Sarge,
Sorry didn't mean to avoid you. Think you came in as i was typing. No harm in owning a 10m rig for 11m. As long as you stay off the 10m side. Amateurs typically police their own bands so it's us you would have to deal with us not the GOV's.(lol)

 

Like I said I am a listener, unless a big truck wants to come into my lane I will tell hime come on over. My uncle has just gotten into CBs and he spent some cash on a Galaxy 159 all peaked and tuned and a Connex 10m peaked and tuned.

What worred me about the 10m he bought was everything I read says its a amature radio and you need a license to operate it. So thats what sparked me to join this thread and try to learn something.

I still think I will stick with the Galaxy 179 with USB and LSB. I stay on channel 14 or 15 if I talk to him, and if we bleed over we will go to the upper 30's or 40.

If I ever buy a CB with SSB capabilites we would probly use that since we can talk farther.

Sarge

 

Typically the 10 m ham radios when modified will work on the 11m cb band and vise versa.
So regardless, he can use the radio as long as he stays on the 11m frequencies. All of the 10m (ham) radios typically display in "frequency" so he will know where to stay.

10M ham band starts at 28.000 mhz

 

I'm not a wiz either. The modulator is responible for the the wattage. I think that's how to say that. So to peak the radio they do something to mod to get what it can do. Its like this a cobra 29 is a 4 watt radio. I had 1 that was txing 6 watts right out the box. How is FCC gonna force 4 watts on that? My gal has a 10 watt modulator it peaked at 18 watts. Your ant isn't going to make any watts but will be need to be tuned. "SWR"s with a lot of ants these days they have a screw at the end that you screw in and out. A swr of 1 or less is the goal. I don't know about the 179 gals but 44, 55, 66 etc doesn't have meters on them. You have to buy a meter. Getting it peaked and tuned will benifit you more than a talker. The ears get the most benifit from it.

 

I have been in CBs for a while. You can get a real good rig for less than if you are going to spend for a 10M rig. It won't do quite what the Connex will do, but you also won't have to lay down 4 to 6 hundred for it either. If what you are looking for is just a good radio with reliable service, then probably the best would be a Cobra 29 of some type. There are different styles. The deal with the 29 is later down the road if you see you want to be able to reach out a little farther, you can get it a supermod to peak it to say 50 watts. Then you hear the truckers out there sounding like they are in a giant empty room talking and you want that. Well, you can get a talkback added. The 29 is a cheaper radio to upgrade because a lot of smaller truckers have them so the CB shops are big in keeping the updates available for them. I ran into a great deal last year. I was at a yard sale and saw a ragged CB box laying there and asked how much. I bought it for $100. It is a 1989 Cobra 148GTL. It was brand new!!! The box had never been opened and the radio still had the seal on the plastic containing the radio. I actually had to cut the old tape for the box to open it. I ran it for a while and wanted more. It now has a 150 watt supermod with talkback and echo box. I also have an external speaker mounted under it because the powerstroke made enough noise that I could not hear it. I keep it turned down so as not blow the speakers out of some other guys radio. I had this done because I run a lot in the mountains and wanted to be able to call out for assistance if needed. Where I go sometimes there is not any cell reception at all for miles. I did not do this just to get my rocks off to blow away some radio. But, if I want to get out, she can do it NO PROBLEMS. I also have a Wilson 5' antenna and she outperforms any other antenna that I have ever used including the firestik.

 

I will be joining the cb world in a couple of weeks. I will be buying a Cobra 29 LX LE. It will be out in the next couple of weeks. It's an anneversary model, and they are only making 20,000 of them. Here is a link to see what they look like. Truckers-Store has all the good stuff: CB Radios and much more I am not buying from these people, but they had some good pics. I am also going with the Wilson 1000 antenna with the magnet mount. I really don't want to drill a hole in the truck. So as of now I am planning the magnet mount. I was told the magnet mount doesn't get a good of reception, I don't know.

 

A little off topic, but you guys know what your talking about! The previous owner of my truck had a CB in it, then took it out before he sold it to me, so it's wired and ready to go. I'll be putting one in soon. It has this antenna mount of the roof for a Firestik: FireStik 2.5" Circular Disk Mounts - k4dd. How big of an antenna could this support without flexing the roof? I'm wirred about it messing my roof sheet metal up. I was thinking of doing a 3 foot antenna. I but my buddy's 6 foot on there and it seemed to be too heavy for the mount. What is a good size antenna? I'm just starting to learn all this stuff. I'm 22 years old, so CBs are kinda new to me lol

 

The deal with getting good reception is the mount. The mount has to have a good ground. It gets the ground by the connection from the connector to the body. This is usually through the antenna mount. The magnetic mount will usually get out, but not as far. It is limited by the magnet connection not being thoroughly solid to the body. Another thing that can restrict the signals is where it is located on the body in proportion to the radio. My antenna is on the drivers rear of the truck. I will get better signals on that side and to the rear. It will probably not be noticeable to me because of the solid mount. I have heard of magnetic mounts restricting the signals by where they are located and the height of the antenna. The antenna needs to also be the tallest point on the vehicle. If the tip does not go above the top of the cab, it will also give interference to the signals coming and going. Before I installed my hard tonneau, I had mine mounted right behind the cab with a 4' antenna. Now since I moved mine to the rear, I installed a 5' antenna.

 

Well, for me, I didn't want to drill a hole in the top of my cab, and then someday say, I don't want this anymore. Then I am stuck with a hole in the top of my cab. The bumper is a little different. A bumper is not a lot to replace if you decide you don't want it any more. I see used bumpers on Craigslist all the time. Even the guy selling me my cb said to drill and mount it. I think I want to try the magnet mount first, and see how it goes. I think the antenna I am getting is 5 feet long. I'm getting a Wilson 1000. I'm going to stick it right on top of the cab, in the rear, and center. I am wondering how hard it would be to run some ground wires to it. I really don't know. I have never had a cb radio before.

 

Also, when you get your radio installed and everything hooked up, you need to go to a CB shop and get the antenna dialed in. They will usually do this for a little cash, say $5 or so. They hook a box up to the antenna connection at the rear of the radio and hook your coax into their box. This puts their box directly inline with the antenna signal. They go to channel 40 and key the mike then go to channel 1 and key the mike. It needs to have a signal of around 1 to 1.5. Mine is 1.2. Most new antennas have an adjustable tip on the top. By sliding it up or down, it sets the signal of the coax assembly as a whole. If you do not do this, it may work, but it could do a lot better after it is dialed in correctly. By not doing this, you may pick up good but not put out as good or vice versa. Just something to think about. If you don't have one of the high output radios, don't go out and buy one of those antenna that have coils and stuff that say it is good for 1000 watts!!!! Your radio, even mine at 150 watts does not need that. It can't put out 1000 so I don't need it. I have seen a big difference in antenna brands though. For the money and durability, I use Wilson. I have tried them all. Next, I would use Firestik. It is good, but my Wilson 5' 1000 out performs it and has not given me any issues.

 

If you want a good mag mount, Wilson makes one. I think it is a 5000 model. You could also buy one of the mounts for the hood and rebend it to work between the fiberglass cap and the bed off to the side and run the coax inbetween there also. The foam seal will give enough to make a good seal around it. I also thought of doing this to my setup...

 

I have never had a cb before. I'm not sure I understand what you are saying here. So the first antenna would go on top of the cab, and the second would go on the hood? Then bend the second one and put it between the bed rail, and topper. So I would actually set the topper right on top of the bent antenna?

 

what can i get to listen to cops

 

And yes, if you really get into this and like it as I have, you will have upgrades done. I have put enough money into my rig that I could have saved my money and bought a good 10M radio. I paid 100 for the radio. Ran it for six months, then had it peaked, tuned and a supermod of 50watts. That was 50 more. Then six more months, I had a 150 watt mod done, added talkback, and echo. That was 129 for the watt upgrade, 50 for the talkback and 50 for the echo. That is a total of $379 not counting changing the 4' antenna to a 5' antenna for a cost of 30. Total now, $409. I could have bought a Connex 360 for that. But, I did not realize then that I would enjoy talking to the truckers or the local boys on their big home rigs and stuff. You know, we could use a phone, but that is not as fun as talking on the radios or sitting out in the driveway with nothing going on and talking to good 'ol boys while drinking a cold one. Sometimes, I turn on the external speaker when I am out in the snow looking for terrible drivers, and ask if they need any help... You know it is fun sometimes when I go to the annual Grand Rod Run and turn the external on and talk out to ya!!! HAHAHA It is good to use during a long trip too. It's usefull and fun to play with.

 

No, if you want to go with the mag mount, use something like the Wilson 6000 series. If you want to have a solid mount, use drill the bumper, or buy a bumper mount. You could use one of the hood mount models though and bend it, "or refab" it to be used to mount on the edge of the bed off to the side. It would come out between the camper shell and stick out about an inch and a half or so. Then connect the cable and antenna to it. The cable would come out right beside the mount you install on the bed edge and the camper shell seal would seal out the "outer life". Then if you decide that you don't want it any more you just take it out and you are back to not having one again with only two little holes in the edge of your bed...