CB Questions

[bagdranger]

i had a little wil before my frances and it worked great until just recently and i think it started to get a short in the base somewhere. sometimes I'd get signal and then I'd loose it

 

[_Kyle_]

My lil wilson was a great antenna when I had it on my Jeep. When tunes properly, I had amazing range with it. I need to find another for my exploder now as the antenna on it currently sucks.

 

[Scrambler82]

IMHO, Wilson is the best mass made antenna on the market, the Firestik is widely used and appears to work, the K40 not sure haven't used one in a long time, then there is the Monkey Made, they are big (& $$$) but from stats work great.

The CB, again IMHO, Uniden is the best Communication gear fro general use; their scanners are the best available, their phones are good and their CB, NICE stuff and affordable.
They make a Pro 510 or the Pro 520 (has PA and RF Gain) both good CBs and available at most department stores for around the $60 mark or from an On-Line Store like Walcott CB ( http://www.walcottcb.com/uniden-pro520xl-compact-cb-radio-with-pa-jack-p-532.html?cPath=340_377 ) or Right Channel Radio ( http://www.rightchannelradios.com/uniden-cb-radios-129/uniden-bearcat-pro-520xl-cb-radio-195.html ); both come in at $60.

As stated by others, buy a good quality Antenna then buy some good quality coax (Belden RG 8X) and then look for a good CB.
Run the coax to the antenna away from power lines and the computer.
Mount the antenna so the Mount has a good ground; even if you have to add an additional braided strap to the frame.
Get the antenna tuned for low SWR.

Talk to whom ever you can talk to.

Luck to ya,

 

[tony314]

IMHO, Wilson is the best mass made antenna on the market, the Firestik is widely used and appears to work, the K40 not sure haven't used one in a long time, then there is the Monkey Made, they are big (& $$$) but from stats work great.

The CB, again IMHO, Uniden is the best Communication gear fro general use; their scanners are the best available, their phones are good and their CB, NICE stuff and affordable.
They make a Pro 510 or the Pro 520 (has PA and RF Gain) both good CBs and available at most department stores for around the $60 mark or from an On-Line Store like Walcott CB ( http://www.walcottcb.com/uniden-pro520xl-compact-cb-radio-with-pa-jack-p-532.html?cPath=340_377 ) or Right Channel Radio ( http://www.rightchannelradios.com/uniden-cb-radios-129/uniden-bearcat-pro-520xl-cb-radio-195.html ); both come in at $60.

As stated by others, buy a good quality Antenna then buy some good quality coax (Belden RG 8X) and then look for a good CB.
Run the coax to the antenna away from power lines and the computer.
Mount the antenna so the Mount has a good ground; even if you have to add an additional braided strap to the frame.
Get the antenna tuned for low SWR.

Talk to whom ever you can talk to.

Luck to ya,

+ 10 WELL put!

 

[TKEsigmaOmega273]

agreed well put

 

[creepinjeepster]

As for CB's mentioned, Cobra's are made by Uniden. As for the model to get, depends on what kind of range and how loud you want to sound. A max 5 mile type range with decent volume, Cobra 19, Pro 510, Pro 520 etc. More distance and volume, Cobra 29 and the like. Most volume and distance, Galaxy 10 meter converted to an 11 meter, Cobra 148 GTL, Super Star and like radio's.

As for antenna's, like others I only recommend Wilson steel whip antenna's. As for the difference between Wilson's and K40's, you won't really see a difference unless you run a system with power. Wilson designed there's with a better center load than K40 which translates into the following example.

K40-first TX puts out 500 watts. 2nd TX 375 watts and so on. It gets hot on the center load because of its design and lets less power out each time its keyed up.

Wilson steel whip-1st TX 500 watts. 2nd TX 500 watts and so on. Air gap greater to allow for quicker cooling.

this test can even be proven with a good SWR/Power meter. If you want to spend the money on the antenna's just to try it out. I've done things with my radio that would make you call BS, but there are others out there that can do the same for those that are really into radios like I am. Try channel 6 or 11 almost any day of the week with a stock radio and see if you get a word in. I can. Operators on those channels talk from state to state and sometimes continent to continent with there radios.

Post isn't to brag, just to let everybody interested know the differencesbefore they buy one set up and then discover it's not what they want and spend more to UPGRADE. CB's are expensive hobbies too.

 

[Prodigous Ranger]

Just a question, I wired my CB into the cigarette lighter power supply because I took out the ashtray and slid the CB in the slot. Approximately how much will this affect my signals? is it worth worrying about or is it just for those optimization details?

 

[Doug Metheny]

i am running 3 atennas in my ranger actuly a little will magnetic and 2 dual whips i cant remember the whips but my first fear was over modulating my radio but that didnt happen.

and prodigous ranger i have run my power to the cb from my 12v supply in the truck and "right" way i honestly didnt see a diffrence but i could be wronge that is my opnion

 

[adsm08]

So after doing some research i still cant find any mounts that would put it where i want it. I was wondering if the magnetic mounts work alright? i would rather not go that route but i may not have a choice

I have a firestick NGP antenna and it has a mirror mount bracket that I just bolted on to the cab corner. I'm sure you could probably get it bolted into the bed corner if you try hard enough.

You can kinda see where it is in this picture, but I don't have any of the actual mounting.

 

[Jason]

Post isn't to brag, just to let everybody interested know the differencesbefore they buy one set up and then discover it's not what they want and spend more to UPGRADE. CB's are expensive hobbies too.

I did this tonight. My new Prostar has a hell of a radio setup and I didn't hear shit.

 

[WarriorPrincess]

I have a Galaxy DX 959 with SSB with dual attennas.

 

[Ruffinit]

Cobra 19, Pro 510, Pro 520 etc. More distance and volume, Cobra 29 and the like. Most volume and distance, Galaxy 10 meter converted to an 11 meter, Cobra 148 GTL, Super Star and like radio's.

I'll throw the BS flag on this. As a tech, I'll tell you that out of the box ALL CB radios IAW FCC are modulated at 85% and blow a max of 4 watts.

K40-first TX puts out 500 watts. 2nd TX 375 watts and so on. It gets hot on the center load because of its design and lets less power out each time its keyed up.

Wilson steel whip-1st TX 500 watts. 2nd TX 500 watts and so on. Air gap greater to allow for quicker cooling.

Again; who cares? FCC Regs state 4W max on AM. You'll think that your rig costs alot until you get slapped with a fine.

I've done things with my radio that would make you call BS, but there are others out there that can do the same for those that are really into radios like I am.

If you're so "into it" why not get a HAM license and do it legally?

Operators on those channels talk from state to state and sometimes continent to continent with there radios.

FCC regs state 155 miles maximum with a legal radio.

Post isn't to brag, (really?) just to let everybody interested know (how it's done illegally) before they buy one set up and then discover it's not what they want and spend more to UPGRADE. CB's are expensive hobbies too.

A good radio operator who knows his equipment can talk around the world with 1 watt and a good antenna. With an "out of the box" radio of 4 watts and a quality antenna (yes, mag mounts work well) you can talk quite some distance. If you want an extremely good mobile antenna get yourself a simple 1/4 wave (8.5') steel whip. They're fairly inexpensive and very survivable off road.

 

[4.0B2]

A good radio operator who knows his equipment can talk around the world with 1 watt and a good antenna. With an "out of the box" radio of 4 watts and a quality antenna (yes, mag mounts work well) you can talk quite some distance. If you want an extremely good mobile antenna get yourself a simple 1/4 wave (8.5') steel whip. They're fairly inexpensive and very survivable off road.

1. holy thread revive man!
2. agreed... HAM is the way to go. period... better for on road/off road... more reliable than cell phones... better distance, don't have to stay at a legal 4 watts...so on, so much more...

 

[Ruffinit]

1. holy thread revive man!

Yeah, sorry about the revival AND the sermon, but this stuff really torques me. I just happened upon the Communications forum, I'm usually stuck up on the Ranger/BII side and then I run into this type of garbage.

You don't need a lot of power to have a good working radio. In fact in many cases I have to turn down the RF gain to block out some of the garbage that this kind of immature mindset spouts both on an off the radio. I wish the FCC was more on top of this band.

 

[4.0B2]

Yeah, sorry about the revival AND the sermon, but this stuff really torques me. I just happened upon the Communications forum, I'm usually stuck up on the Ranger/BII side and then I run into this type of garbage.

You don't need a lot of power to have a good working radio. In fact in many cases I have to turn down the RF gain to block out some of the garbage that this kind of immature mindset spouts both on an off the radio. I wish the FCC was more on top of this band.

more power is not always better transmitting/receiving... however, IMO CB is still garbage anyways... if you ever get used to 2 meter or any other HAM band and you won't usually go back to CB