CB Help

I need some help deciding what kind of CB setup I want to do. I recently bought a

$65 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

Pro520XL but it's just been sitting in my room waiting.

What I need help with is what kind of antenna/mount I want to do. It's between a shorter antenna mounted on the roof or a longer antenna mounted on my rear bumper (like Toy4Life has.) I must say that I like the rear bumper setup better than the roof setup.

Also, how long of an antenna should I get? I was looking at the 102" from radioshack which has great reviews from users, but I think 102" might look odd on a pickup. Another option could be something like a 5 or 6 foot antenna mounted on the bumper which would not look nearly as odd as a 102" antenna

What do you guys think I should do?

 

Not so much looks, but performance. The 102" whip is a fantastic talker-I had a dual set chainmounted to the rear bumper way back in my CB days! I had gutter clips that would hold the whips down when I wasnt transmitting. Are you going to have somebody set it up-or do you know how? When the time comes, I can help ya here

 

Get a bed bar and slap a 4ft firestick on there.



If you do a lot of off roading in the woods, I'd hate to have a 102" antenna flopping around. Lots of the mallcrawlin chevys around here have the 102" steel antennas on their toolboxs.

 

How difficult is it to set up? Besides drilling into the bumper for the mount, the running the cable from the antenna to the CB (I'll probably have some trouble figuring out how to get the cable from the under the truck to the CB in the ashtray area) what else is there? I don't know how to properly ground it or tune it (don't have a SWR.)

How'd you attach the gutter clips to your truck? Did the whip have enough flex that it wouldn't bend permanently?

 

I have a 4' Firestick hooked up to a cobra 25 ltd. It is mounted on a bracket to my truckbox, it looks good and functions great. IMO, the whip antenna looks too big on the Tacoma, so I would probably go with a 5' firestick antenna mounted on the bumper.

 

LOOKIN GOOD young man-how's the SWR on that stik?

 

I'm not worried too much about transmitting long distances either, maybe like a 4 mile radius. So it seems like a 102" whip might be a little bit overkill for what I want...

 

Thats not my truck, but its pretty much the exact same set up I will be running.

Cobra 75WX ST + Demello Bed Bar + 4FT Firestick

Thats basically my entire Christmas right there, maybe part of my birthday too

 

If you look between the bed and the cab near the base of the truck, you'll see a rubber plug about an inch in size. There is one on each side. The plug fills a hole that leads into the rear storage compartments. That's where I entered the cab, then under carpet, under passenger door trim, behind kick panel, under glove box to center stack. That's the route I took.

 

I have a 4' Firestick mated to a cheap-ass $30 Midland radio. Works great.

 

I have always used the "big ass" whip antenna (blame the Redneck in me). My Dad has always used the Wilson 1000, and I would say that it works out better than anything I have ever had.

http://www.wilsonantenna.com/w1000.htm

 

Yeah-nowadays you may be lookin like an Andy Griffith wannabe tooLOL do the firestik like suggested by 05-but you GOTTA match the SWR to the groundplane of the truck or you run the risk of frying the final coils in the transmit circuit of the radio. It requires an SWR meter-and I think the firestik has a tuning whip in the top part? Its been years-05 can tell you-but I'll be happy to walk ya thru it

 

Yeah, the Firestiks have a tuneable tip. Looks like I should get a 5' Firestik with a stud mount.

Ridgerunner, I don't know of any CB shops around me. Do you know any other type place that would be able to tune it for me?

 

Hard to say-how close are you to New Castle, DE>? That is the closest Ham Radio Outlet and if you went there, they would probably come out and tune ya/you could seek out a house with a CB base antenna, or a big ol ham antenna-they typically possess the proper meter and would be cool about setting it-otherwise, and this is the best thing to do as you may need it again, BUY an SWR meter online or Radio Shack may still sell them in the catalog and I can walk you thru it here

 

Hey pitt, how often do you travel between Erie and da Burgh?

 

AW TOY!!!! You can hook him up!! Good man!

 

Wish I could, I just know of a couple truck stops near me that might be able to do that. I never had mine tuned..........I know....could've f'd everything up, but I lucked out and all works well.

 

Not very often. I do know I'll be going down sometime in October though. There's some SWRs on ebay for under $25 shipped, I might just buy one.


Ok, now cables. Is there a certain cable length that I want to get the best performance?

 

OK you want the SHORTEST lenght possible from radio to antenna-this optimizes your final SWR and minimizes loss. Try to get the better stuff-RG6, RG8x, (RG8U is the best but is not flexible and very hard to install in a vehicle) I would go with RG-8x----stay away from RG-58U-garbage!
I should add to measure enough to make corners an run up between the bed and cab to the antenna, and allow for errors. Other words-order up extra cable, then shorten as needed.