CB Questions

[Holaday07 4.7]

Last weekend I was the only Jeep in our group not to be running a CB. I do not need anything permanent, and it really does not need much range. Does anyone have any suggestions on these, and how they are wired. Are there CBs with 12 volt addapters so I can just plug it in when I need it?

thanks

[NeilSmith]

I had mine wired to a 12v " cigarette lighter " plug. Then I developed a squeal. Sal and I thought it was from the plug not providing a good enough ground so we hard wired it to the battery. That didnt help. My antennae is one of the magnetic ones. It seems the antenna is no good, dont know that it is because its a magnetic mount or if it was just junk to begin with. I was tring to make the whole thing easily removable also. I borrowed a set-up that was the same way ( 12v plug and magnetic mount antenna ) and it gave me no problems. I now have the radio permanently mounted just need to get a nice antenna.

[pjmjr508]

I bought this;
https://www.cobra.com/detail/75-wx-s...aa-weather.cfm

it is a remote one that when not using it is out of site, when you want to use it just attach the MIC and you up & running. Now with the antenna I had one attached to my roof rack with a round bar mount, then where the antenna attaches to that mount I had a quick disconnect so the antenna can be removed in 2 seconds & just as easily reattached. Since it is on top of the jeep the range is great. I also an extesion speaked connected to give better sound; this is it;
https://www.cobra.com/detail/hg-s100...on-speaker.cfm

I like it & it is easy to take it down.

[Adondo]

Being in the police/fire radio business for 30+ years, I can tell you that CB stands for (Crap Band) in the trade.

It's in the 27 megahertz band, and is AM. (Amplitude Modulation) The problem with AM is electrical noise, especially arcing of motor brushes, spark plug pulsing and the like. 27 Mhz in a world of 2.4 Ghz (Gigi-hertz) cellphones or even UHF (460 Mhz) family radios is really old school stuff, and the long wavelength makes antennas problematic.

A typical quarter wave whip antenna for CB is 108 inches long. That's 9 feet. Most antenna makers make ''loaded coil'' antennas which try to shorten that length, usually with compromises in range. You also need quite a bit of ground plane for that low of frequency, and that doesn't help the range either.

Probably the best if you want it to work well, is a Firestick (brand) type of antenna. They're a thick fiberglass rod with a coil of wire wrapped around it. They can't take much flexing though. (As in tree branches grabbing it)

If you get a magnet mount type, go to a two-way radio shop and get a ''real'' one with an NMO type base, and a Maxrad or Antenex antenna. The NMO is the same mounting base as police/fire radios use, and your CB antenna will have a screw-on base piece about 3 1/2" tall, and a stainless steel rod about 4 feet long. They can take the abuse, and the magnet mount will hold tight. You'll have to spend over $100 for this setup though.

A cheap magnet antenna will work okay, but won't reach very far. Don't even waste your time with on-glass type antennas, they're crap even in the 800 Mhz cellphone band, let alone 27 Mhz.

As for the one-hand CB's, those are the cat's meow for the XK. There isn't a lot of room for a dash mount CB in the Commander. I've seen a few on the forums installed in the left side cubby hole, but then you lose that space. Note that there are a lot of two-way radios that are all-in-the-mic types too such as a Motorola Spectra. (Seen in cop cars everywhere, especially detective's or chief's cars)

For powering one up, a cigarette lighter plug works fine. Most CB's only draw about 2.5 amps max during transmit, and maybe 0.25 amps on receive. An emergency CB would work pretty good for what you want. Midland, Maxon, and a few others make these. Most are in a plastic box for storing under a seat, and have a magnet mount telescoping antenna. I try to keep a couple around to hand out on Jeep trips. Don't expect 5 miles range though, the antennas are a compromise at best.

On edit: an Antenex CB antenna. (These are professional Police/Fire/Ambulance grade antennas)
http://www.wpsantennas.com/cw27-ante...4wavewhip.aspx

[pjmjr508]

Forgot to note on mine, I'm also using the Red FireStik & it works great. and having it on the top of the Jeep connected to the roof rack it does give a great amount of Ground Plane.

[Holaday07 4.7]

Had twin FireStiks out the back of my old K5 and I could talk to truckers. I was hoping for something I could do cheap and easy, only used a couple times a year, and just be a plug in and remove when done. Looks like on Amazone cigarette adapter, cb and the Magnet roof one only cost $57 as a group. Probably going that route

[LWM]

I bought this;
https://www.cobra.com/detail/75-wx-s...aa-weather.cfm

I like it & it is easy to take it down.

This is the same one I have and I like it as well.

[cico7]

I strongly suggest a cb shop. They can match the prices and give advice. I have a whip and I love it. When crunchy broke his leg, I could talk to everyone. I was able to talk across the mountain.
The most important thing in the set up is the antenna ground. Check out 4x guard for a mount.

[Sal-XK]

I use one of the window mount antenna's. I only needed a CB for the trails so I wanted something clean. It works ok but the range is horrible and after testing it the range is even bad for just a trail setup.

[Matt]

I had the Cobra 75-wx st as well... great setup. Clean and easy to remove.

This time around I think im going to go with the midland so that I can remove it and use it outside of the vehicle as well: http://www.amazon.com/Midland-75-822...0340507&sr=8-1