Howdy folks, wanting to put a CB radio in my 94 F150. Have little knowledge about CB radios, but have used many in the past, just want to get back in the "network" and start bs'ing again. I don't want anything flashy or high powered, only legal and as effective as possible. Getting the juice and isolating noise aren't a major concern for me, but what is the best way to run the antenna wires? Where would be the best way/place to put the antennae, how should I "tune" it. Anyone have a favorite "talk box" that they are fond of? Anyone have a favorite antennae they like...something that is not very noticable, I don't want any dual whips are anything. Haven't bought anything yet, so what is the best way to go? Got some tips? I do have rollbars in the truck if I can make use of them, that is certainly a possibility. Let me know what you all think.

Over and Out,
Rad

 

Hello breaker, this here is White Wolf,

I'm active for about 25 years with CB here in The Netherlands.
From the beginning on i've liked the design and quality of the President/Uniden,
the first was a illegal President Andrew J., because i was waiting for my legal President KP44, back then we only may use 22 channels FM and 0,5 Watt.
Thru the years the regulations went up to 40 channels FM and 4 Watt.
These days we still use this, but may use the AM and SSB modulation too as wel, and that is a nice thing.

I have had a lot of CB's from different brands, but the red line is President/Uniden, i have 3 of them right now, a George, a Jackson and my good old KP44 (not for use anymore, it's on display).
But in the states are brands on the market, which we don't know over here.

The antenna is another thing, buy a good one, because the antenna is the thing that has to do it.
You can buy the best CB there is, but with a bad antenna it's nothing.

The rollbar is a very nice place to mount the antenna, up here it has a good open view in all directions and the steel of the rollbar is a good ground, two important things.
Use a widebanded antenna, the SWR will be nice low and flat for the channels you use.
By the way, is 40 channels AM 4 Watt still the norm in the States?
Normaly a longer one performs better then a short one, because the shortning is compensated by a coil and this part don't transmit or receive.
Using a flexibel whip is not a good idea, at speed it wil flex down and gives bad performance.

By myself i have good expierence with the Firestik antenna's, on my eighteen wheeler a use a double setup with 4" Firestik II, added with stainless steel springs and on the Econoline i use a 5" Firestik II with quickrelease.
When i see how good the antenna's on the eighteen wheeler are and perform after all those years of hitting trees and so (the roads are sometimes very narrow), i will buy a new set again!

http://www.firestik.com/

Place the cable as far as possible away from the ignition, and beware not to cut the cable short, there are antenna's which need a specified length of cable.

Under good conditions, i have made long distance connections of over 600 miles, operating only the standard 21 watts on SSB of the President CB's.

So your signal is going bad, if you have questions you may place a PM too.

Cheerio bye bye,

White Wolf (Rudi)

 

The best antenna set-up will be the largest, ugliest one you can buy, and put in the most obvious obnoxious place on the truck. This is true with any type of antenna whether it's TV on your house or CB on your truck.

If you want all your talk power to go 360 degrees, put the antenna smack in the middle of the cab on top. If you put it on the roll bar, your talk power will favor towards the front of the truck, with less toward the rear. Do not consider the duals, unless you can mount them wide enough apart. The 18 wheelers have wide enough cabs where they can use them. This dual mounting set-up also concentrates the power front to rear, something truckers like because they can talk to people on the road, and have less power going to the sides. When you are on the move, you can't talk to someone for very long at a base station anyway before you get out of range.

The best antenna will be one of those 9 footers that you see people have bowed over and tied to the bumper so it will clear obstacles. This is pretty ugly and not very practical, so the other shorter designs are most commonly used, with some compromise in output.

 

What do you guys think about quick-disconnecting mounts? I've been reading up on this...seems most practical for me to mount one right in the middle of my rollbars (even though it's not the exact center of mass), get an excellent antenna, I've already got a Firestick 6 footer that has not been used, use a quick-disconnect, so I don't have to ALWAYS have it on. Find the best coax cable I can and run it right through the cab with a nice rubber insolator. Then find a decent radio, Uniden does look appealing What would be the best way for me to get it tuned? Take it to shop somewhere? Next question would be: WHERE! I never knew that 2-way radio communications were so delicate, I know now
Thanks guys,
Rad

 

Hey Rad,

What Alan has noted is basically true.

Where are you living or using the set, in the mountains or on a more flat open area?
In the mountains your better of with a 1/4 wave, the radiation pattern is not only horizontal, but also more up in the air, so more usefull in the mountains.
In open field a longer one is better say 5/8 or 3/4 wave, this pattern concentrates more at the horizontal, so the horizontal reach is better then a 1/4 wave.

We call the CB-band also 11 metre band, 11 metre is the wave lenght.
So a 1/4 wave is 2,75 metre or 9", 5/8 wave is 6,9 metre or 22" and 3/4 wave is 8,25 metre or 27".
These lenghts on a base station are not a problem, but on a car...
So for mobile use these electrical lenghts are shorter by the use of coils, and then is a wide range of mechanical lenghts possible.
The Firestik 6" is a 5/8 wave antenna, the coil is stretch up from the base to the top also called helical, you can see this coil under the plastic surface.
And then will the 6" Firestick perform better then the 2" version.

The 9" antenna Alan mentioned is probably a full 1/4 wave, but if this one performs better then the 6" Firestick... i can't tell, it's up to the use!
If you bowe the 9" (misadjustment), the Firestick will do for sure.
The best antenna with real misadjustment, will be out performed by a well adjusted less quality antenna.

The 360 degree radiation pattern of a car is less than perfect, even when it's in the middle, even when you tow a trailer the pattern changes!
So placing a antenna in the middle of the roof is a good idea, but not for long antenna's, these need a steady base because of the forces.

Can you reach the base of the antenna easily, then use 2 wrenches to disconnect the antenna, this is always better then a qiuck-disconnect, the one's from Firestik go up to 5" antenna's.
The reason why i use one is because the mount is between the reardoor and the sparetyre, there's no room for wrenches.
I think buying a stainless steel spring is a better investment.

A dual setup works the best with a 1/4 wave distance between the antenna's, this means on a smaller vehicle they would be too close and that could result in a bad SWR all the time.

The best place for adjustment is in open field, no obstructions around, doors closed, ect.
When you drive more with a trailer then without, adjust with the trailer on because it's electrical mass.
For the rest i can explain the adjustment, but on the Firestik-site is the whole procedure plus some tips.

As you say, use good cable with an insolator, and before entering the cab make a small loop below the entrance, this wil help to hold water outside.
And make the connector at the antenna waterproof, maybe with a small loop above the connector, so that when there is water intruded, this won't go far.

The things you know now are just the top of the iceberg, even the people at CB-shops don't know this all the time.
When you want to know more about CB communication, you can spend hours and hours!

Rudi