CB How to / Setup / Question and answer thread

[Guest]

Just a small Cobra 19 40 channel. I'm running a fiberglass 48 inch antenna.. the ground is good, I thought it could be a bad mic but I switch microphones to no avail. I'm guessing bad radio as well... oh well

[blue1968GTO]

I'm looking for my first CB. Well, OK. My second CB. I had one back before Smokey and the Bandit.
I'm just looking for a trail radio. I have a TJ so space is tight.
I saw a Cobra remote mount CB that I'm thinking I could park under my back seat.
Do you have any experience with these?

[Jack.Moorhead]

Guys,
EricFX1984 has a great collection of pictures above to explain everything CB. The thread is very informative and I think this thread could be published as "All a Jeep Needs to Know About CB"!
As for Eric's pictures, the antenna on the VW is a quarter wave antenna is a 102" whip. It could be mounted anywhere as long as it has a spring at the bottom. Most people know the spring helps it tollerate being hit or running into things and not ripping a hole in your body or bumper. The reality is the spring is it is part of the antenna length and adds the 6" needed to make it a 108" quarter wave antenna.

Then he tells us about the Firesticks that are shorter and come in various lengths. He is still on the mark! The photo of the Firestick on the red pick up is a perfect picture. If you look closely, you can see the 108" of antenna wrapped around the fiberglass shaft. This is why they can be shorter, but still work as well as the quarter wave antenna. The last 12" of antenna is never wrapped so you can trim it down to set your SWR, (which should be 1:1). The red cap is removed, you trim your antenna and replace the cap when you are finished. When you wrap the wire around the shaft, you trick the radio into thinking it has a 108" antenna.

The next picture is just as great as the first two pictures. The Mag mount, short for Magnetic Mount has a coil on the base just above the magnet. This coil is like the Firestick, only the 70-78 inches of wrapped wire around the fiberglass shaft is coiled up inside the plastic cylinder. The 35" wire antenna above is the adjustable part of the antenna. Just above the coil you can see the adjusting collar and the antenna is tuned and locked into place with a set screw.

The last picture of antennas shows an antenna with a coil in the middle of the antenna. You can use these antennas for higher wattages because the run cooler and handle the higher wattages. Remember the Federal Regulations for CB radios is set at a 5 watt maximum of measured output.

Eric- Great photos. Having a General Radio Telephone since 1968 myself, I see you love radios and know the craft!

The most important part of tuning an antenna or finding the best location for "range" is the placement of the antenna to the relative mass of the vehicle. All things being equal, (which is impossible in todays world), the best location to place an antenna is dead center, atop your vehicle. Looks dumb and avertised to every crook in the world, "Radio aboard, come steal it!" Most people find that Mag mounts or trunk lid mounts work great and can be removed easily without leaving holes all over the body. These mounts let you get the antenna more center for a better rounded communication. The trick to "reaching out" is the more metal of the car to one side of an antenna, the more radio power is directed. So if you mount an antenna or your rear bumper, you will send more power forward and less power to the rear.
Of course you are only dealing with 5 watt communications, so it will work great for 1.4 to 5 miles when properly tuned.

I hope this is another chapter for CB radios for Jeeps. KC Jeep Club has to be the best informed CBers in the Jeep world!
Jack