CB radio noise

[crappieman]

lil wil

Thats a darn good antenna for what your trying to do , you shoiuld be able to get your swr a lot lower . you have 18ft. of coax laying around in a ranger
Do not lay the coax in the cab in small coils if at all possible loop it loosely , center antenna on roof of cab you can just about get to were your swr is out the box just by dropping the stinger to the bottom of the shaft and lifting it just enough to clear contact with the bottom of the shaft . I don't claim to know a lot but cb,s and keydown competitions are my first true love . And yes i do operate a competion rig of my own set up by me , and have gone from my 8 pill class and up to and won 12 pill to finally lose in the 16 pill early rounds . Come down to Camp Lejeune in carolina 3rd weekend in march every year for the keydown , great time to be had .

 

[orange_ranger]

i just installed an old radioshack cb and have yet to actually get any talk other than noise is their anything i could have screwed up

 

[5speedin2.3]

Ok, you guys lost me. I am buying a wilson 5000 this weekend. I do have a ? though. I now have a radio shack cheapy cb, in a deal I got a cobra 18 ultra weather band. Is this cb better than the rs one, or not even worth it just save up for something else? I do like that it has weatherband though.

I think you should be ok with a 500 or 1000 unless you plan to get an amp, the antenna should always be twice your peak power.
Although the 5000 is better then the 1000 and 500 because it can handle more power.
I spent the extra money and went with the 5000 because I eventually plan to run more power when I get my ham license.

As for the radio, If its one of the mini CB's then I'm sure the 18 is going to be better, especially if its been peaked and tweaked.
Weatherband is nice for the long trips upnorth here, I like having it.

 

[mentalbreakdown00]

Ok the cobra 18 is junk never get one if you can help it. I now have my wilson 5K ant. and it's installed. I bought my stryker 490 today, 125 watts, with usn and lsb.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ok the cobra 18 is junk never get one if you can help it. I now have my wilson 5K ant. and it's installed. I bought my stryker 490 today, 125 watts, with usn and lsb.

What is wrong with the 18?

 

[5speedin2.3]

Ok the cobra 18 is junk never get one if you can help it. I now have my wilson 5K ant. and it's installed. I bought my stryker 490 today, 125 watts, with usn and lsb.

Stryker makes some nice radios. I'm sure you love the new setup.

Add in a nice power mic and you will be set.

 

[WNY964x4]

i just put a Uniden PC68 Elite in my truck with a Cobra mic and a Diesel external speaker , looking into getting an Astatic Road Devil mic , still gotta ground my antennas though , picking up alot of static and right now i just have them hooked to the backrack which is bolted to the fiberglass bed

 

[5speedin2.3]

i just put a Uniden PC68 Elite in my truck with a Cobra mic and a Diesel external speaker , looking into getting an Astatic Road Devil mic , still gotta ground my antennas though , picking up alot of static and right now i just have them hooked to the backrack which is bolted to the fiberglass bed

I wouldn't use your radio for anything other then listening. If you don't have the antenna tuned or hooked up right you WILL fry the finals in the radio and they're expensive to replace.

 

[WNY964x4]

well right now i am in a state where u need it , so what do you think is on my list of stuff for tonight , i soon as dad gets outta work we are gonna finish my set-up , gotta re route my coax in the cab and ground the antennas , i have never tuned the antennas , since all the wadios i have had - with the exception of the pro510 - have had the adjustment right on the radio

 

[5speedin2.3]

Lol.. Alright.

I'm sure your range is horrible. Trust me, you should tune your antenna and make sure the SWR is less then 1.5:1.

I run almost 1kW. I think I know what I'm talking about.

 

[WNY964x4]

i trust you , but the person i am having help me i trust also , my dad is helping me and he was an over the road trucker for 18 years and had some wild set-ups and knows his stuff

 

[Scrambler82]

mentalbreakdown00,

How'd the install go ?

Reading the all of the posts got confusing too many different topics, I have this, I have that... man lets stick to what is asked, please/thank you...

Did you say you changed the CB ?

How did the antenna tune for SWR ?

The Wilson 5000 is a great antenna, I run Wilson Fiberglass, is it mag mount of hard mounted ?

WNY964x4,
Always tune the antenna using an external SWR Meter; the internal meters/SWR Tuning is to help the radio only it does nothing to tune the actual antenna system.
The main reason for tuning the antenna to the system is to get all of the power possible out the antenna.
When you use a Match Box or an internal device to tune the SWR (so to speak) it only adjusts the mismatch at the radio and burns up any mismatch in heat dispersion in the match box; yes the tuner saves the radio but does nothing for the antenna/coax and the transmission of the signal.
An internal tuner should be used after the initial tuning, to tweak out any small mismatches that occur overtime through corrosion, wet conditions or just road dirt.
IMHO, get the whole system tuned.

Sorry if this ruffled any feathers but it is my opinion.

 

[WNY964x4]

WNY964x4,
Always tune the antenna using an external SWR Meter; the internal meters/SWR Tuning is to help the radio only it does nothing to tune the actual antenna system.
The main reason for tuning the antenna to the system is to get all of the power possible out the antenna.
When you use a Match Box or an internal device to tune the SWR (so to speak) it only adjusts the mismatch at the radio and burns it up any mismatch in heat dispersion. Yes the tuner saves the radio but does nothing for the antenna/coax and the transmission of the signal.
An internal tuner should be used after the initial tuning, to tweak out any small mismatches that occur overtime through corrosion, wet conditions or just road dirt.
IMHO, get the whole system tuned.

Sorry if this ruffled any feathers but it is my opinion.

no ruffled feathers here , i trust my dad , but i like to get other opinions too , he knows alot , but not everything , my uncle (whose handle is electrician) on the other hand , has built some nasty set-ups , the FCC came to my grandmothers in rochester and told him to never key up his system again , he was disrupting cable and telephone service in a half mile radius every time he keyed the mic , talking to people in russia and germany and all over

 

[Scrambler82]

no ruffled feathers here , i trust my dad , but i like to get other opinions too , he knows alot , but not everything , my uncle (whose handle is electrician) on the other hand , has built some nasty set-ups , the FCC came to my grandmothers in rochester and told him to never key up his system again , he was disrupting cable and telephone service in a half mile radius every time he keyed the mic , talking to people in russia and germany and all over

Those were the days when CB was King and a lot more fun... I was young then but it got my interest going in Radio Communications and get me to take the Amateur Radio License Tests.
Luck to you and I hope all goes well in your install.
Keep the site posted on your progress.