1st Gen CB Radio setups!

Yeah, mine was an Ultra III until my receive starting acting up? I eventually bought a DX IV and everything is good? Never changed the cabling. So, something is up with the receive? If the person TX'ing is about 30ft or more away, it works fine. So, other than that, the TX/RX works just fine and it was working fine for almost 5yrs straight.

Anyways, in either case, it points to the radio. I now use it for a "station unit".

I like the DX IV because of the RF Gain control.

 

Good one. Mine in the Taco is a RS Pro-2066, the one in the home is a Uniden BC785D. They're old as mold but both get 800-digital trunked and SFPD/FD are there.

 

I plan on getting a digital trunked handheld.

I got the Uniden because my old handheld, RS PRO-66, is not "narrowband". Long Beach Fire, for example, went to narrowband around April 2012 or might have been 2013? Anyways, I was a part of that city-wide change, but it cut down volume on my scanner by half or more!!! LOL!!!

Anyways, I have a "pigtail" mount from the bed to the inside of the cab and it gives me other options. Right now, I'm using it for my portable "Chinese Red Army" Boafeng handheld 2m/70cm Nagoya

$21 NA-771 15.6" Whip VHF/UHF (144/430Mhz) Antenna SMA-Female for BTECH and BaoFeng Radios

NA-771 antenna.

 

Yes it is

 

Little better pic haha

 

I have a Cobra 75WXST handheld CB. The remote box is secured in the lower compartment of the center console where it then runs to the back of an OTRATTW blank that nests in my Paranoid switch panel in the single DIN spot under the head unit. I just store the handheld mic in the glove box until I need it.





I have a 4' Wilson Flex antenna mounted on a BAMF tailgate mount on my driver's side.




I ran the coax from the antenna under the bed rail in the bed down to the front of the bed on the driver's side - fully concealed and out of the way. The coax was then fished down the channel that runs between the two skins of sheet metal on the front of the bed. From there the coax runs through the driver's side grommet on the rear wall of the cab and into the rear storage cubby. Through a hole in the cubby under the carpet to the rear of the center console, up through a small concealed hole and into the lower compartment where the remote box is.

Here's a crappy pic of the coax running down the channel between the two bed skins and into the rear grommet of the cab. This is looking up from the floor. You can see the channel on the left and the grommet on the right.



I like this install a lot. All the cable, power supply, connections and CB is super concealed and the installation is clean. Might not be the greatest range for a CB but I've never once had any issue during a road trip or trail run.

 

How did you surface mount the cb connector to the blank?

 

Lots of epoxy

 

Yup! Great little radio, nice to see someone with the same setup. And yes that is a Paranoid Fabrication bracket in the factory clock cutout! That guy makes some good stuff.

 

haha, that's one way to do it

 

Yes! Thought I saw somewhere you said the cobra wouldn’t fit in that slot. Here’s proof! Haha

 

It's not in the slot! Still mounted in front of shifter, just barely squeezes in.

 

Just went and took a couple pics of my setup. Used stock holes in dash to run the headset connector through (75 WX ST Cobra), and the transmitter is held behind a trim panel. Just a Wilson 3' antenna on the outside on a CBI mount. Tunes nicely to 1.2-1.3 SWR

 

Thanks for posting this up! I'm going the same route

 

I'm looking to install a CB in the ashtray location. Which radios have the weather chanels as well that fit into the ash tray? Any?

 

I have the Uniden 520XL and it doesn't have weather. But it fits neatly where the ashtray goes. That said, the dimension of the Uniden are 1-3/8"H x 4-1/2"W x 6-3/4"D.
Here is a pretty comprehensive (?) listing of all compact CB's - https://www.wearecb.com/compact/
The Midland 1001WLX and Cobra C19DXIV are similar in size...

 

I'm not aware of any. I will say though that I've had a CB for a few years now and never used it outside of weather channels. No one I go to Moab with uses them. It's all FRS/GMRS. Consider a truck mounted one of those along with a handheld.

 

Same setup I'm going to do. Any advice on running cables? Did you cut the plastic piece at the end of ashtray compartment?

 

This is how I trimmed mine.

 

Thanks for the reply. Does this get in the way of ac vents