CB Radio

[Matt42]

When I hooked up the Children's Band (CB) radio that I use, I connected one of those converters that allows the to use of a factory radio antenna. They're available at J. C. Whitney, and at some Pep Boys. They also don't display the "HEY! I have a CB Radio for you to steal!" message to thieves.



I do pay a penalty in range, but it's never been a problem for me. There's rarely enough worthwhile traffic on the CB to warrant much more. (For me. YMMV. ) Maybe it's all on channels 24 through 40, since I am still using a 23 channel Royce. (Sadly, that's not a joke, but it works great. )

 

[C. Harlan]

I do pay a penalty in range, but it's never been a problem for me.

What if you need to be heard??? Remember, you can have the setup for a CB antenna, and Coax ran... everything. . Just take the antenna off when not in use. . Then you can have the best of both worlds



-Chris-

 

[fredflinstone]

Matt,

What's the reception like with the Jc Whitney type adaptor? Does it recieve well? Thanks Seth

 

[Israelson]

Antenna Combiner

I am interested in the antenna combiner as well can anybody tell me where it's available for purchase, I searched JC Whitney and Radio Shack but couldn't find anything...



Thanks

-Erik

 

[C. Harlan]

Ok... The Antenna Adaptor is like this:

CB Radios are 11 meter radios. CB antennas are made for 11 meter radios, and some of the bigger radios are also 10 meter amateur radios as well, thus some antennas are capable of being used on the other channels too. a car radio antenna is not made for this, and therefore, loses a whole lot of signal. I am not sure if it is the wavelengths which the antenna is calibrated for, but it makes a MAJOR difference. Look, when you are not using your CB, take the antenna off the mount! How hard is that? We can't be that lazy now, can we?? Just something to think about.



-Chris-

 

[Got Smoke?]

Re: Ok... The Antenna Adaptor is like this:

Originally posted by charlan

CB Radios are 11 meter radios. CB antennas are made for 11 meter radios, and some of the bigger radios are also 10 meter amateur radios as well, thus some antennas are capable of being used on the other channels too. a car radio antenna is not made for this, and therefore, loses a whole lot of signal. I am not sure if it is the wavelengths which the antenna is calibrated for, but it makes a MAJOR difference. Look, when you are not using your CB, take the antenna off the mount! How hard is that? We can't be that lazy now, can we?? Just something to think about.



-Chris-

Easy bubba! :-laf

 

[C. Harlan]

Well, think of it this way: You see all these fancy decked out west coast Chicken Trucks, and Fancy Cow Wagons, and those of y'all that have CB's know their radios match the character of their trucks, being wall to wall and 10 feet tall! Well our trucks are too nice to be throwing some junk radio in it. I know some of y'all don't care, but if you have the $$ to buy a big decked out pulling rig, why be a cheap @ss and get some little cheesy radio?? You know in the long run it is going to take a dump on you, and when you go to the CB shop, they are going to laugh at you and say that they do not have parts from some mail order wannabe radio. Something else to think about in your CB Radio buying decision. And by the way, the radios with weather band are no good. I had one, and it didnt work all that great. You are trying to run a different band through your CB antenna, and it will work, but just listen to the radio and look at the sky. Common sense is the best way predict weather!



-Chris-

 

[jeepit]

You won't be happy with an adapter to run thru the radio anttena. You cannot tune it for one thing. When you need to communicate you won't be able to. Just get a good magnet mount and run your coax. When you need it, put on top of the cab. When you are done, hide it under the seat.

 

[WadePatton]

Get a Ham license!

I just spent and hour composing a great response detailing my CB-to-Ham conversion, but it all got trashed when my browser crashed!



I was digging up links. Heck anybody can do that. Pick a meta-search engine and put in "ham radio".



PLEASE ask me any questions about amateur radio you want here or in PM.



I may try to recreate that post, but I'll do it in notepad and cut-n-paste.



Summary: It's EASY to get a license, it's relatively cheap to get on the air ($200 with ALL NEW equipment), it's very rewarding and is unreal what you can do with it. ANYbody can do it, there are no age requirements. Kids and women frequent the ham bands where $#%#$## is not the order of the day.



W1ADE

 

[WadePatton]

Originally posted by charlan

And by the way, the radios with weather band are no good. I had one, and it didnt work all that great. You are trying to run a different band through your CB antenna, and it will work, but just listen to the radio and look at the sky. Common sense is the best way predict weather!



-Chris-

Exactly right Chris. If you use a 2-meter ham radio, you have a system set up for 144-148mHz and the weather freqs are in the 162's Very easy to hear. The CB operates on a little sliver of 26 and 27 mHz-that's way off NOAA.



Actually I've become a National Weather Service weather spotter and via the ham bands listen to and contact the local weather service office DIRECTLY during bad weather. The NWS comes to one or two of our club meeting each year and puts on its weather spotter program.

 

[WadePatton]

Originally posted by eisraelson

I would like to NOT have a huge whip on my truck. Are there antennas I can get that are small and/or invisable.

Thanks

Erik Israelson

Erik there are very few absolutes in life, but antenna-wise BIGGER IS BETTER for performance. But you don't want big and that is okay. There are three other considerations to optimize antenna performance.



First is location. HIGH and CLEAR. Top of the cab is best. Fender mount is good. Bumper/frame mounting should only be used on large antennas. CLEAR means don't put it up against the cab. Ideally the antenna should be at least a 1/4 wave from any metal objects. That's 102" for CB.



Second is Feedline- for mobile it's always coaxial cable. Use a good quality "mini 8" 50-ohm coax-CB shop stuff is better than Radio Shack. Don't kink it or rub holes in it or have any extra length of it. Be sure the ends are soldier on properly- not crimped (RS).



Third is SWR- standing wave ratio. Using a SWR/Power meter (not the built-in one on the radio) check the SWR. Always expressed as x:1. 1. 5 to 1 is just great. Anything under 2. 0 to 1 will work fine. It is adjusted by very small adjustments in antenna length- by set screws usually. An antenna analyzer is the best thing to use for this, but you'll have to find a ham to borrow one. Watch out for "jumpy" SWR readings. This indicates a ground or short problem in the coax or antenna.



These are the facts from an amateur radio operator not conjecture from a CB'er.



Happy to explain any other antenna concepts.



Have fun.



Wade a/k/a W1ADE

 

[WadePatton]

Ham it up.

Here's a link to over 100 California Ham radio organizations.



http://199.245.125.13/clubs/sixth.html#California



Give me a city name and I can tell you about how many repeaters are located nearby. There's about 20 zillion in CA I'm sure.



update-I just went to the SCATS (Souther Cal Amateur Transmitting Society) site and found a member list with names/cities/emails. I'm sure you can find someone near you. And the stated purpose of the club is:

The Southern California Amateur Transmitting Society was founded in 1975. Its first President, Dave Weaver, WA6JVO, served from the founding, until 1978. Since then, S. C. A. T. S. has continued its original purpose--the education of new hams, and the promotion of the Amater Radio hobby.