CB suggestions

[el_dubya]

My and a few of my friends are starting to get into the fun of off road. We have 2 TJ's, and 87 Cherokee, and a Land Rover. I brought up the idea of getting CB's to talk to each other on the trails, as it would be faster and easier than a cell phone. I have read enough on here to knwo that the antenna is more important than the radio itself. So here's my question, what radios do you guys suggest? I'm 19 and in school so I'm on a budget, can I get a good radio for.... $100 or less? Also, what kind of antennas do you guys run/reccomend? And lastly, where on a TJ do you mount the antenna? Back bumper? Where do you guys put them? I read the write up about CB's on here and grasp all the subjects, I just want some reviews. Thanks a lot!
_________________
Dub

'98 TJ SE
15x7 ProComp Series 51 Rock Crawler Wheels
31x10.50 General Grabber AT2's
Taurus Fan
Uniden PC68 Elite CB

[Code3TJ]

Moving this to electronic for ya.
_________________
Nothing to see here.

[tonloco]

tell ya what just find your nearest walmart they have cobra cbs for a little over $50 and if you go online at their website they have some for the same price that can be shipped to the store that also have weather radio and some other bells and whistles

[1fox2go]

i talked to truckers and most of them say the best is a cobra 29 thats been tuned...others they like are the connex and the unidens....but it all depends on what you wanna do just talk on the trail and not worry about supin it up then any small cobra would do just that....if thast what you wanna do just get a small cobra and a 3 or 4 foot firestik 2 you can get about 3-6 miles outta that if you set up your SWR correctly
_________________
96 Cherokee 7.5 inch TnT long arm Locked F/R, D44 rear, 4.56s, 35x12.50 Muds/36x12.50 TSLs

[IBTJn]

IMO the little Uniden Pro510 is an excellent value. At 1stopelectronics they sell the Uniden Pro510 for $42. That is a decent value. I've had mine since '94, and it's never failed me. It's not important to many but to people who know what they are doing modulation of the radio itself makes a huge difference. Every Uniden I've tested out of the box talks at 80% modulation...which is great! Most radios out of the box only talk at about 60% (+/-). Make no mistake about it, they are all going to transmit no more than 4 watts PEP. So getting an expensive radio with extra gadgets and gizmos often is just pissing money down the drain...as most will seldom (if any) know what they do, let alone use them.

BTW, Uniden used to make the I/O boards for Cobra...up until the mid 90's when Cobra beat up on them for lower pricing, and Uniden couldn't do it without quality sacrifice (which they wouldn't do). Thus launched the Uniden product line...and Cobra imported their cheap I/O boards.

So for the money, the Uniden line (for an off road rig Pro510) is an excellent choice.

For the antenna, well many prefer Firestik's, but that's only because they have nothing to compare it to. I personally think Firestik products are seriously over rated...and way heavy weight for wheelin'. Indeed you are correct that the antenna is at least 90% of the overall performance. However, there are many choices of antennas that will out perform the Firestik products hands down. I personally prefer the Everhardt TSM-4 48" Superflex 3/4 wave for wheelin'. Although you have to trim the coil wire to tune it, it's extremely broad banded, light, and flrexible, and will out perform any of the Firestik products. I know...I've tested them. You can order them directly from Everhardt for like $12 shipped.

The mount and coax, I'd call Frank at 1stop and have him set you up with RG8x coax, and a mount suitable for where you plan on mounting it...unless you'd like us to help you with that.

Good luck.

_________________
Links4Jeeps

[1fox2go]

yea the stiks may be over rated but i like them cuz of the ease of tune...dont have to trim just adjust the screw very simple and hassle free...saves some stress also

a friend of mine loves the 102 inch steel whip...thats just a little to big for me but i have used it one time and it does help in getting your signal out there
_________________
96 Cherokee 7.5 inch TnT long arm Locked F/R, D44 rear, 4.56s, 35x12.50 Muds/36x12.50 TSLs

[IBTJn]

Yea, most folks see that as a benefit too...when in reality, it can be a liability. Why? simply put, you cannot often tune enough for conditions...such as side reflection created when the mounting position is in effect wrong or could be better. Nevertheless, all I can do is share my 30+ years of radio with folks. Either they take it or not.

As far as the 102" whip goes, my field tests concluded the SOTT-60" would out performed (repeatedly) them by a full 1 to 1-1/2 S-units (depending on conditions), in both transmit/receive. I have a SS whip but seldom use it...but it does indeed look pretty cool.

The convenience argument reminds me much of people who slap 33's on a stock TJ to look cool...when it actually inhibits them from articulation off road because they can't disco' without extending their bump stops significantly.


_________________
Links4Jeeps

[el_dubya]

Ok, I appreciate the help, but heres another question. I found a K40 57" whip I got form my grandpa. It has a trunk mount on it. I am thinking about mounting this to my bumper. I'll have to make some sort of other mount to accept the trunk mount. 1. Will this other mount affect the antenna? 2. How far above the top should my antenna go? Sittin ghte antenna on the bumper it sticks up about... 7 or 8 inches. Is this enough? I know more is better but... I could also make my own mount long to move the antenna up. What do you guys think?
_________________
Dub

'98 TJ SE
15x7 ProComp Series 51 Rock Crawler Wheels
31x10.50 General Grabber AT2's
Taurus Fan
Uniden PC68 Elite CB

[IBTJn]

If you have the trunk mount version (looks like THIS), then the antenna is base loaded. You need to mount the whole thing high. If you were to make a bracket (with secondary ground strap) for the roof rack, you'd be good to go. The loading coil (black portion at the base) does the majority of transmission/receive. The SS stinger really does little other than tune and help propagation. This is not the type antenna you will want to mount on the bumper...unless of course you don't want it to work hardly at all.


_________________
Links4Jeeps

[ThePhantum]

What he said on bottom loaded antennas...they need to go on the roof.

For a top loaded antenna (and as a general rule) 1/2 to 2/3's of it should extend past the roof line to take advantage of the ground plane. Ideally speaking it would be mounted on the roof, right at the center of the vehicle...obviously not an option on TJ's.

You said it yourself...the more antenna that is above the roof line the better.

I do not have a very good picture, but I mounted the antenna on my wife's TJ on the tire carrier. It performs pretty well. The only caveat is that it needs to be grounded because the carrier is isolated from the tub by rubber bushings.
_________________

97 XJ Sport with a bunch of stuff

[el_dubya]

Ok, so the antenna I have doesnt sound like it will work to well. So heres 2 more questions. 1. What kind of antenna do you guys use that you mount on your bumper. 2. (for the phantom) What antenna did you put on your wifes tire carrier? Also, I'd like to see a pic of how you have it mounted. Thanks.
_________________
Dub

'98 TJ SE
15x7 ProComp Series 51 Rock Crawler Wheels
31x10.50 General Grabber AT2's
Taurus Fan
Uniden PC68 Elite CB

[IBTJn]

I don't (and won't) mount mine on the bumpers of any of our rigs. Typically it's the worse place you can mount it IMO. Although many do this, their performance more often than not sucks...not to mention a PITA to tune sometimes (depending on brand) because of side reflection. Plus on newer TJ's the fuel pump can often create serious noise problems (RFI in the receive).

I did a swivel ball mount on the driver's rear on my TJ tub. I didn't have my swing away yet...plus I run a hard top and didn't want any damage to the rear window(s). If your TJ is stock, it's easy to just do a stud assemby behind the tire carrier and run whatever top loaded antenna you want. You could easily do a 3' or 4' antenna with a TJ, being the tops aren't reflective. There are also very nice behind the tail light mounts for TJ's that had I known they existed, I would have bought.

Here's a pic of mine from last weekend. Kinda' shows it pretty well.



Oh...and msg. to Phantom: I ordered a 3' and 5' Superflex to try. I'll let you know how they work out.

_________________
Links4Jeeps

[el_dubya]

Sorry about all the questions, I'm not real familiar with these things as of yet and I wanna do it as close to right as I can the first time. My TJ is stock, and you mentioned a "stud mount" what is this? And since I mount it on the tire carrier, which has rubber bushings, do I have to ground it somehow? Also, I like the way your set up looks, and have seen the behind the tail light mounts, with these mounts do you use a top loaded antenna? And one last thing, when you take off your top, does it change the swr of the antenna? Thanks again.
_________________
Dub

'98 TJ SE
15x7 ProComp Series 51 Rock Crawler Wheels
31x10.50 General Grabber AT2's
Taurus Fan
Uniden PC68 Elite CB

[ThePhantum]

I'll try and get a couple of pics tomorrow of her setup and post them up. It's currently a 4" Firestick II.


START HIJACK

[IBTJn]