CB radio's anyone?

[modern_family]

Do any of you use CB radio's anymore? If so, how has it helped you if any? Just wondering if they are still relevant. I grew up with my father always using one as many of us did who traveled before cell phones and other such technolgy. I bought a cheap one a few years back and had it on my Jeep when we did some trail runs and we talked to each other. Jeep is now sold and I finally got around to installing it in my truck this past week-end. I still need to get a mount for the antenna though.

I know I learned some "colorful language" from dads before one of the parents finally turned the volume down! I am ready wih my dads old radio handle too.

[camperpaul]

Don,
Here is his rig:



He would have to put the K-40 antenna on the hood.

Better off with the fender mounted 108" whip.

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

Oigetit2 wrote:
I've got a 99 Minnie Winnie, and am trying to find a CB antenna that will work I can't put one on the roof due to height, so thought the mirror, but can't find a bracket that will work. Any suggestions?? Thanks-

What kind of truck or vehicle do you have. Im running a K-40 with a mag mount, that you can remove the antenna at the base. Only adds about 3 inchs to the over all height of the truck.

Don

[camperpaul]

Oigetit2 wrote:
I've got a 99 Minnie Winnie --- snip ---

Mount an "8 ball" on the left front fender and use a 108" whip.

[Oigetit2]

I've got a 99 Minnie Winnie, and am trying to find a CB antenna that will work I can't put one on the roof due to height, so thought the mirror, but can't find a bracket that will work. Any suggestions?? Thanks-

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Wes Tausend wrote:

SoCalDesertRider wrote:

I wouldn't fool around with that clamp-on doo-hickey. Just drill the hole and be done with it. You can plug it with a plastic plug or rubber grommet when you're ready to sell the truck.

102" whips, when used with the stud mount and heavy duty spring, which makes them 108-109" long, exactly the 1/4 wave length of the 11 meter band, and mounted anywhere they can get a descent ground plane, usually give a nice wide, flat bandwidth for operating safely on many channels above and below the 40 channel CB band, even with an amp. The recieve and transmit signal strength of the 102 is usually also excellent, if the radio is at all descent.

A well-mounted 102 and a good mic can turn a cheap-o mud duck radio into an acceptable communicator, and turn a good radio into a real talkin' machine. 🙂

SoCal,

I'll keep in mind that the wrap-around chain clamp may not work as well as it did before. It probably mounted better than you are imagining on the old solid bumper, since it nearly embedded itself in the metal and would not move even if kicked with a foot. As of now I am reluctant to mount it purposely looser to protect the clear-coat and have it probably move around besides.

I do need a higher quality radio and should probably measure signal strength in a radius around the truck. My hope is that advances in tech will provide a cleaner, quieter monitor. SSB would be a bonus in this department, from what it sounds.

Thanks again.

Wes
...

I'm not sure how good the Cobra 148GTL's are these days, but back in the day, they were truly great radios, at a very affordable price. With a little minor tuning, they had great modulation and it was easy to set them up with 'funny' channels too. Their recieve was quieter than many radios, but still sensitive to hear weak signals. They had pretty good 'garbage rejection'.

Most radio techs knew how to tweak up and and add channels to a 148, back then. If you can find an old 148, from mid-90's or earlier, you'll have a great radio.

If you don't want the SSB, then a Cobra 29LTD, or Uniden PC76XL (clone of the 29), is an excellent 40 channel AM-only radio, likely the best ever made. These radios are super loud on the air, with minor tuning, and can be modded with 'funny' channels easily too. The 29's don't have nearly as good garbage rejection as the 148's.

You certainly can't go wrong with a vintage 148 or 29, and a 102" whip! 🙂

[mr__ed]

I never found much use for CB although I used it in times past to listen in on the truckers (had to put up with foul language occasionally). Sometimes I would contact a nearby trucker to ask a question but other than that I didn't find it too useful. OTOH, if a group of RV's are traveling together CB would be a good way to keep in contact, although hand-held FRS radios may work as well.

[Wes_Tausend]

SoCalDesertRider wrote:

I wouldn't fool around with that clamp-on doo-hickey. Just drill the hole and be done with it. You can plug it with a plastic plug or rubber grommet when you're ready to sell the truck.

102" whips, when used with the stud mount and heavy duty spring, which makes them 108-109" long, exactly the 1/4 wave length of the 11 meter band, and mounted anywhere they can get a descent ground plane, usually give a nice wide, flat bandwidth for operating safely on many channels above and below the 40 channel CB band, even with an amp. The recieve and transmit signal strength of the 102 is usually also excellent, if the radio is at all descent.

A well-mounted 102 and a good mic can turn a cheap-o mud duck radio into an acceptable communicator, and turn a good radio into a real talkin' machine. 🙂

SoCal,

I'll keep in mind that the wrap-around chain clamp may not work as well as it did before. It probably mounted better than you are imagining on the old solid bumper, since it nearly embedded itself in the metal and would not move even if kicked with a foot. As of now I am reluctant to mount it purposely looser to protect the clear-coat and have it probably move around besides.

I do need a higher quality radio and should probably measure signal strength in a radius around the truck. My hope is that advances in tech will provide a cleaner, quieter monitor. SSB would be a bonus in this department, from what it sounds.

Thanks again.

Wes
...

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Wes Tausend wrote:

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
Should work fine if you use a star washer inside the bumper on the antenna's stud mount, assuming you're mounting it through a hole you will drill in the upper surface of the bumper. Doesn't really matter what the outter surface of the bumper is coated with, since the plastic insulator of the stud mount will keep the antenna from touching the top surface of the bumper anyways. It's the bottom (inside) surface of the bumper where the coax's ground connection is made, via the stud mount.

SoCal, Don,

Thanks for the replies. I should have mentioned, I formally used a chain clamp for mounting to avoid holes in the bumper. Normally this link-mount was grounded directly on the underside, but in this case the clearcoat will likely insulate this from happening and I probably should protect the more fragile finish further with a bit of nylon strap.

Maybe I can form a hidden electrical ground contact surface directly on the nearby backside of the bumper. I do have a SWR meter, but it seems the ratio had never been too low with any mobile antenna mount I've tried anyway. Hope it's not too much worse.

Wes
...

I wouldn't fool around with that clamp-on doo-hickey. Just drill the hole and be done with it. You can plug it with a plastic plug or rubber grommet when you're ready to sell the truck.

102" whips, when used with the stud mount and heavy duty spring, which makes them 108-109" long, exactly the 1/4 wave length of the 11 meter band, and mounted anywhere they can get a descent ground plane, usually give a nice wide, flat bandwidth for operating safely on many channels above and below the 40 channel CB band, even with an amp. The recieve and transmit signal strength of the 102 is usually also excellent, if the radio is at all descent.

A well-mounted 102 and a good mic can turn a cheap-o mud duck radio into an acceptable communicator, and turn a good radio into a real talkin' machine. 🙂

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
I would think an extra ground strap would be a good idea. The better the the ground the quieter your radio I have found.

Don

Good point.

[Wes_Tausend]

SoCalDesertRider wrote:
Should work fine if you use a star washer inside the bumper on the antenna's stud mount, assuming you're mounting it through a hole you will drill in the upper surface of the bumper. Doesn't really matter what the outter surface of the bumper is coated with, since the plastic insulator of the stud mount will keep the antenna from touching the top surface of the bumper anyways. It's the bottom (inside) surface of the bumper where the coax's ground connection is made, via the stud mount.

SoCal, Don,

Thanks for the replies. I should have mentioned, I formally used a chain clamp for mounting to avoid holes in the bumper. Normally this link-mount was grounded directly on the underside, but in this case the clearcoat will likely insulate this from happening and I probably should protect the more fragile finish further with a bit of nylon strap.

Maybe I can form a hidden electrical ground contact surface directly on the nearby backside of the bumper. I do have a SWR meter, but it seems the ratio had never been too low with any mobile antenna mount I've tried anyway. Hope it's not too much worse.

Wes
...

[Perrysburg_Dodg]

I would think an extra ground strap would be a good idea. The better the the ground the quieter your radio I have found.

Don

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Should work fine if you use a star washer inside the bumper on the antenna's stud mount, assuming you're mounting it through a hole you will drill in the upper surface of the bumper. Doesn't really matter what the outter surface of the bumper is coated with, since the plastic insulator of the stud mount will keep the antenna from touching the top surface of the bumper anyways. It's the bottom (inside) surface of the bumper where the coax's ground connection is made, via the stud mount.

[Wes_Tausend]

...

I used some center-load mirror-mounted shortie antenna's for a while, way back when, but they are kind of a nuisance and the thick plastic mirror struts are different now. The handiest, out-of-the-way, antenna was the steel quarterwave whip on the bumper of the '76 truck I had at the time.

From a practical application, I'm not so sure if the bumpers are the same real exposed metal on the newer 2000 F-250, since when I recently tried to remove a blemish, it appeared the modern chrome bumper was maybe clear-coated. So would the 102 steel whip still work ok? Maybe needing an additional ground strap contact?

Wes
...

[SoCalDesertRid1]

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:

SoCalDesertRider wrote:

Been a few times lately on the interstate it would have been nice to find out what the traffic jams were about. Cant get that info on my fancy smart phone with internet, GPS, etc. Good 'ol CB radio is best. Always some truckers on it that are in the know.

Yep the 102' whip is the best antenna for CB use and coolest looking antenna. However it is very impractical to mount. The best location for any antenna smaller then 102" is in/on the center of the roof.

BTW not sure what kind of GPS system you are running the factory system in my wife's 200 will give you the option to reroute you around any traffic jams. That is only if the reroute will save your any time.

Don

I had ok SWR and bandwidth mounting the 102's on the rear half of the bedrails of my trucks. The bandwidth really improved when I mounted one on the rear edge of the roof, over the interior light. I've had them mounted on the center section of gull-wing cross-bed tool boxes with ok results.

I had one mounted on the corner of the roof/wall on one of my truck campers too. It was pretty high up there! Yes, it hit every overhanging thing in sight, but it worked good, once I ran a ground strap from the antenna mount, directly to the truck body. The camper was wood framed with a wood/rubber roof and aluminum siding. An aluminum roof would have made a nice ground plane for the antenna.

Maybe I'll build a headache rack for the crew cab and mount the 102 on that, or just put it on one of the rear bed rails. The truck has a steel framed, aluminum sided and roofed camper shell on it now. That would make an excellent ground plane, but I dont keep the camper on the truck all the time.

Or I could mount it through a hole in the rear edge of the cab roof, over the interior light, like I did on my old Chevy trucks. I plan to get another over-cab camper in the future, so I'll have to move the antenna later if I put it on the cab roof. Not really sure what I'll do yet.

One friend mounted a white fiberglass 102" whip to the center of his front bumper, because he had a big over-cab camper on the truck. The truck was white and so was the camper. With the big white antenna mounted on the front bumper, pointing slightly forward due to the slope of the top edge of the bumper he mounted the antenna through, the truck looked like a giant white rhinocerous! LOL :B

My other flatbed regular cab truck has a nice headache rack to mount the antenna to. Maybe I'll weld a mounting tab to the headache rack and put the 102 on that truck. It could stay permanently in that position, since I dont put anything on the utility body rack above that center area behind the cab.

I just have the standard maps, gps and navigation system the phone came with. I've tried getting instant traffic data from it, but maybe I just don't know how to do it. The phone is probably smarter than I am, LOL.