Iwould like to put a CB radio in my SD and if you had thoughts on good radios and antennas to put on this truck

 

Most antennas you'll see that arent magnetic require you to drill a hole in the truck for the mount stud. BIG pain in the butt trying to install/live with this type of base without grounding the antenna out!!! If the hole isnt for the mount stud, your still likely to have to drill a hole for the mount bracket. (EVERY time I've done this I regretted it within a year for one reason or another, and once the hole is there... To late!)

If your running a linear amp., go with a Wilson 1000. If your going "bare foot", go with a K40. Either way stay with a magnetic mount. I can quote statistics, and performance numbers for about every antenna under the sun (or you can look all that up on the internet as well!) but its pretty much agree'd that these are the best your ever going to do short of running a full eight foot whip (NOT very practical in most cases). In many peoples opinions (I'm inclined to agree) the shorter antennas listed above are still superior in overall performance. Your radio transmits from the base of the antenna, and recieves primarily from the tip. This is true for about 70% of the signal either way. So if you put a short antenna on your roof, you will actually "out talk" a full eight foot antenna mounted on a bumper. And tip height is still about the same. So the advantage goes to the Wilson & K40 unless you put that 8 footer on the roof. If you do that I hope you'll send me a picture!!!

A good radio... ALL depends on how much you spend. My opinion of a good radio is a Galaxy 959. Nope, I dont use it. But IMHO its the best there is. I run a Cobra 75 wx/st in which the entire CB (except for a SMALL box the antenna & power hook up to) is in the palm of you hand (nothing to mount to the dash at all! & easily hidden in bad neighborhoods!). The galaxy is MUCH clearer to listen to, but with a little boost ANY radio will reach out as many miles as you want it to and be very clear/loud. Like most things fun, thats illegal. So I didnt tell you to do it!

My radio has in the last year alone saved my butt from about a dozen tickets! Good luck!

 

By the way. Mobile scanners are illegal and will be confiscated by police in our state! Even hand held ones. If a peice of cop see's it in your truck they can take it! You can apply for a special license to have one... Good luck with that!

They still cant say anything about you having a CB though.

 

What about the glass mount CB attenas?

 

http://www.premiere-electronics.net/index.shtml

Pretty good place to at least find out what your options are!

The glass mounted antenna's are... Cute.

 

Cute huh. I guess that says enough.

 

While on the topic... what's the purpose of those "echo kits"

 

Some guys like the sound. Same for the "Roger Beeps". And all the other noise makers. Kids gotta have their toys!

Its all good, I dont care what gadgets people use. Only thing I dont like to see is idiots who get on there radios cussing & swearing trying to show off so you cant even have the radio on with a kid in the truck with you! ALL the states I personally have been in Michigan is far and away the worst for this. Dont know why. It's so bad I dont even turn my radio on until I leave the state now. Much as I HATE to say it... It'd be GREAT to see the FCC step on some of these guys!

 

Glass mount antennas don't work very well.Echo kits just let you tailor your voice a bit,just like musicians do in the studio.The best radio all around(price/easy to find,easily modified)is the Cobra 29 or Uniden pc78.Get one of these,have it "peaked & tuned" by any reputable CB shop,get a Turner 56 or Astatic microphone and ask the CB shop to match up the coax & antenna for you.I like echo boards,but they're not necessary.Here's a rough price list(all prices are for new stuff)
radio-$90-110
microphone-$60
18' coax-$15
antenna/mount-$20-80
peak & tune-$15-40
echo board-$40-70
Of course all these prices are very general & depend where you're at.

 

the Echo kits are for creating a nusiance. most guys turn the echo up so much they become unreadable. the 1000 watt linear is illegal too.
Agood mag mount in the center of the roof is the best way to go. gives the best coverage and can be removed for garaging. In some states volunteers, fire and ems are allowed to have scanners. and Hams are allowed scanners always. just don't get caught using them wrong or they will be confiscated too best of luck Phil

 

Cobra 29's and the Unidens are great radios. The power mic. you wont get any benefit from at all if you have the radio "peaked" with the factory mic.. Power mic.'s amplify your voice a little to fill the carrier signal modulation more (tv commercials do the same thing which is why they are louder than the shows you watch). If your radio is properly "peaked" with the standard mic. and you use a power mic. nobody will understand a thing you say because your overmodualating (radio will just squeal!).
The coax comes in pre-cut lengths that should NEVER be cut or altered. This will throw off modualation as well. You WILL have to tune the antenna SWR readings though. If you get one of the better radios Cobra 29, some Unidens, the Galaxy's, LOTS of them already have meters in the radio for you to do that yourself. It HAS to be done away from any buildings, power lines, or other obstructions to be even close to accurate though. So NOT likely any shop could really / accurately do this for you if you wanted them to. (Unless their ride with you out into the middle of a field!). When you tune the antenna make sure you are in the truck with your doors closed (this effects readings as well!) The better you tune your SWR the better it will work over its full range of channels. You can actually tune it to work better on ch. 1 than on 40 or vice versa if you like. If you do a little research online you can find out how to "peak" ANY radio by yourself in about 15 minutes. Some of the shops have been known to guess and destroy radios... BE VERY carefull about having somebody else do this for you. You can even buy books on "peaking" radio's. But again, its ALL on the internet if you find it.

 

NOT always the case, but many guys use echo kits to disguise their voices so if they are harrassing people on the radio they can use it to cause even more confusion.

Then again. Some guys just like the sound!
soupy264 is right, center of the roof, magnetic mount... As good as it gets! Your vehical is a ground plane for the antenna. If you put it in the center of the vehical you get better coverage in all directions. If you put it toward the rear of the it will actuall "pull" your transmitted signal toward the largest mass of the ground (forward).

 

Oh yeah, Its against the law to "peak" a radio!!! ANY modifications like this to a CB are illegal. So if you SHOULD find a site by searching for words like "cb radio mods", DONT put anything about it on public forums! & DONT do any of the mods.. That information is for referance only!

4 watts is all Johnny Law will allow. Yet even on EBay you sometimes find 400+watt amps. From what I've "heard", anything over 400 watts becomes very inefficient. Still works, but usually not very well (for MANY reasons). I would NEVER experiment with anything like that myself though!

 

Big Cheese--you say scanners are illegal in your state, but I can't find what state you are in.

 

Hey Big Cheese...I have the same radio your running. Can you drop me an email or send me a PM?