CB shops in central CA?

[BKunic]

I'd like to get a CB installed in my CTD, and understand that the radio and antenna need to be "tuned" to the specific installation. Since this is beyond me, does anyone know of any good CB shops in central CA who could do this installation for me?



Thanks in advance for any advice,



Bryan

 

[thekidfan]

what do you concider "Central Calif. " ?

 

[BKunic]

Bay Area to Paso Robles. I'm in Hollister.



B

 

[willyslover]

there is a good internet place in Morgan Hill if memory serves me. . Bills 2 way ... I'm sure he does counter and walk in work. . be sure to have it super tuned also well worth the few $$

 

[jwduke]

there is a good internet place in Morgan Hill if memory serves me. . Bills 2 way ... I'm sure he does counter and walk in work. . be sure to have it super tuned also well worth the few $$

Who was that guy that was really good over on 99? They call him the ________ monkey. Anyone know who I'm talking about??? I use to run Cali alot, and this guy turned my CB into a mini radio station, this guy is the BEST!

 

[Eric_77]

Tuning is very easy to do. Buy a CB with a SWR meter this is the tuning that needs to be measured. Basically you adjust the antennea up or down in length to tune it. Any decent antennea has this abilty from whips to loaded or magntic mount. This matches the antenna to the truck regardless of radio. If you pay someone to do this should be less than $25 but you should really learn to do it yourself and check on a regular basis to be sure evrything is runnin right, antennea do wear out over time.



Now the CB shop can do something called peak and tune on the radio that lines up channel to the specfic range it should be closer than what the factories do on most radios ( I understand Galaxie comes with this done on each individual radio) then the peak part is insuring that the ouput is optimized IE boost or "peak" the power output. about $50

 

[Crunch]

I'd like to get a CB installed in my CTD, and understand that the radio and antenna need to be "tuned" to the specific installation. Since this is beyond me, does anyone know of any good CB shops in central CA who could do this installation for me?

Any of the radio shops found at truck stops should be able to do SWR readings and adjustments. All they do is hook up the meter and change the length of the antenna. SWR checkups are cheap, too. In Texas they run about $5-$10. The tough part is doing the actual insallation without trashing your truck in the process. I was also told by several radio shops that the antenna is tuned to the vehicle, and any CB can be hooked up to the antenna after it is tuned. When I had my antenna installed I also had them "peak and tune" the CB, which basically is removing the limiters that throttle your trasmission power.



First, decide where you want to locate the antenna. This will determine the type of antenna you can use. All the radio shops I visited wanted to install the antenna in a location that made it easy for them. I went with the stake-hole mount in the bed. If you have a camper shell on your truck you can get a stake-hole mount that is extended/offset so it doesn't interfere with your shell.



Second, decide where you want the coax to enter the cab of the truck. Again, all the radio shops wanted to pull up my door sills and run it along the channel or come up through one of the plugs in the floor and run it under the carpet. I wasn't hip to that jive and insisted they run it through the plate for the clutch master cylinder. If you have an automatic transmission this is a sensible place to run cable--it's accessible, you can seal it with silicone and the plate can be replaced if needed. The one drawback to this is that if you use the stake-hole mount for the antenna you will be using all 18' of coax by the time you attach it to your CB.



Third, decide where you want your radio to be located. I wouldn't let any radio shop drill my dash for an installation. Once you drive off the lot they don't care how it looks. Get one of Big Bob's brackets or mount it yourself.

 

[BKunic]

Crunch,



I had in mind exactly what you did, I want to mount the antenna in the stake hole, and mount the radio with one of Big Bob's brackets.



I too have heard that the antenna is tuned to the truck, not the radio, so for a little extra $ I think I'll leave it to a "pro. "



Now, can anyone recommend a good radio, and would anyone happen to know of the guy jwduke was talking about? That sounds good, I'd like a mobile radio station.



Thanks for the pointers everyone,



B