tyty49

I have searched a bunch about this topic and I have decided on getting a CB radio and a magnet mount antenna. The antenna will be in the center of the back hatch. Now I have a couple of questions:

1. Which antennas are you running? Because I can't find that many good looking or afordable antennas. I want a magnetic mount one

2. Which CB units are you guys using? What are the differences which are good brand names?

Thanks for your help I do not know a whole lot about CB's and such.

Mirthman

i got a cobra it has the external speaker and pa hook up, as for anntena i just went to pamida and bought a 15 dollar magnetic one all in all i spent about 60 bux.

tyty49

How good of reception do you get? How big is the antenna?

Thanks for the reply

Mirthman

well from the base to the tip of the anntenna is about 2 to 2.5 feet and i get pretty good reception, but you can also do some tweakin to it to gain more RF frequancy

tyty49

Thanks,

I just found a Bobra on eBay for $50.00 now all I need is the antenna.

Mirthman

alright cool, well if ya want to know how to tweak it just give me the model number and i can tell ya what to do
good luck

tyty49

Yea I'll let you know.. I gotta make sure thats the one I'll get first. Thanks man!

tyty49

I'm probably going to get the 19DXIII because of the price only 29.99. Something I can afford should work. What do you think?

Mirthman

yeah thats a good one, thats what i got, but what i really liked about this cb is the pa so you can make fun of the ricers when ya kick thier A$$ well ya want plans to gain more RF?

tyty49

That PA will be cool. I do have a question I do need a external speaker right? I have not seen this unit in real life just on a auction and he says nothing about needing a speaker, but it looks kinda small. Sure I'll take the plans for getting more RF.

Mirthman

nope, its pretty loud with out it. if ya got a loud system ya might, but mines pretty loud and i don't need one

tyty49

You got those plans for more RF?

Danno

There are only a couple of houses cranking all the electronics out anymore as far as citizen band, so it's all basically the same junk. Mag mounts are inherently inefficient as opposed to permanetly mounted antennas. You will get the max efficiency from the antenna mounted in the center of the roof if possible. With F body cars it's tough to get an antenna efficient at 27Mhz. Tweaking refers to setting the SWR, or standing wave ratio. You use what they call an SWR bridge or meter and you key the mike then check foreward and reverse power. High reverse or reflected power indicates the antenna is not at what they call "resonance". Most antennas have a set screw type adjustment to adjust it's physical height in small increments to minimize reverse power. A properly tuned antenna will make more difference in performance than additional RF power.

tyty49

Thanks for some input Danno, Anyone else?

Berlinetta00

After having the cobra in my truck for the past year, the first thing I have to say is thank the great automotive gods for duck tape!!! Every time I went off road, the mic would jump out and hit me in the head, even if I was to weld the sucker to the CB (then the whole thing might come flying at me!) so I had to duck tape the mic to the CB to avoid costly (if not painful) injuries. Lesson here: mount the thing below the dash when off-roading.

The cheaper CBs Ive found to be kinda useless for longer (one mile or more) communication. It could have been my infinate wisdom in not following any of Danno's instructions about tuning the CB antenna, but with my old crappy Cobra (the $30.00 one) I could barly hear my buddy a mile away and he could not hear me at all. Then I upgraded to the $80.00 cobra and all such problems have stopped.

As far as antennas go, Danno is right on there, cause those magnetic ones are worthless (espacilly over 100 MPH or when off-roading). Ive got a 5 foot whip on my truck, but I suppose that would look rather rediculous on a camaro. You could however mount a 2 footer near the stock antenna location without having the thing look totally out of place. Thats what I would do, if there would be no harmful interfearence from the radio antenna (I guess its possable, I have no clue). Anyways, hope this helps.

EYEROCK89

Ok, back when I worked for the fire department we did alot of trial and error with CB;s and antennas. Those magnetic bases and cheap screw in antennas are pretty much worthless. THe best antenna for the price and relability is the K40. Most law enforcement and rescue squads in my state use these...if that means anything to you. Anyway, the K40 will attach to the hatch and has a rubber protector...the magnetic base will scratch the **** out of the paint. Not only that, but once you get over 80MPH, those magnetic deals have a tendancy to blow off...I've lost two that way. The K40 has about a 5' whip on it that is fully tunable and depending on how good your CB is and the terrain, you should get well over 10 miles.
Ok, There really isn;t any big secret when it comes to CB's. Cobra is about as good as it gets for your application, but you don;t want to skimp. Whatver you do, if you want good distance, make absolute sure you get one that has upper and lower sidebands built in. All truck CBs have this and thats why they are able to get the distance they have. So, go to your local communication shop and ask to see the cheapest CB they have with upper and lower sidebands. If it;s too expensive, take a good look and take stock in all the features and go get you one from ebay. Be careful about CBs on Ebay...you can easily get one with a fried board in it and never know it.

tyty49

Thanks guys! You guys really helped me alot. I don't know a whole lot abou them but now I know some more! I'll let ya all know which one I choose.

jeffs82z28

For what it is worth, big trucks are able to get distance because the antennea are usually properly tuned.

Most drivers that I know, (and myself when I was driving) spend plenty of cash on their radios and antennae.

I have a Uniden with the Conex board with talk back, larger final drives, Astatic mike, and the radio has been peaked and tuned.
Trust me when I say it is what is considered a "big radio". BUT a lot of that "big radio" comes from using a good antennae.
I paid $150 for the radio brand new and another $150 for the board, mike and tuning.
There are radios out there that will kick more, but they are way more expensive.

I have used Firesticks and Frances antennae, and both worked.

Don't waste your money on a sideband radio, cause nobody with a normal cb will be able to hear you when you switch it to the side bands.

And last but not least:
That is just my opinion, and I could be wrong.

tyty49

Thanks

Danno

One thing I wanted to mention is you might want to consider getting a "ham" or amateur license. The American Radio Relay League(ARRL) in conjunction with local clubs hold classes at many locations. Get on 2 meters and you will find many what they call repeaters to use. With a half watt handheld you can work repeaters 30-50 miles away with the clarity of an FM radio since they are narrow band FM. We have a system that is interlinked with other 2M and 70CM repeaters. I can sit here in the Philly burbs and use a handheld to talk to someone with another handheld in an Atlantic City casino just like he was in the same room. Many repeaters also offer what they call an "autopatch" which allows you access to telephone interconnect. Keeping this car related you only need a 19 inch whip for 2M, 6 inch ant for 70CM or even a glass mount will work. The test is basic and now you don't even have to know morse code. My wife even has license.

tyty49

ASo you need a license to use a HAM radio. Because this sounds much more efficient to me espically if you dont need huge antennas.

cd90rs

There are descent magnetic mount antennas. The brand "Wilson" have some really good antennas that have a hefty magnet on them that wont fly off. They are called Wilson 500,1000, and 2000. Each being a little more expensive than the next. Also like Danno said take a look into "ham radio".

de KI8FS