hey
how many of you have CB's in your truck? I was just curious about this, i think they are real interesting. radio transmission has always kinda interested me. anyone know any modifications you can do to make them more powerful or anything like that? i read up on how to put lights on top of my dual whip's, but havent done it yet.
Mike S.
1979 F-100

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 12-Feb-02 AT 09:25 PM (EST)]Been involved in CB Radio since 1975.

I run a Citizen MPL-5 Dual-Firesticks
487 channels total.

Now,For the Ultimate BREAK !

I run Push & Pull Power( 200w & 150w respectively)

I'm 10-8.


Dennis



Please Don't Ask Me Any Tough Questions As:
"I'm Saving My Memory For When I Develop Alzheimer's"


78 F-150 429CJ,Silver
w/Explorer Pkge.
641/2-Mustang 260,Pre-World's Fair Car.
64-Fairlane500 S/C waiting for a 390-4spd.
68-Mustang 289-Sunlit Gold 80,892Mi
78-Buick LeSabre 403 4V
84 Volvo DL Wagon

 

I've got a Cobra 40+ i dont know if these are good or bad but i got it for free so i'm not complaining, it sends out real good but doesnt pick up that great, i bought the antenna i got on it for a dollar at a tractor show so that could be the problum.

 

I have been a loud mouth for 30 yr and still play ch 17 every am about 5:30 am till 7:30 on base radio at home .Have a good group of about 6 people _+. Have radio in all veh except project 53. The conditions have become so bad- Skip and obnocthes( not spelled right) and most of all#$%^%&**(()_ type language and manners that mobile radio used mostly when traveling. Like all good things It gets ruined
caddy 53 chuck

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 12-Feb-02 AT 10:38 PM (EST)]Yep, I've got one. I've had this simple Realistic radio (Radio Shack's brand at one time) for a good number of years now. I've had compliments about its distance and clarity output.

Within the last three years I did move up to a K-40 antenna though.

Power, huh? Go to most any mom & pop CB shop that truckers use and they'll have illegal booster boxes for sale. I think I remember one shop saying the ones they had sold for a dollar a Watt, and they showed me a 150 and 200 Watt amplifiers. I was curious about them, but I didn't really want one - no real need for it with the radio I have.

Good CB shops have meters that they hook up between your CB and antenna (for a charge) to make adjustments to your antenna. It's all the more important on dual-antenna set-ups.

I used to use it for bear patrol, but now that I'm older and have an I-6 truck instead of a turbo car, so I use it for company on trips. Not that I'm cackling away on it the whole time, but the voices that come through it, as well as the topics, keep me interested and more aware than the radio stations do.

I still play the memory & guess-timation game of counting bears though. I like to be able to tell others what to look out for.

uh oh, this is getting to be a long post...

Knowing about 'gators in the road is a nice thing. So is avoiding 14 mile traffic standstills.

But the honest-to-God most memorable time I've had while using a CB put me as a participant in probably saving a 20-something year old girl's life, or preventing serious injury.

I was tooling along at, oh, about 80 MPH in my car on I-80 (Interstate 80 means go 80 MPH, right?) when I heard "Hey little black car, you got your ears on?"

After grabbing the mike and confirming, the driver of a big truck I just passed told me to take a look at the passenger's side rear wheel of the SUV up ahead of me. Hitting the brakes hard, I moved over to the slow lane and, still approaching it, said I didn't see anything yet.

The trucker corrected himself, saying it was the driver's side rear.

Sure enough, that thing was wobbling all over the place. I told the big truck driver he was right, he suggested I try to get beside her and get her attention, and I affirmed I was already on it.

Getting up beside her I think I beeped my horn and waved. I tried to point back at her wheel (hoping the thing didn't come off and knock us both off of the highway - this was still at 70 MPH). She started slowing down (fast!) and we simultaneously lowered our windows. I yelled about her wheel problem, taking split seconds to look at her (to throw my voice that way) look ahead of me and glance in the rear view watching a big truck and who-knows-what-else barrel down on two still-slowing vehicles takingup both lanes.

Knowing I had to open up at least part of the highway, I pulled up ahead of her (we're doing what, like 30 MPH now? - it felt like 15 ).

Running through my head from the moment I decided to make contact was all of those horror stories we hear of lunatics on the highway trying to get women, and that she might get really scared and ignore me when i was beside her.

Keeping an eye on her I slwoly pulled off onto the shoulder and slowed our speed... thankfully she followed.

Looking back at the road and what was really sparse traffic (while zooming past it in my car), both lanes were pretty filled up with people going slow. It's amazing how fast traffic gets back up behind ya when you drive that slow for even a short while.

The last thing I heard over the CB before I got out of my car was that Big Truck saying I did the right thing.

It turned out she had her tires rotated and they neglected to tighten all the lug nuts on that one Isuzu (i think?) wheel. I'm guessing they hand-tightened, or hand-placed, them and forgot to air-wrench them. The amazing thing was that all the lug nuts were there, seeing as how they were all at the very ends of their grip on the studs.

I do remember I was heading out to Ohio for Christmas vacation, and it was super cold with a bad wind chill. But I inspected a few of the studs as best I could without taking the wheel off (way too cold to play with her jack - actually I thought about it, but we couldn't find the jack handle). I then tightened them up, alternating cross-ways to bring the wheel back to center and on correctly.

In the end she offered me money, but I declined. I told her to drive carefully to the next exit, find a garage and have them pull the wheel and fully check, and hopefully change, the wheel studs. To this day I still feel bad about not thinking ahead and following her off the ramp and to a garage, but I did see her get going and everything looked good.

But having my CB allowed me to partake in that, and for that I am thankful for the antiquated, but useful, technology. Come to think of it, it's the exact nature of the limited technology that allowed me to get that notice from the truck driver - I now see that signal boosters & amplifiers that walk over everyone's conversations for miles around are illegal for a good reason.

 

CB's are the best radar detectors you can buy for driving the big roads. Those truckers know where every radar trap and police cruiser is located.

My first CB was built from a kit when they first came on the market, I think in the 60's. I've had one in every vehicle I've owned since.

[hr]
http://easyad.net/images/94vanavitar.jpg http://www.easyad.net/images/mustang1.gif

'94 E-150 Conversion Van 4.9 / C-6 -- '89 Mustang LX 5.0

 

The truck I got a couple of weeks ago had the Centurian package upgrade and there is a CB in the overhead console. The only problem is that when they traded it in, they didn't leave the microphone part. I have a Uniden that I have had for years, but they don't used the same types. I am having a tough time finding just the microphone part. I will probably just install my Uniden in there and get some dual Fire-Stik antennas to mount on my mirrors. Anyway, I ventured into the big city of Boise last week and couldn't find any parking spots on the street so I ventured into the newest parking garage. It was a little lower than I remembered. The truck had the whip antenna installed on the roof, so when I got to the first level, the antenna hit. The concrete supporters run about every 20 feet or so. There are also metal pipes inbetween each of the concrete supporters. So, about the third level, something just snapped and banged on the top of my truck. I knew it was the antenna right away. Needless to say, it was one noise ride up the garage. The antenna would bend almost to the roof of the truck then whip and hit the pipes all the way up. I was pretty embarrassed, but there was noone in there. Anyway, I though that was a pretty funny story to share about my CB antenna.

 

When I had my old Volvo,I had a 102" whip on the back that one time snapped then burst about 4 -8'flourescent tubes in a parking garage.
And yes, I paid for them to replace them.


Dennis



Please Don't Ask Me Any Tough Questions As:
"I'm Saving My Memory For When I Develop Alzheimer's"


78 F-150 429CJ,Silver
w/Explorer Pkge.
641/2-Mustang 260,Pre-World's Fair Car.
64-Fairlane500 S/C waiting for a 390-4spd.
68-Mustang 289-Sunlit Gold 80,892Mi
78-Buick LeSabre 403 4V
84 Volvo DL Wagon

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 13-Feb-02 AT 12:52 PM (EST)]I run a Cobra 25 w/ upper/lower channels. Wilson 2000 antenna. Maybe a little power, since it is illegal, I really don't remember.

Would rather run the 148GTL, but in my Explorer, the 25 fits in the center console much better. The 148GTL is too wide(too much cuttin').

Since my dad has been driving for 35 years, only natural I have had one in all my cars.

I use the antenna quick-release on mine so I can put my ride in the garage. Just pops on, pops off. Does not affect your SWR either.

 

Proud PONDSCUM #125 here...

I run a Wilson 1000 stick, Cobra 29WX, and a modified TEXAS STAR 400.

-And like I said before, the man I got it all from is not responsible for how I use it!

But for the sake of all the Cobra 29 users out there - clipping diode number D-11 (or was it 14?) does wonders....

Either way - measure your cable length exactly as if it was an antenna. If it's off, you'll have major VSWR.

 

Haven't seen a Texas Star in a long time... Last one I saw I think was about 8 years ago on a carry box my dad had.

I run a TX800.

Wish I could an old Texas Star, those are good...

 

I've got a cheap cobra from K mart........bout fifty bucks and a "lil wil" from wilson.......... I don't use it much cus no one comes in that clear usually and when they do i'm a little worried i don't know what im talking about lol...haven't got cb language down yet.

 

Well, mercy sakes alive there Good Buddy,it's clean clear to Shaky town com'on.

Now,that part is out of the way.

How many of you that have had/have C.B.'s had

QSL Card printed fot handing out?

I had Two different ones.
One card for the Mobile & One for the Base station.


I'm 10-8

Dennis



Please Don't Ask Me Any Tough Questions As:
"I'm Saving My Memory For When I Develop Alzheimer's"


78 F-150 429CJ,Silver
w/Explorer Pkge.
641/2-Mustang 260,Pre-World's Fair Car.
64-Fairlane500 S/C waiting for a 390-4spd.
68-Mustang 289-Sunlit Gold 80,892Mi
78-Buick LeSabre 403 4V
84 Volvo DL Wagon

 

Cobraxp: You can still buy the texas star . They also have a web site. check it out lto of info.
caddy 53 chuck

 

I run a Cobra 25LTD (original, not the new night ranger model) with dual firesticks mounted just behind my cab.....i seriouslyneed to get some springs for those bad boys! my friend lives 11.3 miles from my driveway (thats 11.3 miles of wonderful sagebrush and dirt from Eastern WA) and on a clear night with little interference we can pick each other up real clear from driveway to driveway. All the replys were real interesting!
Mike S.
1979 F-100