CB radios

[TheDanger2801]

anyone recammend a good basic cb radio with a whip? i want weather and to talk to my buddy who also has one.

 

[rickcdewitt]

longer the antenna the better(4 feet or more) and buy an swr meter to see if its working well so you can tune it.

 

[RangerJustin]

if you are interested i have a cobra DX iv for sale...just the CB, no antenna or coax

 

[nightshift]

Wilson 1000

Wilson 1000 permanently mounted on your roof, with good quality coax. I use LMR240, but you can also get a ready-made cable assembly from Firestik. Borrow or buy an SWR meter and tweak the length of the antenna for lowest SWR.

This is probably more important than the rig. You will get more satisfying performance out of a great antenna system & mediocre rig, than you will out of a great rig & a mediocre antenna system.

Hook up directly to the battery. Run an additional ground wire from the case of the rig to the body of the truck. Grounding is important. If you know how, power the rig through a relay so that when your ignition key is in the off position, so is your rig. Have fun!

 

[Ozwynn]

cobra 29 with a K-40 tunable 60" whip. 18' of mini 8 (Rg-58). Cobra 29 has a built in SWR meter. I wire mine to the stereo main power with a power filter. I never run anything directly through the fire wall to the battery ...... just begging for problems.

 

[Simple_serf]

longer the antenna the better(4 feet or more) and buy an swr meter to see if its working well so you can tune it.

Simple answer- No. (to the first part)

The shorter the antenna, the higher radiation pattern you get (Most of my mobile experience is with 2 meter, and CB is 11 meter)....so following that logic, if you are in a hilly area, a slightly shorter antenna will be better. I get better performance out of my 1/4 wave than my 5/8 wave in the hilly parts of NW PA. In the rolling hills in SW NY, my 5/8 wave does better.

Another thing... The antenna system is by far more important that the radio. You are only allowed 4 watts, so you need a good antenna to radiate that out!
It is more important to spend the $$ on a good antenna system.

Do get the SWR meter, it will help you get things tuned up and help you determine if you are having problems. I have a MFJ meter, I think I spent $29.99 on it at AES Cleveland, although mine is meant for high power Ham Radio use.

Have fun with it...I started with CB when I was 9 or 10 years old, and now I am slowly progressing though the Ham radio tests and levels. (Currently a Technician, will be taking my General test in November sometime)

I am actually going tomorrow to buy my first "advanced" rig...a Yeasu FT-857D. Really looking foreward to it, I kinda feel the same way as I did before I bought my Cobra CB when I was 12.

Radio is fun.

 

[Bill]

The irregular surface on a vehicle is going to distort the radiation pattern more than a long or short antenna is really going to matter.

A 4ft continuously-loaded antenna is not as efficient as a 1/4 wave. I'm talking about the amount of power leaving the antenna, regardless of radiation pattern. Even then I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've had many contacts to Australia and a couple into southern Europe on SSB using a 4ft antenna.

 

[actbubba]

I use a uniden 510XL. It is cheap works great and lasts. Cobra make a cheap one with weather. Spend your money on anteana setup. The farther to the tailgate the better. I have mone about a foot behind the cab and I get a lot of engine noise. I have good gound and am wired straight to the battery with a noise filter. I use a Wilson 4 ft and I can out talk anyone in my camp. I am going to try moving it closer to the tailgate and maybe a filter on the antenae cable..to get rid of the engine noise...

good luck

 

[Ozwynn]

the length of the antenna only matter for receiving. all 11 meter closed loop antennas (antennas that use the coax to ground to radio chassis) radiate from the base (or the loading coil if you have one). get the base of the antenna as high as you can.

 

[Bill]

BDAB:

You really need to buy yourself a good book on antenna theory.

A ground plane is not a closed-loop antenna. Closed-loop antennas typically aren't fed with coax. They can be, but they need a matching circuit so you can feed the balanced load. Coax is not a balanced feedline. A vertical (monopole) radiator is not a balanced load.

You get the same gain receiving or transmitting on a given antenna.

Gain is measured either at the main lobe of the radiation patter, or at a given elevation. In the case of ground plane, the gain at the horizon is most important, but that isn't always where the maximum angle of radiation occurs.

A 5/8 wave ground place has gain over a 1/4 wave ground plane because the main lobe is narrower, thus increasing radiation near the horizon.

That antennas radiate from the base is not absolute. It depends on the current distribution along the radiator.

This information is readily available on the internet, so you don't have to speculate about it.

 

[Bill]

actbubba:

You need to determine how the noise is getting into the radio. Disconnect the antenna and see if you still hear it. If you hear noise with the antenna disconnected, the noise is coming in through the power leads. A filter may help.

If the noise only occurs with the antenna connected there are two possibilities. One is that the noise is being picked up from the antenna itself. The other is one end or both ends of the coax aren't grounded. Make sure the shield has a good bond to the connectors. An ohmmeter works well for this. If you still have problems, bond both ends of the coax to the vehicle. This prevents RF from propagating along the coax.

 

[actbubba]

Bill,

When I disconnect the cable from the base of the antenna the noise stops. So the antenna is picking up the noise from the engine? Also when the engine is off i get no noise. I have heard this is a common problem with Rangers? I have the antenna and radio grounded to the frame. I also have a noise filter on the power supply from the battery. I am not sure what you mean by having the coax ends grounded or bonded? Can you give more detail. Thank you. I would be tickled to get rid of this noise. I have to turn the squelch way up when the engine is on which reduces my range pick up folks. Do you think a filter on the coax would help. I have seen them at truck stops for about $20.

 

[Bill]

Is this a mag-mount antenna?

If not, may sure the coax shield has a good electrical contact to the body of the truck.

Where is the antenna located?

 

[actbubba]

Bill,

It is a Wilson permanent mounted on drivers side about 18in behind cab on bed rail. There is a ground wire on the antenna that I have mounted to the frame. After doing a little research I think my problem is coming from the fuel pump. Check this tech tip out...
http://97vette.com/sporttrac/rfi_fix/rfi_fix.html
When turn I the key on and fuel electric pump starts the static starts at the same time.
I am going to try this fix....

thanks,

 

[Bill]

That may work.

http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/pdf/W1MG.pdf

The next one goes into an explanation of some DIY fixes. For your purposes, CB is in the upper HF part of the spectrum.

http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/fuel.html

That site also has a lot of other radio-related information. Some of it password-protected to encourage people to join the ARRL, but there should be enough information available to keep you busy, if you are interested in it.

http://www.arrl.org/tis/tismenu.html