have to. I don't know if it made a difference or not, but I used a ground to my tub and my frame.

About 2/3 or more of the antenna should be above the body/ground. You said it's on the bumper, how much is above the tub?

Someone also said to make sure you don't have any coax coiled up somewhere.

If you're getting excessive noise, try a different power source, not promising anything, but sometimes it helps.

Now after you do this, you can read this if you like.....http://jeephorizons.com/tech/cb_ant_basic.html
 
I did about the laziest way possible, (cig lighter etc) and have a cheapo magnetic ant that I just clamp down, and I still have more than enough range for anyone in the group with me. Even if the group is 30+ vehicles.

Make sure you have good ant wire, and try and give the CB a clean power source. You also might want to try moving the ant just temporarily up above the tub. See if that helps.

http://www.stu-offroad.com/ has some interesting reading on CB stuff too.
I can't give you a better link because it's blocked from work. :(
Apparently his jeep site is "Mature, Entertainment"
:(
Stupid netcache censor.
 
Snowboardingmofo said:
I just wired it up and turned it on, I didn't know anything about tuning it in.
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IMO...a properly tuned, quality antenna...mounted in a good spot with a good ground...connected with a quality piece of coax...is MUCH more important the the CB you choose to hook it to...


you're instructions (as if you read them) should've said somewhere about not attempting to transmit until the antenna is properly tuned...else you can burn up some of the internals of the CB...


you can buy an SWR meter at truck stops, online, and probably even a place like Radio Shack...I have one, cause it's about the same price to buy the meter as it is to have shop tune it, and I figured I'd wind up tuning more than one before all was said and done...

Greg
 
I had the same problem you do, and like Bigdaddy said, use that plastic washer between the antenna and bumper. Mine was grounded out on the bumper. Now I can transmit about a mile and a half, and recieve about 4 miles.
 
CB tuning?

In the 23 years i've been drivin, and i'm 38 now i've had a CB on every vehcile i've owned. I've never had to tune the CB. I've never heard of tuning a CB until i read this post. This is something new to me, i've never had any problem hooking a CB up.

Hook the the CB to a main power with a inline fuse and ground. Mount the CB anywhere in the truck, run the coax cable down the passager side to the rear. Mount the antenna on the bumper with a spring and a tennis ball to keep it from hiting the body. 8ft. antenna on the rear passager side.

I do this to every vehcile i have that has a CB and In a 79 Dodge Ramcharger that i use to have on a clear good day i've even could pick up someguys in Texas.
 
It's not the CB that needs tuning, it's the antenna. You make the antenna a bit longer of shorter to keep the swr's low as possible. I actually cut some of the mast off mine to get it short enough. You won't need to move it much, like 1/8 in at a time. Radio shack has swr meters. Got one there a month or so ago. I think it was $20 or so. Also some of the fiberglass antennas have a screw under the rubber cap on top to adjust it.
 
Snowboard,
I bought the best CB and stuff money could buy because one of my buds had this killer setup with and amp that could broadcast from Charlotte to Tellico.
Mine wouldn't go from Charlotte to Charlotte. in a half mile radius.
F.....Messed with it for a couple of years, reAD THE INTERNET endlessley and finally took it to a shop everyone told me to stay away from. The guy charged me $10.00 and fixed it for free basically. Told me to come back and buy a couple of upgrades which I will do before the DR.
Go find a shop.
 
In the 23 years i've been drivin, and i'm 38 now i've had a CB on every vehcile i've owned. I've never had to tune the CB. I've never heard of tuning a CB until i read this post. This is something new to me, i've never had any problem hooking a CB up.
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Yeah, I'm talking about the antenna. I've got a Firestick with an adjustable knob at the top. This simulates the height of the antenna. With a standard antenna I'm talking about moving it around in different locations for the best signal. You're using an 8 foot antenna, it's gonna pick up decent almost anywhere you put it because of its height. You can hook up the SWR meter and move the antenna around (or adjust the knob) to get the best possible reading. A SWR meter is cheap is you want to expirement yourself, but a good radio man have have you set up right in a few minutes.
 
nc854runner said:
In the 23 years i've been drivin, and i'm 38 now i've had a CB on every vehcile i've owned. I've never had to tune the CB. I've never heard of tuning a CB until i read this post. This is something new to me, i've never had any problem hooking a CB up.
.
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TRUST ME, a good radio man could play with your cb for $20 and you would think he had given you a new radio and mic in 15 minutes.

of ccourse its all in how you plan to use it.
Just to talk on a tight trail ride, I wouldnt worry with it.
But if you like to talk riding down the road, wanna reach out sound clear and actually understand what people are saying to ya, yeah the antenna needs tuning, the radio need dialing in, and there are still a few tips/tricks left inside the radio.
 
R Q said:
Snowboard,
I bought the best CB and stuff money could buy because one of my buds had this killer setup with and amp that could broadcast from Charlotte to Tellico.
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...and your "bud" is probably one of those that screws up the 2-3 channels on each side of the one he's broadcasting on...

there's a reason the FCC puts a max rating on these things...

Greg
 
Get a Ham. Hit a repeater and you can go 100 miles, and you can use the telephone connected to the repeater to call for help. It's saved my ass several times in places cell phone wouldn't work.
 
Bildo said:
Get a Ham. Hit a repeater and you can go 100 miles, and you can use the telephone connected to the repeater to call for help. It's saved my ass several times in places cell phone wouldn't work.
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Holy cow, never heard of this! How's that work?
 
you want 18' of coax totaly

whatever extra you have, just toss under the dash or under the carpet if you have any. i stuck a zip tie around all mine and jammed it up in the rear quarter panel by the antenna mount. works great. tuned it with a radio shack swr meter and it works like a pro.
 
rattlecanpaint said:
Holy cow, never heard of this! How's that work?
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Not sure what exactly you were referring to, so I'll detail it all.

The capable transmitting distance is mostly due to the FCC allowing more output wattage for Ham radios vs. CB's. Hams have so much power that you can literally burn you hand by miss-handling the antenna during tuning.

My radio’s high-output setting is 50 watts. CB's are limited to 4 watts by the FCC.

As far as the repeater station, clubs will own and maintain a repeater, which is essentially a signal amplifier. You tune your radio to the freq of the repeater and the repeater takes that signal and sends it out on a different freq. Wildland firefighters and cops use a similar freq range as the Hams and can be set up to bounce from repeater to repeater, talking for hundreds of miles.

Many of these club repeaters are hooked up to the landline phone system and by pressing special characters on the Ham's mic, you can tap into it and make phone calls. The only thing is anyone with a scanner or a ham is anyone can hear you if they are on the same freq.

But Hams are only great for wheelin if your other buddies have them.
 
bigwaylon said:
...and your "bud" is probably one of those that screws up the 2-3 channels on each side of the one he's broadcasting on...
there's a reason the FCC puts a max rating on these things...
Greg
Click to expand...
He only turned on the amp when out in the sticks hunting. It still worked great w/o the amp on.
 
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