CB Help

Alright, just ordered a 5' Firestik II, SWR meter, Spring mount, and PA speaker (should be entertaining ) and going to go get the cable tomorrow.

Almost $100

 

Hey cool! When you need help let me know! Wish you lived here in Ca I'd set it up!

 

Might as well cover everything in this thread...

How would I go about hardwiring it into my truck? Can I just take the cables that provide power to my cig liter and splice them into the cables coming out of the CB without having to do anything else?

 

doesnt your CB come with a cig lighter adapter? I wouldnt splice into it, try to use an adapter with an inline fuse because this is a transmitting radio and will likely pull some extra amps on TX-you want that protection. The inline fuse if I remember is 5-15 amps. The fuse for the lighter circuit I believe is 25.

 

No, it only has two leads. It does have an inline fuse though. In the manual it says that it should be connected in the ignition switch accessory terminal. It also says that it can be connected to an available terminal on the fuse block or in the wiring harness.

 

I'm not saying it is correct or the best way to do things, but I disconnected one of the 2 auxiliary outlets and tapped into those wires.

 

Here's the user manual for my CB if you want to see if I would be able to just splice it into a 12v outlet.

http://uniden.com/pdf/PRO520XLom.pdf

 

+1 Toy also, pittim-you could just locate the fuse box, find an empty "12V" terminal and plug the POSITIVE wire into it (I usually cut a fuse in half and fold the wire lead around the conductive blade and plug it into that terminal) then find a good ground for the NEGATIVE wire (usually a dash screw that contacts the dash metal frame, or a screw by the firewall behind the brake pedal, etc>)

 

Bump...got everything in my room. Hopefully I'll get it in my truck this weekend (pending on whether or not I can find a drill around here on campus.)

I'll probably just tap into the aux outlet. Is it possible to tap into the cig lighter? Because I don't smoke, and the ashtray is going to be gone anyway so I really have no purpose for having it there.


Ridge, could you look over this guide and tell me if it is a good guide to follow with concerns to checking my SWR?
http://eriecb.com/SWR.htm#How to check SWR with an External SWR meter

 

Didn't read all of the posts, but mine just plugs in one of the aux ports and here are some pics of my install showing radio, first mount and last antenna mount for a 4' firestick.




Well I don't have any pics of the current mount I have that is mounted to my tool box anymore but can get you some pics if needed? Hope this helps some.

 

The CB that I got (

$65 Uniden Pro520XL Pro Series 40-Channel CB Radio. Compact Design. ANL Switch and PA/CB Switch. 7 Watts of Audio Output and Instant Emergency Channel 9. - Black

Uniden Pro520XL) just has two leads. No male of female connection that I can use an adapter for

 

I would imagine that it's wired same as the aux. outlets. I trimmed the mail blade plugs so they would plug right into the female end that came off of the back of the aux. outlets. This method saved me from having to cut any wires in the truck and I could easily reconnect the aux. outlet if I wanted.

 

Hi Pittm-yeah that site is good. Did you buy an SWR meter? Mine is analog (from the 70s-I suppose they are digital now but no problem. It should come with a patchcord (a short length of coax with connectors at both ends. You connect one end of that patchcord to the CB-the other end connects to the "radio" connector on the meter. The antenna connector on the coax to the antenna connects to the "antenna" connector on the meter.
You are NOT going to achieve the same SWR match on all 40 channels-actually your goal is to strike the best balance amongst all 40 channels.
1.turn on radio and tune channel 1
2.key up mike and look at readout. I say you want 1.7 or LESS, 1.1-1.2 being optimal. Make a note what the reading is.
3.tune channel 40 and key mike-look at readout-probably higher huh? Note reading there
4. tune channel 20 and repeat.
5. this is where that lil tuning whip on your firestik comes in.
6.Which of the three channels had the highest reading? Go to THAT channel, key up mike and have a friend raise or lower that tuning whip little bits at a time as you read the SWR (remember you want it to be as low as possible) NOTE:friend must move away from antenna each time he moves tuning whip so as not to interfere with wave field!
7. Once you achieve the best reading on that channel, check the other two.
Otherwise we can coordinate here or in PM and I will talk you through it let me know

 

I think that I got and adapter from radio shack to plug into my aux port.

 

Mines analog.



There isn't any label on the meter as to which goes to antenna and which goes to the cb.

 

If this is your actual meter^^^^it says on the right/left of the face
T A
R N
A T
N
S

plug your patchcord from the CB to the TRANS side (in the back of meter)
plug the antenna coax from antenna to the ANT side
I forgot one important point-that knob there-it is to calibrate the meter to your setup. Im ot sure which button you flip to set the calibration-your instructions will say. Let me know what you find

 

Ahh makes sense what Trans and Ant are for now haha!

It says to set it to FWD and SWR.

How do I calibrate the meter to my setup?

 

I just figured it out: to calibrate for SWR. the right switch must be on SWR
move the left switch to 10W/FWD key mike and rotate knob to move needle to "set" then move switch to 100W/REF and you'll get your SWR reading